It’s often a good sign when you wake to the sounds of avalanche blasting. That’s how Day One at the Solitude Mountain Resort stop of the GORE-TEX Backcountry Basecamp began. Some eight inches of snow fell the night before, but in the backcountry, where John from Utah Mountain Adventures led free backcountry tours, the light-density […]
Vertical Limit: Can a kid from Mass. top Greg Hill’s two-million-foot record?
Early in the summer, Aaron Rice set two long-term goals. The first was to jump into the mountain-fed creek that meandered behind the house where he was living in Stowe, Vt. every single day for the duration of the season. While exhilarating, meeting that goal won’t be nearly as demanding, mentally or physically, as his second. Over the next year, beginning on December 1, Rice plans to climb and ski 2.5-million vertical feet, which would top the two-million-foot record set by Greg Hill in 2010. “You’ll never regret jumping in,” says Rice of the creek that’s a metaphor for his larger ambition. “But it’s never easy, either.”
Mountain Skills: Be Ready With Team and Routine
Teamwork in the mountains is paramount, but it can take many years to develop relationships with trustworthy backcountry partners to the point where you form a routine that serves as a backcountry safety net. Jeff Dostie, my Tour Camp co-guide for Points North Heli-Adventures (PNH) in Cordova, Alaska is someone I have grown to rely on. Through our relationship, we have developed a routine that we use to keep our clients and ourselves safe.
Skins on, skins off
There are more ways to peel and store a pair of climbing skins than there are crayons in a coloring box. From one-legged skimo race transitions to the casual posthole option, discovering your preferred skin-removal technique is akin to finding your true identity as a backcountry skier. This transitional soul searching can be quick, or […]
Hot smoke, cold smoke: Wildfires burn both ways on the heels of a destructive season in the Northwest
“What pictures will never give you is the smell of the smoke,” says Stefan Hood, a Forest Protection Technician and backcountry skier from Houston, British Columbia. “You’re smelling the organics of the soil burning, and you’re smelling trees [that] are on fire. That kind of smoke permeates everything. It permeates your clothes and your hair; everything ends up taking on that scent.”
The Attack of Depth Hoar
The beginning of winter 2015/16 has lived up to forecaster’s predictions, with a strong El Niño cycle bringing an onslaught of snow across the western United States. With great amounts of snow, however, comes risk. A persistent weak layer has formed deep within the snowpack and can be found from the Wasatch Mountains of Utah […]
BACKCOUNTRY BULLETIN: JANUARY AVALANCHE AND BACKCOUNTRY COMMUNITY EVENTS
It’s January and the snow is flying. Check out some of this month’s backcountry events to put on your calendar—whether you want to brush up on avalanche safety or just have a good time. ALASKA CHUGACH NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE CENTER—FIRESIDE CHAT SERIES: WEATHER AND SNOWPACK Thursday, January 7 | 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. | Alaska […]
That Girl: Kt Miller integrates adventure and conservation for a new take on ski photography
Kt Miller was more or less born on skis. “My dad skied like 100 days a year, so he started putting me in a backpack when I was a baby,” the 25-year-old Cooke City, Mont. resident says. “I think I’ve been skiing since I was two.” That early outdoor immersion resulted in a livelihood based […]
MOUNTAIN SKILLS: TIPS FOR CLEAR COMMUNICATION
Early last winter I was skiing some sheltered powder on a treed slope near Teton Pass in a group of three experienced backcountry skiers. We assessed the snow, discussed safe zones, and dug a quick, hasty pit to confirm prior observations. Feeling good about the slope, the first skier dropped in and made a quick […]
Snow Shooter: Blake Jorgenson
Photographer Blake Jorgenson has been taking photos for a long time—before the era of digital, when the average kid still knew Fujifilm was a photography company and didn’t assume it was just a movie about the tropics. His experience has given him a perspective on communication and what it means to be an artist. We […]
