Category Archives: Skiing

Live to Ski

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In March of 2012, the adventure sport community lost an icon. Steve Romeo’s mantra was “live to ski” and he made the phrase synonymous with backcountry skiing in Grand Teton National Park. I didn’t know him, but he was an inspiration to me and many others. Transplant becomes local becomes legend. I have the deepest respect for people that truly live every day for their greatest purpose. For Steve, it was simple- “live to ski.” Thanks Steve.

Skiing is the question. Yes is the answer.

Skiing is the question. Yes is the answer.

Another appointment with the foot doctor last week made it abundantly clear that ice climbing is simply out of the question for this season. Consequently, my winter focus has shifted significantly to skiing. I think I’m starting to understand what Steve was talking about. Good thing I bought new toys.

Scarpa Maestrale boots, BD Drfit Skis, Dynafit Speed bindings, and BD Ascension skins. The real deal.

Scarpa Maestrale boots, BD Drfit Skis, Dynafit Speed bindings, and BD Ascension skins. The real deal.

I’ve made the switch. After a 5 year experiment in learning to telemark ski, the new boards are mounted with Dynafit AT bindings. With my foot still healing from surgery, having AT bindings means skiing no longer requires lunges and remains possible. Lunges, jumping squats, running, and definitely, certainly kicking ice boots are out of the question for a much longer time than I expected.

The best days.

The best days.

Creekbed wallowing.

Creekbed wallowing.

 

I won’t lie, I was a little sad not to go to the Bozeman ice festival last weekend. That said, the “consolation” prize was every bit as good. Saturday at Lost Trail resort with 3 awesome friends, and 3 laps in the Crystal Theater on Sunday. Work is slow and with school out, partners seem abundant- so I’m headed out for more tomorrow. I’ve always loved skiing, now it’s just time to live it.

Do your diligence, even when you are "sure".

Do your diligence, even when you are “sure”.

Apres Ski- Missoula style.

Apres Ski- Missoula style.

 

 

Give ALL the Thanks

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Why does pie say more about Thanksgiving than turkey?

Why does pie say more about Thanksgiving than turkey?

Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday, and not just because of the pie. The latency in posting about it was more about the fullness of the giving rather than the lack of things to give about. Per typical, there was a lot of eating. Thursday morning, Paul and I went for a run with Ky and Amanda (in from Bellingham!) and Brian, Jenna, and Claire at Blue Mountain. After cleaning up and cooking, we both headed to Harlequin Farms in Arlee. I got my winter share vegetables from the farm and a few friends were gathering to celebrate. When all your friends are foodies, Thanksgiving turns out awfully tasty…

Mega-feast.

Mega-feast.

Our stay changed from an afternoon into two days because, well… it was awesome so why go home?

Part 2- home-made pizza factory. Simon and Paul get after it.

Part 2- home-made pizza factory. Simon and Paul get after it.

After all the eating though, I needed some movement. Bad weather meant that I spent Saturday with Ky (in from Bellingham!) and Brian and Simon in the climbing gym instead of outside, but with that quality of people- I had no complaints. Sunday was a little more typical, with another short gym session and the real treat of seeing “Catching Fire” in the theater.

After the long weekend and pre-holiday professional potholes smoothed over, work felt more relaxed. When Martin pointed out that Lost Trail was going to have an epic opening, I took it as a sign to take things a little less seriously. Thursday was way better spent in the mountains than at my desk. I don’t often resort ski, but it was -11F when we left the car at 9am, and I was thankful for a warm lodge to duck into between runs. The day never got much above zero, but the snow was perfect, and I was psyched to have two solid companions (Paul jumped at the offer of a ride).

Is this really happening on a Thursday?

Is this really happening on a Thursday?

I finished off the week with a rad day in Big Fork, MT with my good friend and AERO support Jeffrey Funk. I wrote more here about one of his workshops in 2012, but this year the group was smaller, and the project a little more complicated. I may never actually get any better only practicing once a year, but hammering some iron sure is a lot of fun.

