Utah Backcountry Skiing

Ski Area Expansion and Canyons 'SkiLink'

2011-12-13T00:22:00.003-07:00

The seven ski areas of the central Wasatch fall within three distinct areas: the Wasatch back areas of Park City, Big Cottonwood Canyon and Little Cottonwood Canyon. Each area remains separate from one another and holds their own distinct character. Hopefully it will stay that way.

This year the Canyons resort has upped the ante with a proposal to link the Park City side to Big Cottonwood with a ski lift called ‘SkiLink’. So what does this mean for the Backcountry skiing in the area? I’ll give you a hint; it’s similar to playing with fire.

The Canyons resort, or just ‘Canyons,’ as it is now called (everything said latte must be good), wants more. And they might just well need more to maintain their current assets, the resort is a real estate development with some skiing nearby; not a proper ski area. It seems they want to draw an eye; to differentiate themselves from the other Park City based resorts. The ability for Canyons guests to go to a different ski area for a day could be an appealing draw. This plan seems less to do with an inter-connected system of ski areas and more to do with a marketing stunt and the possibility for more in the future.

At first glance it seems like a no brainer, connect all the resorts in the region and ski around with glee. Ski for miles, like in Europe, and go where you please. The problem with this concept here in Utah from a backcountry skiing standpoint is that although more terrain may be accessed by lifts that you often can’t go where you please, even in areas on public land. Ski areas can charge whatever they want to use their services (nearing double the cost of skiing in europe) and close areas or access to areas at their discretion, largely due to liability concerns. Aside from the fact that new in-area terrain ruins areas that were once less touched, new lift served areas allow for more limitations on where it is possible to go even outside the ski area. For example, Snowbird closes the ridge access from Hidden peak to the American Fork Twin Peaks (and everything beyond) and for the majority of the season. So not only is the terrain within the ski area a rat race but the terrain beyond it is difficult or impossible to get to unless you walk up from outside the ski area. From a backcountry skiing standpoint the Snowbird tram might as well not even be there and is a far cry from the grand backcountry access points of the Alps such as the cable cars up La Meije in La Grave or Chamonix’s Augille du Midi.

Anyway, back to the dirt:

Canyons ‘SkiLink’ does not claim to expand ski terrain officially or affect the adjacent backcountry ski terrain it travels over in Big Cottonwood Canyon. The plan involves a point to point lift from the Solitude base area to a high elevation in-area neighborhood of the second home elite on the other side of the ridge (within Canyons). There is no planned top station on the ridge to immediately allow access to the backcountry and it would take several ski lifts to access the lift from Canyons base or to get back to the ridge to ski back to Big Cottonwood.

You might ask: why? Canyons claims that the lift will cut down on traffic on the Big Cottonwood road as less people would then have to drive around from Canyons if they chose to, which few currently do. For some reason nothing is said about the additional people that will drive up Big Cottonwood from Salt Lake City because the lift is there; undoubtedly increasing traffic overall in the canyon: HELLO!!!???

Skiers from Canyons would likely still be allowed access to the backcountry and into Big Cottonwood from other access points within the ski area, such as through the current access point off the 9990 lift, virtually creating a massive, unpatrolled, easily accessible backcountry area all the way down into Big Cottonwood. The fact that several lifts would be necessary to turn backcountry laps would surely make it necessary to purchase an all day ski pass for nearly $100 a day (opposed to single ride options such as that offered on the Millicent lift a few miles farther up Big Cottonwood at Brighton for $12).

The terrain affected leading back into Big Cottonwood is fantastic ski touring terrain and a reasonably safe area to travel for those in the know when avalanche risk is higher. It is a sanctuary when other areas are dangerous. Contrary to what Canyons states, this area would indeed be ruined for ski touring by resort skiers going out of the boundary if it remained permissible to do so; many of which skiers would undoubtedly not be able to safely deal with being out of bounds. The average clientele at Canyons is less than the self sufficient type.

All of the purposed lift expansion and adjacent backcountry also lies within the Salt Lake City Watershed. With the increased use of the area there will surely be impact to it. Lifts require fluids and maintenance overall and resort skiers leaving the boundary are animals too. Canyons beg to differ.

Canyons also argue there will be significant economic benefit from the lift development over the short and long term. My guess is that there could be some economic benefit over the short term but that global warming will ultimately drive Canyons out of business far before the ski areas in the Cottonwoods as it snows significantly less there and is lower in elevation.

My biggest fear of the entire idea of ‘SkiLink’ is what really may be being planned; what I would guess is more real estate and or a purchase of Solitude. It would be very sad to see the McMansions of the entire Park City area infiltrate Big Cottonwood. There are thousands of lots in Big Cottonwood and nearly everything has a price tag. The Park City area is a disease really. If we really want a euro style skiing area, we need to lose liability concerns and get rid of the real estate mongers pushing on-mountain private homes; then we’ll talk.

Canyons 'SkiLink' development is pending approval by the USFS or waiting on the approval of an over the top maneuver as Utah senators in Washington favor the idea. 30 acres of Forest Service land must be eased for the proposal to go through. Stinky politics is all over this one.

The negatives on the land: straightchuter

Latest Findings of Canyons preliminary report disputed: The Salt Lake Tribune

Have a look for yourself: http://www.skilink.com/

What are your thoughts?

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Don't Do This, Early Season Dramas

2011-11-27T20:49:00.005-07:00

Even with something that is as innately familiar as skiing is to many of us, the early season can to lead to uniquely great and often humbling experiences in the backcountry. The following is a realistic scenario of an early season day ski touring. Humbly, I will say that I couldn't really make this shit up; it includes some truths of some antics over the years, though not all of these truths occurred at any one time as stated below. Enjoy and try to avoid getting into these situations, avalanches aren't the only thing that can ruin your ski day!

................

Imagine This:

After months away you click into your old reliable ski set-up and shortly after you start wondering how you ever skied every day on these things. They are noodle boards now, with rusty edges and with spotty patches of petex remaining; relics of once greatly civilized equipment. Memories stir.

You start out with a friend on an ambitious canyon to canyon ski tour; thumbing a ride out from the other side should not be an issue now as a ski area has opened for the season in that canyon.

The ascent seems like more effort than it should be and now it’s already the afternoon; finding batteries for a transceiver caused an earlier diversion. Some clouds roll in and the light is very dim under the thick pine forest canopy. Coming up the trail your head sags as you try to catch your breath, your legs seem heavy. Rounding a turn a moose’s head suddenly appears right in front of you! Motionless it stares at you, lips sagging as it chews on a tasty branch. The moose doesn’t seem amused and smells quite earthy. You are frozen in your tracks.

You divert off the main trail to get around the creature. Aimed on cleaning up your shorts you struggle through some shrubbery where a willow loads up under one of your ski tips and then releases, making perfect impact with your right testicle or respective area.

At sunset you find yourself on a high ridge with a mellowish slope below. It is a familiar and beautiful sight. You would have preferred skiing something steeper but you fear the additional rocks you might hit and potential for avalanches on the steeper slopes. Just before you start to ski you remove your goggles because you can’t freaking see anything with them on any more. It’s getting dark and it’s really cold, particularly on your face. Your partner is still working out putting his old split board together, one of the attachment points is missing but he should be alright getting down with some finesse.

Your first couple turns feel great, the sound of crystalline snow echoes each turn. The light is flat but you go faster anyway. You clip a small rock before accelerating over a blind roll that you couldn’t see, hitting several rocks with great force. Sparks fly quite noticeably off your edges in the dimming sky. At the bottom of the run you regroup after some nice turns.

You continue on and after ten minutes of log hopping and traversing through a lower elevation thicket you stop to catch your breath and evaluate your route. Suddenly, you hear some loud yelling from somewhere around you; it is coming from the tree, the one above you, huh? A bow hunter perched in his tree stand isn’t amused. You keep moving and then stop to grab some water, a quick bite and to evaluate the condition of your shorts, again. Your water bottle is frozen, the candy bar seriously stresses your jaw with its new-found diamond like hardness, and your pants are thankfully still clean but one pant leg is in fact a bit torn.

It’s cold, colder than before, and dark, completely dark at this point. You have one head lamp between you and your partner and it’s really dim as the batteries are nearly dead. You take your jacket off to put on a fleece, your final article of clothing in your pack. In the process you notice the flashing light on your transceiver, an idea strikes you. Mostly out of avalanche terrain at this point you sacrifice the functionality of your beacon for the commodity of light. The batteries that were purchased only five hours ago prove to be dual purpose.

