It seems like the 2009 Antarctic Ski Cruise just happened a few months ago, but once again, it is time to start planning for the ultimate trip down to the White Continent to make some turns in the most amazing place on earth. The trip is organized by Ice Axe Expeditions and the format is very simple – cross the Drake Passage in the comfort of a cruise ship, then disembark with Zodiacs, go to skiing during the day and then return to the ship at night for an excellent dinner while we move to a new location. Repeat until exhausted, throw in a few parties, a bunch of new & old friends, then cross the Drake Passage again back to Ushuaia in Argentina. 119 out of 120 people on the last trip declared it “the ski trip of a lifetime” and the one hold-out is a poofter, so his vote doesn’t count. Continue reading ‘Antarctica 2011 – Coming Soon & Going Fast’
Archive for the 'Announcements' Category
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18,250 divided by 365 is 50, which just so happens to be how old I am today! Happy birthday to me – I’m going skiing to celebrate. ;)
Ed Viesters described 50 as the new 30, but in any case, I’ll take it as it is better than the alternative, which is not turning 50 as far too many of my skiing buddies have done, may the shred in heaven. I’ve always assumed that at some point I might have to stop or curtail my skiing, so I’ve tried to enjoy it as much as I can, as often as I can, while I can. But, I’ve somehow managed to avoid getting sidetracked and one good run has led to another, and then before you know it, it adds up and turns into a lifetime of skiing. On a skiing trip to the Grand Teton, Doug Coombs mentioned that he never told his sponsors how old he was, which I got a laugh out of, as skiing had kept him eternally preserved at 18 and smiling, so it hardly mattered, at least to me. Continue reading ’18,250 Days of Stayin’ Alive’
If you have a Spring Ski Mountaineering project in mind, there is still time to sneak in an application for the Hans Saari Memorial Fund (HSMF) Exploration Grant, which is due March 1st and is done entirely on-line. Save your postage for Ramen packets. Continue reading ‘Hans Saari Grants – Deadline March 1st’
At the recent Outdoor Retailer Show (details forthcoming) I was asked by three different companies for recommendations regarding a female Ski Mountaineer. I know they/you are out there…
Job Description:
- Go to exotic locations, climb beautiful mountains and ski them
- Provide product feeback
- Public speaking about the glories of Ski Mountaineering
- Photo shoot pose-downs
- Teach the occasional SM clinic
- Attend tradeshows and/or ski events
- Attend sales and/or design meetings Continue reading ‘Job Opening – Female Ski Mountaineer’
I’m heading to Silverton, CO this weekend with my avalanche airbag to give a slideshow at the Silverton Avalanche School. It will be the Alaska Family Values show (I know, I know… I’ll put together a new one soon) and it is open to the public with a reasonable entry fee which I believe goes to a worthy avalanche-type cause. Continue reading ‘Silverton Slideshow – Jan 15th’
As I was dragging ass up the last bit of my biggest day so far this year, a paltry 7,200′ of climbing, my thought turned to Greg Hill. When I first met Greg I was impressed at how easily he won the first Whistler Ski Mountaineering race. As I got to know him, I was more impressed that he had pumped out 40,000′ of climbing in a single day of backcountry skiing, then a year or so later bumped that up to a world record 50,000′ plus in a day, then more than that the next year. Then, in the true spirit of going on a skiing bender, he cranked out a verified million feet of skiing in one season (for simple math, that is 200 days of 5,000′ per day). Once again, I was vastly impressed, but Greg apparently had some energy left to burn, so for the last 11 months he has been working on accumulating an unprecidended TWO MILLION vertical feet of climbing and skiing in one calender year. The math on this one is even simplier – 200 days at 10,000 per day on average.
Good god. Continue reading ‘Big Leg Greg Closes in on 2 Mill’
If you Dawn Patrol in the Wasatch, you need to sign up for LCC & BCC road closure text messaging information at:
http://updsl.org/services/canyonalerts
This is the best way to notified about when, where and how long LCC and BCC will be closed in the morning, even if you have already left the trail-head.