We each turned the small block on the left into the garden trowel on the right.

We each turned the small block on the left into the garden trowel on the right.

Oh yeah, and sunset at Jeff & Betsy’s is not to be missed:

Mission Mountain Magic.

Mission Mountain Magic.

I’m thankful to write this. I’m thankful somewhere in the week, I really enjoyed this TED Talk on gratitude. I’m especially thankful my life is full of so many awesome people. Keep your eyes wide open. Stop. Look for things to be thankful for. Then go- with the action that is inspired by your gratitude.

 

Triple Header

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night ice climbing

Marko shows us how it’s done in the dark.

Montana is a special place, and there is a reason that the autumn is one of my favorite seasons. I wasn’t expecting it, but taking the opportunities at hand landed me a triple header of my favorite adventure sports- all in the same week.

I was in Bozeman all week for work. I had hoped to find a ride on craigslist so I could stay the weekend while my co-worker Mark headed home on Friday afternoon. The rides didn’t work out, but I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. Wednesday night we picked up some awesome fried chicken and headed up to Genesis I for a night-time session getting back into ice climbing. With a full set of borrowed gear from Ari and Marko (thanks!), Mark came along to swing tools for his very first time. Getting my first leads, and sharing the experience with fine friends made for a perfect night despite some cold temps (6F when we left the car).

ice climbing preparation

Getting ready for my first sticks of the season.

Beginner stoke. Props to Mark for braving the cold to come check it out.

Beginner stoke. Props to Mark for braving the cold to come check it out.

After 20+ meetings in Bozeman, I was ready to head home Friday night, but my new friend Molly was eager to ski on Saturday.  I was pretty eager too, and Anna was from Bozeman and feeling behind on her season already. We headed for St. Mary’s at 830am, got the car stuck around 10, and topped out around 2pm. The snow was fun, but there still wasn’t very much of it so I was glad to be on my older telemark skis (the new dynafit setup is waiting for a few more storm cycles).

Molly and Izzie making short work of the skinning.

Molly and Izzie making short work of the skinning.

Anna on top of her first Bitterroot winter summit.

Anna on top of her first Bitterroot winter summit.

With another day of splitter weather in the forecast, there was no reason not to try for all three sports. Even with the cold temps, there were about a dozen people headed to Mill Creek and I was happy to join in the fun.

hoarfrost

Just “a little” hoarfrost on the hike in. Chilly mornings in the Bitterroot.

Molly and I ended up teaming up again, and I was psyched to nail my hardest on-sight yet: “No Drama Obama” (5.11b, 30m). Many thanks to Michael Moore for the photos, and Molly for the stellar belay. I raced the sun out of the canyon, and made it home in time for some non-profit work, laundry, and a solid meal.

No Drama Obama, Mill Creek, Montana

Somehow, I was firing hot in the chilly temps.

I can’t think of many places to combine sports like this. With the long weekend coming up, I’m sure there is more trouble on the way. These are the kinds of adventures I want to make sure I have more often this winter.

Elves

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(I’m behind on posting, welcome to catching up on the adventure)

A few weeks ago I met some people at the Bozeman Ice Festival that really know how to have fun.  Despite going to Australia this week (oh yeah, didn’t see that coming did you?),  a spontaneous visit to Salt Lake City was on order for Christmas weekend.  A huge thank you to Sarah, Peter, and Brit for being amazing hosts.  While Salt Lake is known for Mormons and the Wasatch front, elves are apparently a big deal too:

Cousins Peter and Brit show off the latest fashions.

Cousins Peter and Brit show off the latest fashions (exterior door shown for scale).

I rolled in on Saturday afternoon, and after a quick hike to check on ice climbing conditions, Sarah and I joined in the Santa pub-crawl mayhem.

Well... someone needed to step up and be Pimp Santa.