At 6pm you reach the road with your partner, reasonably unscathed but with cold fingers and colder toes. Wearing your black jacket and black pants you stick a thumb out on a dark stretch of road in hopes of getting a ride, any ride. The ski area up canyon has closed hours ago and there aren’t any cars coming this way anymore; it’s going to be a long walk to the valley you think. You joke to your partner that the only person coming down canyon is going to be some drunk spilling out of the ski area bar, as those were the only folks still left in the mountains this time of day.

Twenty minutes pass before a car is sighted, this one driving UP the canyon. Ultimately you need to go down the canyon but with the thought that there may be a greater chance for a ride leaving from the bar up canyon you decide that any ride is a good one. Plus, there is beer and warmth at a bar, an improvement of your current situation. The car stops and helps you make it to the bar without any issue. In the parking area a man walks to his car and happily agrees to give you a lift.

On the way down the canyon the driver, already heavy with booze and drinking a tall boy asks you whether you have any green. You tell the man that you are fresh out but this doesn’t ease his paranoia. Every so often he asks in a loud raising voice, “Is that Johnny?” He is hyper-paranoid about getting pulled over and slows every now and then to allow cars from behind to pass. On one of these courtesy maneuvers he succeeds in getting stuck in the snow bank off the side of the road.

It is dark and cold, really cold. You have your avalanche shovel assembled and are shoveling some drunken asshole’s car out of the ditch, somewhere in the wilderness. You ask your friend, “So, do we just keep hitching now or what?” Before long you are underway again, still with the drunk jackass. He drops you off at your car and you look at your friend and laugh at the end of a fine day.

What was the most dangerous part of your day?

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What Mountain Range Has the Best Snow?

2011-11-22T00:48:00.012-07:00

Snow, it is the median which makes it all possible for skiers and snowboarders alike, fuel for an entire culture of winter addicts. But who gets the best snow? Well, this may be a more difficult question to answer than you might expect. The answer? well, it depends, largely on what type of skiing that you want to be doing.

It is fairly common knowledge that snow varies in its density, or water content. In general, the colder that it is the less moisture you will find in falling snow. If it snows near the freezing point snowfalls will generally be of heavier density than if it is colder. Warm air masses also hold a far greater amount of moisture than colder ones, so a warm storm is not only more likely to produce heavy snow but it is also far more likely for it to snow more in general.

After snow falls out of the sky, the elements take over manipulating its destiny and shanging its form. Snow is constantly changing from the moment it starts to form in the sky, every moment it spends on the ground, and to the moment it melts entirely. The warmer and sunnier it is, the more likely settlement (the more air that will come out of the snow) and the more snow crystal bonding and cohesion that will occur. The cooler and shadier it is, the less the likelihood of settlement that will occur will be and the more faceting (angulation) that will occur to snow crystals, which creates a greater lack of cohesion between snow crystals. (To be specific the true cause of snow crystal metamorphosis is one of gradients of temperatures and coinciding vapor pressure. Snow and ice continually sublimate just as liquids evaporate, causing a transfer of vapor out from, into and around individual crystals).

Some will argue that high elevation coastal areas such as the Sierra Nevada's, CA have the best snow because the powder skiing is great during storms and it sits on a thick base left by other past storms that cover and stick to the mountain like super glue. It often snows so fast that, even though the snow is of a higher density it simply can’t settle fast enough. The result is high quality deep powder skiing conditions that after storms sets-up more rapidly than it does in more interior areas due to comparatively mild temperatures. Avalanches in coastal ranges are often frequent and massive during and shortly after storms and then stabilize quite readily afterward.

Bill Fleming having the time of his life on Wizard Rings, Chugach Mountains, Alaska.

Others swear by the “cold smoke,” or the super light density snow which falls in more interior, often high elevation ranges. It doesn’t snow as often here, nor nearly as much as it does on the coast, but when the conditions are right it is the true “white room” experience. The issue at ski areas in this snow climate is getting enough new snow so that you are not skiing on a hard surface below the storm snow; as due to the light nature of the snow it takes a lot of it to keep you afloat. High quality surface snow conditions often last great lengths of time after storms here. Avalanches in continental areas are slightly less frequent than in coastal areas during storms but, however, are large and less predictable when they do occur. Instabilities often last long after storms, even through whole ski seasons. The Colorado and Canadian Rockies are great examples of this snow climate.

There are several ranges which share a bit of both coastal (maritime) and interior (continental) snow climate characteristics. These inter-mountain areas often still get lots of moisture though not as much as coastal ranges. Being a bit colder than on the coast; the result is often significant amounts of dryer snow which stays good longer. Variations in weather can at times can make it seem like one climate extreme or the other. Good examples in North America include the Tetons, Wasatch, Sawtooths, Selkirks, etc.

The latitude of an area also plays a significant role. In addition to overall temperature it plays a large role in which aspects of the compass will spoil or not due to sun exposure. You might be skiing powder on a south aspect in Canada on a given date where in say Utah it would be greatly unlikely to do the same. In mid winter there is less and less sun exposure over the entire compass the farther north one travels, come late spring the opposite is more or less true as the far north starts seeing a great increase in daylight hours which keep slopes warm longer. (It gets to a point where there is very little cool down during the night).

Megan Boyer trying to stay afloat in the Uinta Mountains, Utah

An argument can be made for so many different places having the best snow for the best skiing that it is hard to say that it isn’t true of any one location without serious consideration. Additionally, it is unlikely that you would see the best chance of superior snow or skiing quality in one region for the course of a whole season. Another large contributing factor is terrain, as the snow is pretty meaningless without steep mountainsides for it to reside.

I therefore would like to break my opinionated answer to this grand question down to two places which offer great and very different skiing from one and other:

Best Powder Skiing: The Wasatch Range, Utah.

Because the license plate told me so… and a multitude of other reasons, to name a few of the many: It's in an Inter-Mountain snow climate. There is a large elevation change from valley to peak creating a huge amount of lift and cooling potential for air masses. The valley is also occupied by a large body of salt water which is reluctant to freeze and provides immense amounts of added moisture to storms, particularly when the lake is at its warmest early in the season. The overall elevation is reasonably high which cools air just enough, but the mountains are not too high as to be dramatically affected by extreme winds in the free air mass. The range is in a virtual bowling alley for storms that come off of the west coast of the continent.

The terrain of the Wasatch is comprised of reasonably steep and consistent fall lines of moderate length. The snow is often bottomless (unsupported underneath) and breathing can be a commodity. There is a speed limit in this sort of snow though because of its unsupportable nature to a rider. Rocks still loom over steep break-overs and super steeps as the snow that falls is often too dry to stick and stay on the mountainside, but rather it sluffs off steeps during storms.

Best Snow for Having the Ride of your Life: Chugach Range, Alaska.

The Chugach is a coastal range and it snows a lot there, a real lot, a different sort of real lot! Snow comes in warmish (remember we are talking about Alaska here- it’s still fairly cool) and sticks to the steep mountain sides. As storms pass colder air comes into the area and virtually sucks the moisture out of the surface snow. It is sort of a best of both worlds snowpack, but really it’s just a maritime snowpack on steroids.

The terrain is limitless, just as the legend states and the snow is what makes riding it possible. Supportable denser powder underneath, blower on top = often no speed limit for a rider. Five star.

Let the discussion begin!

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Go Pro? If you are lucky.

2011-11-19T23:28:00.004-07:00

For years I have favored the Contour HD POV cameras; mostly due to their lower, less obtrusive profile (particularly when laid flat on the top of a helmet). Lets be honest, the video quality with the Go Pros is as good as any POV but they look super hokey and can get in the way a bit more than the competition. I'm not saying that a Contour POV wouldn't get in the way also, but the following scenario just seems a lot less likely with one. Yes, this guy is getting after it pretty seriously doing some arco on a speed wing and does mess up, but the fact remains that things might have been a little more in his favor if it wasn't for that THING sticking off of his head several inches! I have always wondered about this senario and well, lookey here.

Watch the video here!

