Monthly Archive for October, 2009

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Fred Becky’s Hands

Published on October 7, 2009 in Commentary. 6 Comments Tags: .

In the process of scanning 80+ photos today, the two that really stood out for me were photos I took of Fred Becky’s hands in 2003 at the West Rib Grill in Talkeetna, AK.  We had just skied Mt. Hunter via a line that Fred had pioneered 48 years earlier and Fred seemed to remember more about it than we did, despite the fact that we were there only a few days before, whereas Fred was there almost half a century earlier. Continue reading ‘Fred Becky’s Hands’

First Day of the 2009/10 Season

Published on October 6, 2009 in current conditions. 14 Comments Tags: .

I know, a few days ago I said I wasn’t in a rush to get out, but then it continued to dump snow and Polly reminded me that we missed out on the early turns last year and then had to wait another four weeks until it snowed again.  One of the hardest parts about getting out for the first time is deciding which skis are going to be sacrificed to the rock gods and this season my beloved 2006 Chugoris (aka “Chugs”) took one for the team, although the damage was surprisingly light.

We headed up to one of my favorite little high, sheltered, windloaded, northfacing snow traps which looked totally filled in.  I decided to boot up to get a feel for the early season snowpack and was glad I did as there were some thigh-deep spots which had a chunky slab on top of a 3″ deep graupel layer. Continue reading ‘First Day of the 2009/10 Season’

512 Expedition Journal

Published on October 5, 2009 in Gear Reviews. 3 Comments Tags: .

I tend to get excited about small things and in that regard, I’m downright giddy about the #512 Expedition Journal from  Rite in the Rain (RITR).  I’ve always been a list, sketchbook and notebook kind of guy and really came out of the closet when I saw that some of the best expedition leaders I’d ever met carried RITR notebooks and kept meticulous notes. Putting together a trip is a lot like starting a small business with an expected three month life span.  You need to organize people, keep track of money, follow conditions, take notes, work with other agencies, have a plan of attack, stick to a schedule, have a backup plan, and then be able to review your records months or years later.  The #512 is perfectly suited for all of this, plus you can write it all down in the rain, or even underwater. Continue reading ’512 Expedition Journal’

Beginning of the season?

Published on October 1, 2009 in Announcements. 9 Comments Tags: .

It snowed at 7,100′ in Park City today!

snow_oct30

Alta supposedly got 10+ inches and I’d imagine some of their tilled slopes will be skiable tomorrow.

The first snow of the year is one of many landmark seasonal skiing events.  I prefer to wait until there is some solid coverage before I start going out as I hate to get all psyched up for a season… and then get gacked when it all melts and my skis are trashed.  I also really like Spring skiing, so I try to pace my enthusiasm towards the end of the season rather than the beginning.

For skiers, the New Year falls at an unfortunately time as in a good year, you might get two solid months of skiing before the year changes, which means you have to refer to it as 2009/10 when everybody knows you are really talking about 2010.  Sigh.  In the Wasatch, a really good early season is if you are skiing reliably by Halloween, a normal season means good skiing by Thanksgiving (sometimes the best of the year) and a sucky season is still hurting by Christmas.

If you live in Turns All Year country, when a season starts and ends is an arbitrary date. Tom Jungst and his son Allan up in Bozeman, MT have a tradition of making their first turns of the year on the second weekend of September. Continue reading ‘Beginning of the season?’