Well… someone needed to step up and be Pimp Santa.

Despite a great outfit, I bailed on the pub crawl relatively early with thoughts of ice climbing on my mind.  The ice was surprisingly poorly formed and thin, and while Sarah and I ticked 3 of 4 pitches on “The Great White Icicle” (WI 3, 4p), eventually my judgement won over, and we headed for Brit’s hot tub and a fun little jam session with a few other folks.

Thinner than it looked.

Thinner than it looked.

Sarah isn’t as into backcountry skiing as I am, but fortunately she’s got some great friends.  Matt C, Hasen, Tyler, and Matt X, thanks so much for letting me join the fun.  It was dumping powder in the Wasatch, and while that pushed us on lower angle slopes, we still had an amazing day of skiing.  Sarah had lunch on the table when we rolled home, and suddenly my cello was in hand while Matt C sang Talking Heads.

Doing due diligence in the avy pit.

Doing due diligence in the avy pit.

Sweetness.

Sweetness.

Christmas Eve finished cooking a stellar meal with Sarah, then a small gathering of friends hosted by one of her former professors.

My drive home featured dry roads, and clear skies, so the hours passed quickly. Even with all of the outdoor sports centered in Salt Lake, I’ve spent very little time there.  With friends like these, I suspect I’ll be back soon.

Somewhere south of Dillon, MT.

Somewhere south of Dillon, MT.

Still On!

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It was 930pm on Saturday night, and I’m feeling worked from too many days at the rock gym.  Rather than doing something social, I spent the evening researching backcountry skiing options.  My friend Jake is a strong skier, and has his weekend on Sunday & Monday.  He was psyched to ski, and the colder temps and frequent precip left me thinking that spring skiing today might be in fine shape.  The season is still on!

Good to go for another awesome day in the Bitterroot.

St. Mary’s is a classic ski line in the Bitterroot range, and I had tried it once before but with little success. Driving south on Hwy 93 past Victor, MT it’s easy to dream up carving giant turns in the open bowl. We left town around 715a this morning and were skinning the road at 845a. The road was clear to the 735/735A junction, and we alternated skinning and bootpacking in equal amounts from there to the trailhead.  Another hour put us on top of the first knob, but awful skinning conditions slowed us down on our way to the true summit.  Temps dropped quickly, but we had relatively little wind, so things stayed mostly comfortable up high.  We tagged the summit around 1245pm in clearing conditions, and were blown away by the view- I just didn’t know the backside of the Bitterroot looked quite so… awesome:

Really?

You should see that again:

Admittedly, wilder than I had even hoped for (with a few edits).

Psyched to be on top, and “curious” about the route down, we changed over and started scouting things out.  It looked okay, but as I traversed into the crux headwall, it didn’t feel okay.  Despite a well consolidated snowpack, my ski cut gave me the avalanche shivers, and threw a bunch of chunky crap down the route.  I stopped, looked around, and only then noticed the extent of older avalanche debris. The slope I cut hadn’t slid, but I wasn’t sure it wouldn’t.  That said, I was sure I needed to get off it.  I lifted my foot to initiate a turn, but instead of turning, a funny thing happened. I discovered my right ski binding wasn’t actually properly clipped to my boot.

It’s an odd feeling to watch your ski take off down the hill without you on it…

The ski made it out of the suspected avalanche zone quite a bit faster than I did.  I made short work of bootpacking down after it, and was glad to see it stop only 250m downslope, but I missed out on the steep skiing (and possible avalanche triggering).  Not sure if it was “a sign”, but I was psyched the slope didn’t slide while Jake dropped down to meet me, and with two skis firmly attached, we cleared the area in short order.  I’m not going to get in to the exact decision-making here, but it didn’t feel good at the time, and I’m thankful for the learning opportunity.

Our tracks are on the main face right of the triangle of trees. Stout.