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Avoiding Early Season Avalanches

2011-11-14T17:15:00.008-07:00

Nearly every winter season the story is the same; avalanche burials with often fatal consequence. I suppose it is somewhat late to be writing this now considering that it was just yesterday that a skier died in a slide in Little Cottonwood canyon, but I feel compelled to try and help shed some light on why this phenomenon is so common in an attempt to help others make better decisions in the backcountry.
A few common contributing factors why the early season can be so troublesome for human involved slides are as follows:

1) Weak Snow: During the early season snow can become very weak (hard to make a snowball with) due to the often thin cover on the ground and cool temperatures. When this snow is then snowed over again, the new snow on top can act as a slab which can fail and cause an avalanche either naturally or with the added weight of a skier. In the early season the preservation of weak snow is most common in shaded higher elevation areas; in Utah it is often most prevalant on northerly slopes above 9000’(though it can be problematic on all aspects, particularly at high elevations). The development of weak snow (faceted snow) becomes less likely the deeper the amount of snow on the ground becomes (with some exceptions) and the warmer the temperatures.

2) Scarcity: In the early season it is often very difficult to ski at all in areas where the snow isn’t the deepest. The deepest snow is often found in the same areas where preserved weak snow is found too, so the most skiing takes place in areas where the snowpack is at its weakest. Sometimes this phenomenon can last for several weeks or even through the winter in a cold and dry year; good quality skiing in the high northerly terrain and nearly impossible skiing through shrubs and rocks in all but those areas. All the skiers, snowboarders and other users want to use the same terrain and there simply is less real estate for the masses to use causing areas to get very tracked up at times. Inevitably people start entering steeper and more avalanche prone terrain the more tracked up an area becomes. Peoples comfort zones expand when they have no other reasonable options for getting pristine snow; regardless of the avalanche hazard.

3) Frenzy: At the start of the ski season people want the goods and they want it bad! Thinking becomes secondary to getting; people have been waiting all summer. Images of skiing epic powder crowd the brain often well before any desires to stop think and behave including remembering to bring and practice with the requisite backcountry avalanche safety gear. People are crazed for powder.

A word of advice: Take it slow and easy in the early season and show a bit of prudency and skepticism when evaluating ski terrain. Freshen up on avi safety skills, use the gear and act cautiously; this goes for the backcountry and inbounds. If you are skiing in steep terrain early in the season it is likely that it is in an area where there has been some weak snow present at one time or another. Deeply buried, faceted weak snow in this context can be very tricky to manage even for ski area patrols with explosives, at times resulting in falsely positive indications of stability (Bombs go off, nothing slides but it still may not be safe).This was the case twice in the last five years at Utah ski areas alone including inbounds slides at Snowbird and the Canyons resorts which both resulted in fatalities in OPEN ski terrain. If terrain is being opened for the first time of the season use EXTRA caution. Remember when the snowpack is thin, if it slides there is a higher likelihood of being battered by rocks too.

Moreover, use some common sense and live to ski another day!

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Jamie Pierre Dies in Little Cottonwood Canyon Avalanche

2011-11-14T14:28:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Nov. 13 2011 an avalanche claimed the life of Jamie Pierre, a well known facet of the pro film skier community. According to the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center, the accident occurred in the South Chute area within the yet to open for the season Snowbird ski area. Pierre was dragged through rocks and partially buried, as reported by his skiing partner to the UAFC.

I refuse to speculate my opinion on the accident as I was not there and there are limitless possibilities of what and why decisions led to this fatal mistake. All I can say is that I am saddened by the accident and feel for those who were close to them. Jamie was well known world wide for his antics of "going big" and died virtually in his backyard, an area he had undoubtedly skied more than anywhere else.

Jamie pushed the sport of skiing a great deal for longer than a decade and gave the Wasatch a huge amount of exposure. He was the first person to clear the storried 90' Pyramid Gap, the 165' east facing cliff in Wolverine Cirque and the infamous 255' cliff outside of Grand Targhee, WY (largest intentional cliff drop world record) among dozens of other feats. Jamie changed the idea of what was possible and is truly now a man of legend

Photos of the Avalanche were released by the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center

An article by Skiing Magazine found here: jamie-pierre-story sheds some light on the unique individual that was Jamie Pierre.

Tribute to Antoine Montant

2011-10-23T18:25:00.001-06:00

With the terrible news of the passing of a person that defined the sport of speed flying, we can only pay tribute and revel in awe of a once seemingly super-human individual. Thanks Antoine for doing the impossible for the rest of us, you are a true legend of the skies. Antoine apparently died while on a BASE jump near Collet d’Anterne in Haute Savoie, France. He was 30 years old. For more details see: justacro.com

Speed Riding - Antoine Montant - Can't Stop

Antics on the Water- in Slow and Warp Speed

2011-10-19T12:31:00.002-06:00

Only People That Hike Deserve to Ski! to all the Wasatch Purists.

2011-05-14T11:02:00.001-06:00

Kip Garre, a Ski Hero Lost

2011-04-29T00:11:00.004-06:00

On a very sad note Kip Garre and his girlfriend Allison Kreutzen died this past Tuesday, April 26, 2011 in an avalanche while approaching a ski line on Split Mountain in the High Sierras of California. Though incredibly humble Kip was a highly regarded ski mountaineer and perhaps one of the best international voices for American ski mountaineering.

Kip was a friend and co-worker of mine guiding at Point North Heli Adventures in Alaska and with Ice Axe Expeditions 2009 ski trip to the Antarctic. I can say first hand that he was a dynamic, fun-filled and tireless personality who had an unwavering passion for skiing and the mountains. He had a soft heart and wanted to spread the joy he saw in the mountains and in all of life to everyone he met, so much so that he based his entire life around it. Skiing has lost one of its best worldwide representatives. I personally respected Kip as much as anyone I knew and it is extremely difficult to imagine the mountains without him. The ski communities of Alaska, his home in Lake Tahoe and where he grew up in New Hampshire will miss him dearly. Allison will equally be missed by her many friends and family.

Powder Magazine has details of the accident and recovery effort here:
www.powdermag.com/mantle/kip-garre-1973-2011/

ESPN has another good article here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/news/story?id=6445398

Hellgate by Air

2011-04-25T21:44:00.002-06:00

These boys are going off... Literally

Powder Cats Fly Over

2011-04-21T13:55:00.001-06:00

Huck Yo Meat

2011-04-01T21:29:00.001-06:00

Wicked Wolverine Cirque huck footage.

The Ridge

2011-03-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

Patrolling Fantasy Ridge - Solitude Snow Safety - Ski Utah Powder Lounge from Tim Roberts on Vimeo.

A South Pacific Nightmare

2011-02-02T22:04:00.021-07:00

This past November I was jet-set and bound for the States and the coming ski season in Utah. Little did I know but a short stop in Tonga on the way lead me straight into some pretty intense drama. A few days of summer turned into a medical mess. That's what you get with summers, this is why I am a follower of WINTER!

After a couple days of scuba diving off of the idyllic tropical island of Vava'u in the remoteness of the South Pacific I fell ill. Not the sicky-flu-like ill but more the hard to breath, my chest hurts, why is there so much pressure behind my eyes? kind of ill. "Oh Shit I'm bent," I thought. What do I do now? Well, you go to the hospital is what you do, but there isn't a decompression facility anywhere nearby, not a one in the country as matter of fact. Ultimately I was admitted to a medical institution which was more what I would have imagined a prison in Southeast Asia to look like. First and foremost there was no soap, there were cats. There was morphine though and I will say that it is an interesting experience being awakened by dozens of biting mosquitoes when writhing in an opioid sea. At first the local doctor wasn't convinced that I was suffering from anything related to the dives. By morning however he began to reconsider his evaluation after results of a normal blood count came back. He didn't quite know what to think. Ironically this is close to where I am sitting with the illness even now.

Jesus is honestly a pain in my ass. You could be plagued with illness but the only thing you are going to be able to do here if it is Sunday is go and pray, rest assured. In this religiously absorbed area of the third world there is nowhere to buy anything, including a phone card. Obviously these people must have not been praying hard enough if a white boy from afar can't use a telephone on a Sunday, right?. With no help from anyone and in a hazed delirium. it took inedible effort to achieve the most basic of communications. Eventually I found that I actually could make calls to far away places with the assistance of my credit card number. This however was like signing the phone receiver in blood as the calls were more than $6USD a minute. It was somewhere around this time that I remembered that my international evacuation insurance had lapsed. My calls to the nearest American embassy (in Fiji) were unfruitful as well due to the Sunday effect at hand.