Over the past few years the expanding popularity of Dawn Patrolling in the Wasatch has grown into a point of contention and conflict between skiers and UDOT, especially in upper Little Cottonwood Canyon. Alta at 5:00 am on a dark snowy morning is a surreal mix of flashing lights, heavy equipment, delivery trucks, airport vans, resort security vehicles and eventually booming artillery. The avalanche gun crews may anticipate shooting the night before or early that morning, but they don’t actually know or start firing until first light and the last thing they want to see in their spotting scopes is a skin track and four headlamps on the slope they want to shoot. The gun crews have no way of contacting a group thousands of feet up a slope and if they can’t shoot the paths that threaten the road, they can’t open the road, and if the road can’t open customers can’t get to the resorts. A seemingly harmless backcountry tour can shut down Alta, Snowbird and all of the LCC businesses for hours. Aside from the economic impact there is also the fundamental safety concern of mixing human beings, 105 howitzers and large avalanches. Liam Fitzgerald, Mr. LCC UDOT, said that it has reached a point where if it doesn’t stop, “something is going to have to be done about it.”
If they are plowing, you should probably go elsewhere.
The first step to avoiding conflict is not skin up loaded avalanche slopes in the dark to begin with, regardless of how much fun it might be. A second option would be to avoid places that get shot, like all of the south facing lines on Highway 210 (Tanners, Maybird, White Pine, Little Pine, Superior, Flagstaff, Emma Ridges, etc.) as well as the Alta perimeter in general. I’ve never had a problem with DP’ing on Pink Pine out of the White Pine trailhead, but Snowbird or some lame-ass heliskiing company might be bombing Scotties and take issue with that. Coalpit #4 and The Y Couloir don’t see much bombing, but you probably shouldn’t be skiing those in conditions that warrant gun control anyway. Big Cottonwood is a much safer bet although the same issues apply on lines like Argenta and Circle Awl/All. Parking is almost as big a concern in BCC and the plow crews and UDOT will leave you a nasty note, or worse, if your vehicle keeps the plows from clearing the lots and pull-outs.
Dawn Patrolling in a storm - how to lose friends and alienate people in upper Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Mill D (Tom’s Hill, Powder Park, etc) and USA Bowl in Big Cottonwood, all of Mill Creek and Mt. Aire in Parley’s are conflict free 99% of the time.
Road closure info can also be found on the Utah Avalanche Center website which can be Twittered to your phoneor subscribed to via RSS feed. You can even go old school and call for a specific road closure message at 888-999-4019 option 8 to hear the soothing sounds of a human voice telling you the road is closed.
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I will be in Colorado (a small, rectangular state to the east of Utah) over the next two days to present “The Alaska Family” slideshow. If you happen to live in the area, I hope you can make it!
Wednesday, Oct 13 at Bent Gate Mountaineering in Golden Colorado
(303) 271-9382
The show starts at 8:00pm and there is a suggested $5.00 donation to the Access Fund at the door.
Thursday, Oct 14 at the Wilderness Exchange in Denver
(303) 964-0708
The show starts at 8:00pm and there will be prizes, a raffle and snacks
Oh man have I been a bad little blogger..! Nothing new for weeks, well OK, months. We have been putting an addition on our house which was suppose to be quick and easy, but of course it spawned a whole slew of other upgrades that have consumed most of my summer. Hopefully the end is in sight.
Before ever skiing in Valdez/Chugach I had heard so much glowing praise about it that I figured there was no way that it could possibly live up to all the hype. This all changed the first time I actually skied there and I had to eat my all my sarcastic thoughts. Valdez is one of those areas where all the components come together perfectly to create excellent backcountry skiing – the access, mountains, snowpack and logistics are all ideal.
This fact was lost on me, but not on 5-6 heliskiing operators, various snowmobile events and a few Valdez locals, including Matt Kinney. Matt is putting on a presentation this Friday titled “Backcountry Skiing in Valdez – An Environmental Perspective” which should be interesting, and in the very least, it is being held in a cool outdoor location, the Storm Mountain Amphitheater in Big Cottonwood Canyon. As a long time Valdez local, Matt has seen an incredible amount of motorized development in the last two decades.
Matt has kindly donated the proceeds of this show to our own local snow wizard, Bob Athey, who injured his shoulder in an avalanche accident last season.
The show is Friday, August 27th from 7-9pm with an encouraged donation at the gate.
I’ve never gotten bored with skiing as it seems like some new twist on the theme always shows up and keeps my interest alive (that plus it is just fun). But, I don’t think I ever would have anticipated our trip to Iceberg Lake in the Wrangell-St.Elias Mountains to turn out quite the way it did.
We were out for a Claus “family day” of skiing, which involves loading ten or so people into a million-dollar bush plane and flying around until we found the tastiest looking place to ski, then setting down and doing a few laps. In this case, we ended up at Iceberg Lake, the name of which later became apparent. Continue reading ‘Backcountry Wedding’