We enjoyed the rest of the ski, I may have spied some ice climbing for next winter, and getting back to the car required quite a bit of work.  Despite the scare on the headwall, it was a beautiful day out, and I’m psyched to have a little more experience with a solid partner.

The weather kept getting better for us as the day got later.

“Spring conditions” at low elevations. Time to re-tune the skis!

 

Adventures? Yes…

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… I am still having them, but  my motivation to write about them has been low.  Sometimes we all need a break from blogging.  A summary of adventures, in rough chronological order over the last two weeks:

Country swing dancing at the local cowboy bar.  Gotta give them credit, the band (County Line) was ripping.

Cowboys just love to dance.

Plenty of hiking and trail running on a few of the local trails now open for the season, including my first trip up Mt. Jumbo.

Mt. Jumbo is finally open for hiking!

Lots of contracting work.  Crawlspaces, gas piping, big power tools, the works.  Feels good to start to figure some of it out.

It is strangely gratifying to put a 6" hole in the side of someone's house...

This is how you prevent a gas leak, before you turn on the gas...

A little rock climbing on a day of unlikely weather.  I was glad to get into Kootenai canyon and start identifying a few projects for the season.  Steve is a beast.

The rope hangs, after two whippers on the crux...

And today, a little backcountry skiing at Lolo Pass with a new partner.  Many thanks to Jake for hiking a lot, never complaining, and making some good looking turns.  Glad we could make the most of a “variable” day!

The weather couldn't make up its mind on Lolo Pass today...

Today was not a powder day, but might have been everything else.

Stronger?

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I’ve been training for most of the winter.  After putting on a few pounds of tasty and cheap Colombian food last fall, I’m back to feeling fitter and lighter than I have in a long time.  Knees to elbows, kettlebell squats, and deadhanging on my ice tools- long garage sessions have made me sweat.  I’m feeling strong ice climbing, and am excited to get even stronger rock climbing.  That said, one of the things I love most about the mountain sports is that there is always, always, someone stronger than you.  People who are just on the next level, and it seems like I’ve been running into those people a lot lately.

Friday, I enjoyed a long session at the rock gym getting to know more of my local community.  Good times, and my hands still hurt on Saturday morning.  Fortunately, I spent Saturday skiing instead of climbing.  We had thick mashed potato snow that made for hard skiing.  My friend Emily, despite being raised on a diet of 3% Utah powder, proceeded to tear it up with high style while I cartwheeled down behind her… (no photos as it was too wet for the camera).  I’m going to have to step my game up if I want to continue to ski with Emily, and I am looking forward to that.

Boldly we go...

I originally had more mellow plans for Sunday, but my buddy Steve and few other locals were headed out to Kootenai Canyon and I figured a day out was better than a day inside, so I tagged along- not really knowing what I was in for.  I had mt some of Steve’s friends before- skinny college kids that flash the boulder problems I project.  With some precipitation in the air, we headed for “The Sick Bay” and proceeded to work a bunch of sport climbs that were easily four or five grades harder than anything I have ever done.

Working the crux- hands crimped, heel hooked, and throwing to a huge pocket.

Yes, it was a little cold, but Cole solved that problem by climbing 5.12 in his puffy coat...

Keeping cool despite the puffy coat, just before a huge whipper.

By and large, I was rested and psyched to climb- and I spent most of my day thruching from bolt to bolt.  My friends, by and large, were hungover from St. Patricks Day celebrations and proceeded to link large sections of each climb before taking sizable lead falls.  The only way to climb hard is to get on hard climbs, and my lackluster performance leaves me itching to work at the task.  I am very grateful to have friends that are stronger than me, and sincerely appreciate their patience.  It’s good to get humbled by people you like.

I'll figure this out one of these days...

“Your real friends will make sure that next week’s you is better than this week’s you.”  (attribution withheld by request)

One Mile

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One vertical mile… is a good measure for how much terrain I can comfortably cover in a day on my backcountry ski setup.  Skied Little St. Josephs from the parking lot to the knob today with Gwen.  We encountered every type of snow possible- ice, mush, waist deep unbelievably gorgeous powder, breakable crust, hardpack, corn.  I’m tired, and no it wasn’t a day full of face shots, but I’m not complaining.