In the case that I was suffering from the bends the best solution was to be re-compressed in a hyperbaric chamber as soon as possible. This is generally a problem when you are on a remote island without a chamber. The only access to or from the island is either by boat or by plane. To get to a facility a boat would likely be too slow and a plane would likely take you too high, which can exacerbate symptoms even further due to the pressure change. I'm not sure what was worse by this point, illness or anxiety.

Three and a half days later I walked down the tarmac of the local airstrip, approaching a small prop plane bound for Tongatapu (the main island of Tonga and the only international connecting hub). Very nervously, I approached the captain of the plane while boarding the aircraft and explained my situation. The Kiwi recruited pilot said to me that he would see what he could do and that he would try to keep the cabin pressurized to a near sea-level equivalent. I sat in the first row of seats on the puddle jumper, right behind the pilot. As we took off I noticed that he had the operations manual open on his lap, obviously this wasn't standard procedure! Every now and then he looked back and signaled to me with his hands to see how I was handling the ascent. I was very uneasy about what was going on as I really wasn't sure if my head was going to explode at any minute! (That wont actually happen but it can still be dangerous for a bent individual. I didn't know the extent of the danger at the time) I had close eyes on my altimeter watch during the entire flight.We ended up landing without incident less than an hour later at our destination.

The captain had kept the pressure below a 1600 foot elevation equivalent. I still wasn't sure if i was safe yet though, I didn't know how I was going handle the 12 hour flight from there to Los Angeles. I knew very well that the captain of the trans-Pacific, jumbo jet was certainly not going to fly by the seat of his pants the way the puddle jumper pilot had. Ultimately, after a 12 hour round of the local diarrheal pleasures, I postponed my flight 36 hrs. Unfortunately I then had to fly back to New Zealand to be able to get to L.A.. Scheduling was as such for the rest of the week, adding another good five hours of flight time and a six hour layover in Auckland to the already long haul. Eventually I got back to Salt Lake City where I rolled out of the plane and into the emergency room for evaluation. I received hyperbaric treatments the two days that followed.

As I sit now I feel I bit better but not even close to normal and doctors are puzzled as to what I have or have had happen to me. The Bends? Maybe. Something else? Maybe. Skiing is on hold for this lad for the near future. This is ironic considering the massive winter that has unfolded over much of the North American continent and Utah particularly. The piles of snow in the woods of CT are going to have to please my visual senses for now. We shall see how well that works out. Wish me luck.

Funny Note: Over the years I have learned some tricks of the trade when it comes to maximizing the amount of baggage that you can bring onto the plane while minimizing the cost of it. In this trick-of-the-sick I asked the check-in lady at the airport desk in Tonga to take my photo after putting on my ski boots to wear onto the plane. The guys at security had no idea what they even were and I doubt that they had ever seen snow in their lives. They asked me what they were and I responded, "Oh, I have bad ankles," so that they wouldn't question what I was doing. Once through security, they went straight back into my carry on bag. I have thought to threaten to do this for years and it's ironic that the first person that gave me enough shit about baggage weight for me to actually do it was in a random tropical island!

Up yours AIR NEW ZEALAND!

Southward Bound

2010-11-15T17:12:00.002-07:00

With the general public punter ski season come and gone on the North Island I headed south to see what the snow was like in the Southern Alps. With memories of a ski attempt on Mt Cook two years prior it was safe to say that redemption was on the mind. Getting the right weather and crew to do it was another story. It had snowed and then gotten and stayed warm so my first day on the Tasman I just wanted to go for a look on foot to see where the snow line was and try to get a view of the conditions up high. I departed at 10pm well knowing that the slopes down low had not had a freeze in several days. The solo recon mission turned into a 16 hour glacial moraine death march, that involved a lot of effort for little reward and the bonus of a strained knee.

It was quite comical actually, at one point I found myself putting my crampons on in the dark to descend down the steep, loose dirt jumble of glacial moraine wall. I couldn't find the easiest way down it due to the darkness so the easiest solution was to down climb what appeared to be the best way. On return later in the day it was evident that my route finding was a bit off the mark.

After a heli lift up the Grand Plateau and a couple of days on skis it became evident that the big lines in the area would have to wait. One thing was for sure though, anytime hanging out above the Tasman Glacier is good time. It is just a phenomenally beautiful place!

Sheep

2010-10-16T10:55:00.000-06:00

Allow for delays on major North Island roads.

Up North Bro

2010-08-02T22:59:00.001-06:00

Time for a change. Up north to where volcanos loom over hot spring laden beaches. ok, maybe they don't loom straight over these steamy beaches but there are beaches which they loom above.

I came to New Zealand this year after purchasing a used car at auction over the internet. The seller picked me up at the airport, drove me to a bank and then gave me the keys. It seems to be working out, the key word being SEEMS!

I am working on Mt Ruapehu, an active volcano with commercial operations. The landscape high on the mountain is bizarre. There is a lake in the summit crater steaming away at 90F with ski slopes all around it and some leading into it. You aren't suppose to go into it as it is a very sacred and unique eco-system. I however forecast that if a floating lounge chair presented itself that it just may be my ticket to enlightenment.

Shadoman III

2010-05-15T18:46:00.000-06:00

The newest of the shadowman series. Heli, speed fly, sledalicious!

Shadowman III by air from john mletschnig on Vimeo.

The Lone Wolf

2010-05-05T13:37:00.001-06:00

I love skiing things that don't get skied very often for new challenges can equal great reward. The grass may seem to be greener and it often is. As much as the skiing can be good in any prime location it is the journey of working through the ambiguity of something that isn't familiar that makes a descent.

Perhaps it is this drive which has earned me a nickname.

During the last week of the heli season i had a chance to ski Paranoids, a steep Couloir in the Full Support Valley. Paranoids was one of these sort of lines which i have been eluding to, a new challenge to "feed the rat," as one English guide and client Guy, who was there to ski with me would put it. Every junkie needs some adrenaline... right? Thanks Steph for putting up with us, you crushed it!

Howl !!!

I then traveled on my lone over to Valdez for some touring with the Kiwi posse of Shane, Ruari and company. We had a day on RFS and a day the Iguana Backs before it was totally evident that spring was upon us. I found myself a day later catching up with Jorge, an Argentine which i had roomed with on the Ice Axe antarctic trip the previous November, then it was off to Girdwood for more catching up with friends, sled necking and speed flying.

Right down there... yep, that looks good.

2010-04-12T19:10:00.001-06:00

There is something about glacial roll overs and a deep maritime snowpack that make for absolutely amazing lighting. Very gradual transitions from light to shadow, all with unreal snow of course.

Watch your sluff!

2010-04-11T13:03:00.000-06:00

Shadowman's continued journey of ripping the Chugach.

South Funkytown, Full Support, South Bubbies Island and the Cordova Glacier.

Lots of snow moving at the start of the week, sort of a clinic on advanced ski cutting techniques you could say. All in all it was great skiing all across the zone.

Shadowman

2010-04-06T10:19:00.000-06:00

Helmet camera footage of Shadowman skiing the Chugach.

Just figuring out how this all really works, much room for growth. enjoy.

Ice Box

2010-04-04T23:10:00.001-06:00

Over the past several weeks I had been looking at a particular route through the Ice Box. Finally it all came together and the link up was complete. All the new snow over the past few weeks has done lots of good things for the glacial high country!

Round Two

2010-03-27T13:17:00.001-06:00

Fist shot is High above Eat the Worm, Ice Box and the Wave.

A mid week top off of a foot of snow with little wind yeilded more fantastic skiing. Flying out of the zone at the end of the week it really seems like spring has arrived with large cumulous puffers slowly moving past the ridgetops. Though now it is a snowy slury at base and the zone is getting crushed once again.

Wow

2010-03-22T17:07:00.001-06:00

Wizard Rings lit up.

Twenty feet of new snow, good stability and sun. Three amazing ski days!

The Storm

2010-03-14T17:46:00.001-06:00

It tends to snow a bit at times in the Chugach. Over the past 16 days between 4 -5 meters of snow has fallen in the high mountains. Skiing just in the trees of the Orca backyard was deep, over the shoulders by skiing terms and we're talking only between 2000' and the ocean. Getting out into the zone yesterday was like flying into a different range, snow encased everything and the skiing was DEEEEP. Its snowing again now so we will have to wait a bit more to reap the full benefits.

Press Start.

2010-03-04T16:49:00.001-07:00

First shot: Ben getting the goods on Pontoon's Film Wall.
Here we go, its heli time once again!

Skiers holy sacrifice.

Jamie and Niall ready to ski from Mt Eyak's summit, touring in the backyard.

Home again, Utah.

2010-02-12T15:33:00.000-07:00

Eric Wright skiing into Bountiful off of the Grandview ridge.

Gaining Cardiac Pass in great vis.

Out on the ranch. No Name Bowl in stellar conditions, Thousand Peaks Ranch.

Hello again Utah, so good to see you. My time in Utah seems to be in brief stints these days, at nearly six and a half weeks straight I remained within the states perimeter, settling into a duplex which was quite homely for a wee while there. It really is a never ending road, too many mountains, too little time. It was great living the city life for a while, catching up with friends and day guiding in the Wasatch and the Uintas.

A long avalanche cycle plagued the ranges of the inter mountain states this early winter. Persistent Hoar, the weak layer responsible, yes, that's the actual nomenclature for the weak snow that slides where failing on. Too true a name, too true. This translated to lots of low angle lovin while on skis.

U T A H.. still there. To ALASKA...

Lobster Christmas

2009-12-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

Eating Lobster is just about as good as it gets, especially for Christmas dinner. Ah New England.. and look at all that snow!

mmm lobster..

My Spanish Sucks... Mexico.

2009-12-15T23:35:00.001-07:00

With my spanish at this point hardly any better than it was first attempting to communicate in South America, it was only fit to try it all over again in Mexico. Two days in Utah then it was back to the airplanes for the wedding of two very good friends in Playa del Carmen. Congrats Adam and Deb!!! Nice work on the destination wedding!

Buenos Aires and Uruguay

2009-11-27T23:06:00.001-07:00

After returning from the antarctic I had some time to travel around Buenos Aires and the coast of Uruguay. Big city, cheap, great food in BA and some wild sand dune towns to the east in Uruguay. I was able to meet some great people along the way that felt sorry for my terrible spanish. Ha! well more or less.. the pictures tell most of the story.

Skiing with Penguins, Antarctica

2009-11-17T22:51:00.001-07:00

When in the mountains it is easy to let the fast pace world pass by, one day blends to the next and personal priorities become very simple. Snow covered mountains see no effect from wars on the other side of the world or even with domestic or personal issues for that matter. It doesn’t matter what day of the week it is, Mother Nature has no agenda.

I was excited to go to Antarctica for I knew it was a place that I may have not been able to easily reach otherwise in my lifetime. It was an amazing opportunity to go and I was excited about going skiing in a new place that was as far away as you can get from most anywhere else on the planet. I wasn’t however going there because I expected great skiing and this fact was a tricky one for me. Lying on the beach in Western Samoa on a short reprieve from a particularly dreary then dry late season in New Zealand, at the conclusion of my eighth back to back season between hemispheres, the idea of travelling for several days to a relative alpine wasteland left me with some mental issues. It seemed like I might be punishing myself….again!
Five days after leaving Samoa I was on skis again, for the first time in South America, skiing powder in Tierra del Fuego. The terrain, the snow, the immediate company and the local culture all combined were about as much as I could process and I began to have a really good feeling for what was to come.
Growing up on the coast has left me with an affinity for the water. Seemingly limitless and all consuming we can enjoy the oceans just as we can enjoy the mountains, under specific terms. We were going skiing in the mountains in a far removed ocean off of a boat, a ship for that matter, but it might as well have been just a boat for how unique and potentially precarious what we were doing really was.
Late in the evening and underway as the final glimpses of sunlight faded past the horizon the boat began to roll as we faced the open ocean, south of the final guarding pieces of South America. Sixty hours after departure, some passengers still writhing with seasickness, we caught our first glimpses of the white continent. It was exactly what I planned on seeing: steep, broken and white mountain sides rolling into the horizon with ice everywhere, a land devoid of most everything. I began to realize that it was theses obvious facts about Antarctica make it such an incredible place.
Perhaps the greatest difficulty of skiing from a boat in Antarctica is actually getting ashore. Being that the continent is primarily covered with glacial ice cap, ice headwalls of varying height line the shoreline. Many of the areas which provide some sort of reasonable access onto the ice cap were also noted by native wildlife. Consequently we had to jockey for space among the thousands of penguins which decided to make some of these landings their rookeries. Not incredibly afraid of humans Gentu and Chinstrap penguins would approach us and walk casually past us for whatever their purpose. Many of these same landings which the penguins were so fond of have also been used as locations for remote bases, some more elaborate than others, from countries around the world.
The Antarctic Peninsula juts out to the north into the brunt of the furious Southern Ocean. Weather conditions are normally poor with high winds, limited visibility and rain and snow occurring in a near perpetual manor. Hours of direct annual sunshine are measured in hours. As far as the weather goes, for whatever reason the cards were on our side. Of the week we had in Antarctic waters the majority of every day was spent in sunshine, with calm winds. We even had a shot of a few inches of new snow overnight after our second day skiing.
We started on the Northern portion of the peninsula and travelled south down the Gurlache straight and into the Lamar channel where the impressive Mt. Francois falls precipitously for over 9000 feet into the water. The terrain on the peninsula is a ski mountaineer’s heaven. Steep rock, ice and snow faces rise on all sides of the horizon with no features to reference size except more snow, rock and ice. Straight from sea level you are in the alpine, there are few approaches to terrain as that is what the boat is used for. It was sort of like a hut to hut ski tour except the boat was doing all the work shuttling supplies and overnight gear.
Under bright blue, calm skies we landed on Wiencke Island to start a day of touring. There was a wide variety of terrain and on a far corner of the earth life seemed pretty limitless. Over 600 miles from advanced medical care the best treatment for an injury was to not have one at all, but part way into the day one skier did. A lower leg injury was enough cause for an evacuation. Eighteen hours later under fair skies a Brazilian aircraft aided in the transport effort from a rendezvous point in the South Shetland Island, 200 miles north of the accident site.
Antarctica patiently waits at the end of the earth is without bias. It is a land without a parent governing it as no country possesses it. No towns exist for children to learn the unique politics which drive the course of the modern world. There is no industry for people to make money off of here but only a reserve for research. It doesn’t matter what day of the week it is in Antarctica, it doesn’t even matter what year it is, nor does it matter what religion you are or the religion of your neighbor. It is a virgin landscape seen like nowhere else on earth and a reprieve from the rest of the world.
We steered toward Livingston Island, a nearby island in the South Shetlands for some more skiing. As we entered the flat calm bay on the east side of the island, we quickly became surrounded with alps, covered with new snow and glistening under bright blue skies in fading afternoon light. No one was around other than us. I can honestly say that I have never been as jaw dropped as I was when I came onto the top deck for a look at where we were. As a skier, it was heaven. The following day we climbed several objectives and skied powder.
The journey to and isolation of Antarctica was much of my experience there. With no planes jet-setting the skies above it is a removed land like no other. Just as negative space in a paining outlines the emphasis of the positive; Antarctica is a haven which allows all humans a place to reflect on the rest of the world without actually leaving it. And yes there is good skiing there too.

DO NOT EAT RAW TARO LEAVES!

2009-10-26T15:06:00.003-06:00

Have you ever heard of Taro? No? well, its the potato of the Pacific. The leaves are often eaten and are deliciously prepared with coconut as a wrapping which is then baked to a steamy goodness. As it is called locally, palusami is about as good as it gets for local flavor.