Smiling at our first views of what we would be skiing.

A little blurry, but the wind on top was going to knock me off my feet.

Happy to be back from the summit, and ready for some powder turns.

Crappy snow on the way down was mitigated by amazing colors and views.

There is something gratifying (and desperately wrong) with starting and ending the day with your skis on your back.  Still hoping for some real snow to hit Montana this winter, but grateful for what is out there.

Grin

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I get great satisfaction out of many things in life- managing a project on budget, sending a big ice line, or making a new friend.  None of these things puts a shit eating grin on my face quite like a perfect day of backcountry skiing.

The Crystal Theater is 50 minutes drive from my desk, and perfect for a Friday afternoon.

This weekend I got two of them.  My face hurts from so much smiling.

I’ve learned to make plans that keep me away from work.  For example- if I tell my friend Gwen that I think I can get out of work to ski on Friday afternoon, then I feel compelled to honor that statement, rather than spending my Friday afternoon accomplishing work that could just as well be accomplished later (possible on Saturday or Sunday, but more optimally on Monday).  So that’s what we did, and it was perfect.

Way better than my desk.

We started skinning into “the Crystal Theater” exactly 1h 10min after leaving Gwen’s house, and found 18″ of deliciously dry powder and stable avalanche conditions.  Full of stoke, we boogied to the top of the highest thing we could see well before the sun dropped behind the ridge, and proceeded to enjoy face shots almost all the way back to the flats.

Unbelievable snow.

We had such a good time, the only logical thing to do was do it again, so early Sunday morning we headed back up to Lolo Pass proper and skinned as far away from the snowmobiles as possible.  We missed Gwen’s boyfriend Ross joining in the fun, but we made sure to get in some extra laps for him.

Gwen's got the grin too.

Our first run was “exploratory” as the cold temps and bright sun had definitely baked the south aspect, but we headed deep into new territory and found the goods on round two.

Perfect glades full of powder.

We also took note of some of the tallest hoarfrost I’ve ever seen.  While we were largely skiing low angle slopes, this layer might create some interesting avy conditions if we get dumped on again in the next few days.

Huge hoarfrost "crisps!"

The bottom of run two put us on a forest service road, and while skinning back towards more familiar terrain, we both noticed a beautiful east facing slope with just a few tracks on it.  We were psyched to work a little more, and found some of the best snow of the day. Round 3 was not the end of the day.

Getting the goods on round 4, cutting across our own tracks from round 3.

We had a mix of broken trail, well laid skin track, and snowmobile pack, but by the time we got to the car our legs were feeling the work.

Willow gets mad credit for breaking trail most of the day.

Nothing quite like a perfect sunny day in a (mostly) quiet forest full of snow.  SO GOOD.  Many thanks to Gwen for being quick on her skins and eager to work hard- thanks lady!

The dropping sun leaves behind perfect colors.

Lolo Pass Backcountry Skiing Day 2

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Got out for some backcountry skiing with solid partners in Ross and Gwen.  It was a warm, beautiful day, and as I will try to always do, here’s the video to our avalanche pit test, which I screwed up when I cut it (but that does say something about the snow stability).  On the video I mention we had a collapse at CT13, but I should have said CT14 (if you count and watch the video…).  Temps were warm (~35-40deg) and we were about 2 miles northwest of the Lolo Pass SnoPark (at an area I think called “the Gash”).

Slope aspect was 300deg northwest.
Slope angle was 26deg.
Strong layers observed at 30cm, 90cm, and 120cm.  Be careful out there!

Gwen gets down to get the scoop on avalanche conditions.

Ross, Gwen, and Willow ready for a beautiful day of turns.

About to exercise good judgement.