Only a day after having some palusami during a traditional Sunday feast I went for a walk into the interior, alone on a walking track that happened to cut through what else, but large tracts of taro. Five km from the nearest village on my way down the hillside I wondered what these delicious taro leaves tasted like raw. As I took a small bite into the leaf of my choice it briefly crossed my mind that what i was doing might have not been the best idea. Right as I took a second bite I began having an incredible burning sensation in my throat. SHIT! I thought, as I began to panic slightly. The pain only got worse and I began the wheeze. I tried to focus, took my vitals as best as i could and slowly continued walking. I thought that I might have been having an anaphylactic reaction. There was nothing that I could do however other than continue walking and hope that if i passed out due to a lack of oxygen that someone would find me in time. The pain and swelling in my neck got progressively worse for about fifteen minutes before I ran into some local plantation farmers. I tried to tell them what I had done but there was a stout language barrier. They thought that I wanted to buy some taro, as I was going back and forth between pointing at the plans and at my mouth. Eventually they called over a friend who spoke english a bit better and shortly after he then cracked a young coconut which leaked juice that helped sooth my scorched throat. In the end I wasn't going into anaphylaxis, I had just burned my throat and esophagus with a highly toxic chemical. Samoan jungle = 1, Dumb white American = 0.

Samoa, or Sa'moa as the locals say it, is a developing country with immense natural beauty, another tropical paradise amung the many. The local economy is small and slow as most families lead lives with some level of subsistence. Though most residents are poor by worldly standards they seem to be living happily. They love pretty much all western countries due to the support they lend with the exception of France (nuclear testing never really goes over well anywhere I guess).

Whether walking down the street or on one of the pop blaring, sub-woofer dropping local buses it was impossible to avoid being questioned from anyone and everyone of where I was from, why I was there and what I thought of Samoa. The Second line of questioning extended to whether I was alone, where my wife was and whether I wanted a Samoan wife. With cannibalism present in the Pacific in the not so distant past on islands that were not too far away from where I stood, I cringed at the idea of the multitude of predicaments which a local woman could have brought me. Well, I guess I would have been the one bringing it on... anyway, I took a long step back.

On my last day on U'polu, the most populated Samoan island, I rented a car with a couple of other travelers to see the damage that the tsunami had done only three weeks prior. Of all of the times to have a dead battery for a camera this was a pretty good one. The southeast side of the island was completely flattened killing hundreds, the entire country shell shocked over the ordeal. Most were in disbelief and some with a complete lack of trust in their national government, went as far as to say that the wave may have been caused by a Chinese nuclear test that their government took a pay off for. On the up side, most of these people had very little to start with as far as infrastructure and possessions so I think that the western conception of devastation may vary from what is happening in reality and the actual recovery time for the area. This isn't really a big money making area for large corporate lenders, island time is far too slow for that.
I spent a lot of time on the beach, swimming, diving, meeting folks and getting from place to place. Samoa is a pretty cool spot overall and it is a whole lot different than anywhere else I have been.

Back to the Southern Alps

2009-10-17T15:13:00.001-06:00

The good thing about having lousy weather during the winter in the Cook Islands is that it can mean that its snowing in New Zealand. Upon arriving at Olympus this year there was already a meter of settled snow on the ground which allowed us open a week early. Spring came in early August however providing a good amount of wet when the skiing is historically at its best. Over-all it was a good ski season with snow on the ground through October and the usual antics.

I was able to get in a bunch of flying and have successfully gained a bit of confidence without killing myself. Probably the most memorable moment in time of the season for me was watching my friend Markus, while first learning how to deal with the lines of the wing, accidentally take flight and clear the Access Tow. Nice job buddy, good work on that landing in the rocks there. Definitely one way to learn... whatever works i guess, hey.. little birds learn to fly by jumping out of their nests, right? whats to say a 90kg German cant do the same. Hilarius!

Raro Lager and Fish and Chips

2009-06-21T14:49:00.000-06:00

There's really nothing like going to a tropical paradise and having cool, rainy weather and feeling hypo-thermic on a dive boat. If you haven't tried it, go on.. get to it!
Rarotonga in the Cook Islands is however home to some of the most laid-back, friendly people around and it hard to call the trip a wash because of this fact. Just sit back, have a beer, eat some seafood, talk to a local and you'll forget whatever worries you might have had. Best fish and chips ever!
P.s. spend longer than 36 hrs here if possible, work calls.

The land of Zion

2009-05-10T12:57:00.000-06:00

Whenever I end up going to the desert I think to myself, "man why don't I come here more often." There is just something about the desolate environment that brings out the immense beauty in the things that are living that is difficult to describe, a playground of negative space if you will. Zion is no exception to this, in fact it is one of my favorite places to be. Huge colored rock faces drive toward the sky under a relentless sun which scorches down on top of anything that tries to hold on. Deep in the canyons below, water flows and life abounds.

It was great to catch up with some very good friends and some new ones. It is amazing how good Tecate is when your under the limbs of a sprawling cottonwood on a rivers edge.

Winging it

2009-05-04T14:22:00.000-06:00

Pete's pocket. Yes it looks like a mushroom, no he's not thinking about vegetables.

A speed wing now in the mix with all of my other shit that I travel with, as though it wasn't enough, all I needed was to figure out how to use it. More importantly, how to use it without killing myself. A bit of low angle practice mixed in with some skiing on Thompson Pass out of Valdez and then I knew just enough to be dangerous. A spell of perfect weather for a week and a half let me fly most days. Hiking for access on Thompson and then sledding in Turn Again Pass for some hot laps with the Marencos the flying came along nicely. And yeah, I know its a cop out, but i think its only a natural progression to want to fly.. its a whole lot less impact on the body... at least when thing go right!

Gettin is soooo good

2009-04-23T14:40:00.000-06:00

The final week of the season allowed for a staff only day. One group on skis, one on speed wings. what a day! Thanks Quinner!!!

The Ak Rollover is epitomised by the run The Wave (above). The top is a flat glacier, the gut is 50 degrees and the pitch rolls over like a massive cresting wave. From a snow safety standpoint these types of terrain features are very difficult to safely manage, but damn they can be fun!

Full Support staff gang bang

Buddy Love, NE Face opener.

Sweet Leaf (right of center) A ski width wide 45+choke gives access to a 2500' vertical couloir. YEEEAH!!!

Sweet leafin.

Worm Glacier, The Wave in the background.

Spring Time! lets get!

Ode to the Fly Boys

2009-04-18T13:23:00.000-06:00

In the words of an Aspen Extreme ski instructor- skiing is the easy part. In Alaska just getting there is the real battle. Ak heli pilots do the impossible, flying at a standstill while on the ground... somewhat. To get out of and unload a ski basket on a perch is one thing but to balance a ship, flying, as a bunch of corn fed monkeys shift their weight out of the side door with wind blowing, snow settling, snow blowing and then take back off again without any airspeed and not rolling down the side of the mountain, is truly amazing.

The skiing has been great, better by the day, but for this pictorial try to imagine these surroundings from the eyes of a pilot.

Anything that you do a lot becomes normal, in this case i fear not because of how seemless heli operations have been. Sure its safe, load up, lets go skiing, stay away from the spinny or hot bits. Calm, cool, collected, yes he is the pilot, buy him a bottle of wine PLEASE.

Funkytown

Eat the Worm

Banana Hammock

Bean Pod

Random thoughs Pertaining to Steepness

2009-04-09T19:03:00.001-06:00

I'm sure that you have heard the tales of Alaskan skiing, largely they are true. The terrain is expansive, wide open with little to provide any sort of reference of scale, pitch, and even sometimes snow quality. Most good skiers are fully capable of skiing steep, big-mountain terrain whether they know it or not. My goal is to read what people are capable of and to push them to a new level of skiing without hurting them. I don't really see things as being steep or not so much, more of just where the snow is going to go if it slides and where a skier will go if they fall.

In rock climbing the difficulty of one climb compared to another is not necessarily indicative of whether the climb is vertical or a slab. Skiing steep slopes is much the same, steep slopes are not any more difficult to ski, there is just more to manage and the exposure makes people scared. Sure you don't want to fall in places and yes it might really hurt or even kill you if you do but the same is true of driving a car on a two lane road passing within feet of a speeding car travelling in the opposite direction. You could turn the steering wheel all of a sudden and kill yourself and everyone around you but you don't because that is not an option. Falling on a steep slope is not an option either so there is nothing to be afraid of, just dont fall then there isn't a problem.

The vertical world is an interesting place, i recommend it. Its pretty cool seeing how one person reacts when pushed past their comfort zone compared to another. The problem children are the ones that don't have fear when they should... hmmmmmmmmm.
Never mind.

Salt Lick mini-golf. yes, guides get to ski!

Salt Lick LZ

Salt Lick left, yes that is a mono-skier and yes that is because there is only one of him.

He sends it pretty good though. Dube!

Skiing on Pontoon's flanks. 2ft of 8% 47deg. 3000' vert. For those that are getting to know me, this is why!

Pow Pow and Black Dust

2009-04-03T18:06:00.000-06:00

All it took was one little coastal low to reset the zone back to normal. Its wild how much of an effect even a small storm can have. Our biggest concern now is the volcano erupting out in the Alaska Range. We have avoided having had too much of an effect from this natural beast but ash is definitely a concern. The Heli intakes don't care very much for black dust, and nor do any aircraft for that matter. Fortunately there havn't been too many delays effecting us with the periodic Anchorage airport closures.
The Skiing is getting better and better each week. The glaciers are starting to get bridged in a bit better and the steeps are starting to hold snow, though with a firm surface underneath new snowfalls have been sluffing off quite easily. Overall, stability has been pretty good in this part of the range and the skiing is good when the weather beaks enough to allow us passage.

Lunch on Bubbie's Island

New lines!!! Brandoville!

Fly By

2009-03-13T16:11:00.000-06:00

Skiing in Alaska can be as good as it can be anywhere, it also can be trying at times with poor weather being the norm. Wind has been a culprit this early season and finding the goods has at times meant finding supportable crust instead of breakable. Snow totals are low to date high up in the zone, the glaciers are more open than normal for the time of year and some ski runs that are often the norm are instead the not a chance in hell variety. There are good times to be had though with very good snow down low in the trees actually, to sea level. From the ski hill at Mt Eyak, to ski touring, to speed flying and ice climbing, recon and just being in the zone again, its good to be in Cordova.

Pontoons NE face

Landed, after a flight off Mt. Eyak's west shoulder. Yeeeah Brando!!!

Jimmy's on the post

Heli Time, AK!!!

2009-03-07T00:54:00.000-07:00

A couple days of attempting to rest, the packing shit show, then i was in the air again bound for the big mountains. Clear skies welcomed the entire flight north from Salt Lake with stunning views of Rainier, St. Elias and the Chugach. We litterly flew right over Cordova and our heli terrain at 30k bound for Anchorage. The window next to my seat on the plane could now use a cleaning.

Mount St. Elias (18,009') rising from the Gulf of Alaska.

Hey Utah

2009-03-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

Megan getting Uintahed

Mt. Wolverine

Four Eagle Bowl, Thousand Peaks Ranch, Uintahs

Thousand Peaks Ranch

Gaining Sessions Mountain

Arr Colby- Grandview Peak

Back in Utah. I mostly come for the culture, the skiing is a bonus.

The early winter snowpack was really touchy this year, it seemed that just looking at a slope long enough was enough to make it slide.

By february the mountains werent quite as lethal and the mountains allowed passage in some more adventurous terrain. For a while there though all the ski tourers were pushed into the same slice of moderate terrain for a mass showdown of low angle lovin.

CLOSED, Welcome to Hawai'i

2008-12-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

Hawai'i has an unparalleled climate and phenomenal natural beauty when your allowed to see it. Yes, it does rain a lot in parts of Hawai'i but I am not referring to the visibility. The unique culture here has evolved to push away outsiders even though the primary economy is tourism. The American model of society is bent in Hawai'i, Polynesia meets law firm and real estate tycoon. hmmm? lovely. American culture is largely killing the Aloha spirit.

I have never seen as many No Trespassing and Closed signs as I have seen in Hawai'i. Many natives are highly territorial and the state is afraid of being sued. It is not uncommon for people to go missing in Kaua'i, the land is fertile and substances of all sorts grow really well. As for the state, their solution for natural hazards is to just make sure that people stay out of areas entirely. If there is a cliff, there might be rockfall-don't go near it. If there is a tidal pool, don't go near it, you might drowned. I hiked the very popular Napal'i Coast which sports a permanent closed sign at the start of what is one of the most popular hikes in the state. This was my fourth visit to Hawaii and I can fully understand why many people only live here for short periods of time. Six weeks this year was enough for me. Hawai'i is a stunning place but I have felt more unwelcome and fearful for my life here than anywhere else I have ever been. I will be back though to visit the nephews and enjoy the beach, sun and food.

My Sis and boy Ethan.

Christopher and me.

My Brother n Law Brian and Boy

Photo By Eric

Secret Beach, Kaua'i

Barking Sands Mistle Range, Kaua'i. Where this was going...???

Na'Pali Coast, Kaua'i

Kalalau Beach

Pali, on the Na Pali.

Getting your Steep On, Skiing Mt. Cook

2008-10-24T01:23:00.001-06:00

Mt. Cook East Face

After the end of the ski season at Olympus my friend Alwin and I were primed for some skiing and riding on the main divide of the Southern Alps. We weren't really sure where to go though, we wanted to get into some new terrain and something that would be steep. Other than that all we could wish for was a few days of clear weather. Neither of us had ever been skiing or riding around the main divide before but I knew that most of the steep faces with big vertical descended off of the east side of the divide.
I had done a small bit of homework about the skiing potential on Mt. Cook itself a little more than a year back and though that I remembered seeing some ski potential there but was uncertain as to exactly how feasible of a ski it would be. What I gathered from other peoples experiences around the divide was that many of steep lines were some of the greatest climbs in the country which consisted of world class hard snow conditions. Big fat hmmm.
After a day in Christchurch getting supplies we decided to head down to Mt. Cook Village and approach the main divide from the east, hopefully, by ski plane to one of the Alpine Huts. Looking through the Climbing guide for Mt. Cook National Park on the drive we decided foolhardily that we might as well try to ski the biggest steep falline that we could find. We thought that whatever we were to be on just needed to soften with the heat of the day and be without immense exposure to ice fall. About 12hrs later, with a stellar weather forecast, we were in the air bound for the Plateau Hut with ambitions of Climbing Mt. Cook and Skiing the East Face. This was not with out some drama though as we nearly were not allowed to fly in the Cessna with a snowboard as there was some trouble getting it to fit in the plane (skis go on the wings). In the last possible second before a total denial we got it situated and were underway shaking our heads a bit.
On our second day skiing we were up at 2am approaching the East Face, only to bail due to very hard snow. Instead we took the Linda Glacier route. On the ascent we broke trail though 20 to 50 cms of powder to the top of the Linda Shelf at 3250m where we left our ski gear and proceeded up and through the summit rocks, to the summit and back. From the Summit Rocks we were able to look across at the upper East Face and determine that the upper most section would be highly marginal to ski this season. In general the prior year was very dry and warm and many of the routes changed substantially due to a lack of snow. This route has been skied from below the linda shelf before but I'm not sure when it was skied last, it was first skied in the early '80s. Pictures from even 5 years back of the face look immensely different. The Climbing on the upper Linda, the Summit Rocks and the Summit Ridge was in stellar condition, the Summit Rocks was easy mixed snow, ice and rock for three pitches with big exposure. To our surprise the highest section of the mountain, aside from the last 5 meters to the summit of glazed 70 degree ice, was cold powder and entirely skiable if we had had our gear with us still. By the time that we got back to our skis the heat of the day had passed and the beautiful snow that we had trudged through all the way to the top of the Linda Shelf was now supportable and breakable crust, kind of a mixed bag of hate. 15 hours after we left the Plateau Hut we were back, right at nightfall with the first summit of the mountain from the north of the climbing season (one other party approached from the west about a week earlier).
The following day we had a sleep in and about 20 cms of new snow with high winds. Over the next couple days we did some smaller lower elevation objectives on the Freshfield Glacier and Haast Ridge and the Anzac Peaks allowing some time for the big slopes up high to settle. We found some short but sweet steep runs with great corn snow. The slot of off the east Anzac peak was some of the steeper terrain we skied on the trip but very baby like conpared to the faces staring us square it the face on the other side of the Plateau.
The following morning we were set to shoot for the East Face again with hopes of soft snow in the early afternoon. We wanted to try to ski from as high as we could but figured that with the very top of the face in the condition that it was that we would end up skiing from between 3200 and 3400m. We figured that the slope had heated up enough over the past couple days to start a corn cycle and that with the appropriate timing that we would ski corn after a long front point climb.
Approaching the meat of the East Face was defiantly the most puckering part of the day. The route traverses under numerous ice cliffs that shed in uber fashion, normally in the late afternoon from what we had observed from the prior few days. After crossing some huge debris piles with house sized chunks of ice and once past the majority of the ice cliffs we crossed a maze of burgshrunds to gain the face. Fortunately one of the large ice fall avalanches filled up the largest of these shrunds two days ago and allowed us a bit of easier passage to the face. It was around this area where we started to find winter snow and not the firm melt freeze conditions which we were anticipating finding.
Ultimately we were able to climb to and ski from 3460m of the 3754m Mt. Cook and the 3600m East Face line with consistent, chalky winter snow conditions. Rock and grey to green ice put a halt to going much farther. It was a very straight forward climb and a phenomenal descent, 1400 vertical meters with the top 800m between 45 -50 degrees, the steepest sections were skirting through the ice cliffs at the bottom of the sustained face and the highest point that we skied from. Big is the word, wide open with consistent snow and large exposure. Absolutely perfect, i could not have asked for more.
A southerly front was forecast a couple days out so we bailed the next day to ski some more powder at Olympus. Via Cinerama Col we descended to the Tasman Glacier skirting past the Caroline Face. Go figure that we found the best powder of the trip on our descent through the col with extra heavy packs. Eventually we ran out of snow and began the trudge across the moonscape that is the lower Tasman Glacier. Moving through this mess of rock and climbing back off the glacier through the lateral moraine wall was not very fun and wouldnt have been fun even with a light pack. It wasn't outrageous though due to the relative short distance we traveled on the glacier. Descending the Tasman from the upper sections would be phenomenally shitty.
Back in Mt. Cook Village the following morning we lapped up the sun and cafe food before heading back for one last shot at skiing pow in the Craigeburn. This wasn't of course before a jump into the tropical waters of Lake Pukaki which is best described as cold at any time of the year.

Mt Cook postcard shot with Lake Pukaki

Flying into the Grand Plateau

Hello, oooh... we're here!

Tasman at Dawn

Upper Linda Glacier and the Linda Shelf

Top of the Linda Shelf

Summit Rocks

Summit Ridge

Mt. La Perouse from Mt. Cook summit

Mt Sefton

Mt. Cook Summit

The Balfour Face of Mt. Tasman

The big drop off Cooks summit down to Mt. Hicks and the Hooker Glacier

Syme Ridge Mt. Tasman

Mt dixon from Plateau Hut

Mt. Lendenfeld. We were considering skiing here but ran out of time.

Freshfield Glacier

Mt. Malte Brun and the Tasman Glacier

East Face of Cook from Anzac Peaks

Skiing East Anzac Peak

Dixon

Silberhorn Ridge of Mt. Tasman

Anzacs from Mt Cook East Face

East Face

The Lower Tasman

Update: Corrections as of August 2009:
To the best of my knowledge the East face has NOT yet been skied from above the summit rocks, and has been skied via the entrance point from the Top of the Linda Shelf onto Zurbriggens ridge.

For another write up on this trip see the 2009 New Zealand Alpine Journal.

Skiing tip #1, Get well Back!

2008-10-15T23:51:00.000-06:00

Like a light switch winter was turned off at the end of August. Corn skiing became the norm and the days of powder seemed all to distant. Deep snow cover remained in the high elevation areas for several weeks and provided for fast and often unusual antics. Anything for entertainment, right? Spring is the same everywhere really.

Photo by Browne, Skier: John Mletschnig

Photo by Mel Parsons. L to R: Derrick Parsons, Russell Buxton, John Mletschnig, Johnny Curin

Photo By Browne

Photo By Browne, Skier: John Mletschnig

Photo By Browne

Kiwi Style

2008-09-01T21:49:00.000-06:00

New Zealand is a breeding ground for unusual weather. It is very hard to predict what will unfold over the course of a winter; powder, dirt, flowing water, the sensation of sticking your head out the window of a jet... sort of a mixed bag. This winter the Canterbury region got repeatedly slammed by cold storms leaving deep, dry powder with little wind. Many hours were spent moving snow and skiing lines that normally don't fill in. Living in the Top Hut at Mt. Olympus it was hard to stop skiing for almost two months, powder every day. The access road here is highly exposed so during storms the ski area was left to those already on the mountain. When the visibility was good the skiing was on, regardless of the time of day.

Photo By Roo

Photo By Browne

Photo By Russ

More really good shots can be found at:

http://stereoscope.smugmug.com/keyword/mt+olympus#359037889_Buqap

When the Living's Easy, The Cook Islands- Rarotonga

2008-06-30T03:30:00.000-06:00

Aside from the roosters everything is nice is in Cook's. Stray dogs lounge on the beach, care free and the locals follow suit. The countrys wealth is more evenly spread than in many tropical areas and the people are outwardly friendly. Low income is the norm as well as a very high quality of life. Food is abundant, the weather is fair and male furtility is flaunted. Yes, the Cook Islands are a country and are example for the rest of the world.

Spring in Cordova

2008-05-31T05:35:00.000-06:00

Come spring Cordova fills with people chasing fish. Locals come out of hibernation and start thinking about how anoying all these people are.
A strong winter left water temperatures colder than normal and lots of snow left for some great corn turns during the long daylight hours.

Recon Mission

2008-04-25T23:21:00.000-06:00

The day following the close of the heli-ski season some of the guides got a bit of a tour, a recon mission to see what potential the range holds for the future. The terrain is limitless! George and I loving it.

Valdez Terrain
The Prize

HUGE!

Hillbilly Bob- Look close for a track.

The Sphinx

The Scott Glacier melding with coastal clouds.

Out on the Ice

2008-04-24T21:36:00.000-06:00

A long stint of good weather came at the end of the heli season and we were able to reach out to more distant, ice filled areas of the Chugach. The price of the strong high pressure was high winds at the start which caused some distress to the snow surface. No complaints though.

Toed in, under power landing on Pontoon's flank- Toon Town. North FunkytownFred.
Very good ski run!
Strictly for pilot reference of the snow surface. Tagging Valdez terrain.
Looking down OZ with firm snow.
Massive Mihiela.

Still Cloudy? Burn the Grey Away!

2008-04-16T19:12:00.000-06:00

A little sacrifice led to a couple breif holes in the weather and a few runs over the last couple weeks. Breifly got into the Full Support Valley which has some very large and steep terrain most of which we just gauked at the sight of. The skiing was great but the weather didnt hold for very long on either day out. boo. What a sight though, runs like the 3000' vert, 45 deg OZ and the much larger and steeper Humble Pie. Wild! I will be back!

Jet-A sacrifice

A View of Humble Pie, Full Support Valley
OZ and the full on Full Support Valley

Nailed it (left) The tube, Donkey Kong and Guilt Trip (right)

Colorado boys get donkey deep in Donkey Kong!!

Feeling the Zone, The Chugach

2008-04-06T01:37:00.000-06:00

It has been a challenging few weeks with only a few fly days and many down days. We had great skiing over a string of days- an acceletated mass of goodness if you will. I have some hazy memories of grey and although they were far out numbered, crystal clear memories of skiing. I remember the ski days vividly as though they were in slow motion and to my favor the down days seem to have a fast forward affect. Here is some of the goodness!

Nailed it!

Superbowl

Guilt Tripping
Funkytown

Dano's

Early out on Dano's

Snowconed
Cordova Glacier

Ice Box Ditch
The sea of the Scott Glacier

Tame or lazy?

Steep and Deep, The Chugach

2008-03-13T00:29:00.000-06:00

Five days after getting to Cordova the sun appered and all was white with 2-5 meters of new storm snow. I have never seen so much precipitation, days of unrelenting weather with low spirts sitting in the soggy rain and then all was good- The skiing was oh so good!

On a down note during the storm several days prior the Cordova Avalanche Forecaster and town spokesman was killed in a large slide above Town in which we responded to. The Class 3.5 slide left him burried 4+ meters in debris and will be missed by most everyone in the region.

Buddy Love and The Pro Shop.

6-10 meter crown face of an avalanche during the storm in a tributary of the Scott Glacier.

Eat the Worm- 50 deg. 2000 vert. and the Worm Glacier.

The Ice Box.

The Orca Cannery, Points North Base and Mt. Eyak.

What a Winter in Utah!

2008-02-12T20:35:00.000-07:00

Heavy snowfalls have made skiing possible in places that aren't always possible. From obscure low elevation terrain to the steep and exposed the snow cover in the Wasatch has done very good things.