End of the Good Stability

I took advantage of the last day of our 3 week high pressure and bomber snowpack at Valhalla Mountain Touring, here is a video of the day...enjoy!

Lots of other good time wasting material on my blog at evanstevens.blogspot.com

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High Pressure High Routes

Some folks in Salt Lake City see the high pressure on the weather map, hold their breath and hang up their skis. Others like Andrew McLean charge 10 in 10 days, or myself, I try and get after some longer higher tours that I haven't done in a while, especially since I live in British Columbia these days! Back home in BC, the storms are rolling in, with lots of weak layers being preserved by the more northerly colder temper regime (I am snow geeking out here!). But part of the beauty of the high desert is the strong high pressures and rapid stabilization of the snowpack in these warmer temperatures.

Blah blah blah. You can log on to the Utah Avalanche Center website, and see for yourself, the decreasing avalanche danger. Not that it is fully greenlight out there right now (is it ever?), but things are pretty good and I am slowly building my confidence in the snowpack here and ramping up some tours in some bigger areas.

Sunday we started off with a tour from Big Cottonwood Canyon to Mill Creek via Reynolds Peak, the Wilson Chutes and Gobbler's Knob. Lots of ridge walking in the sun, and great settled, soft and consistent powder on the north facing shots. With a car stashed in Mill Creek, we got to ski out over 4,000' down the NW side of Gobbler's in amazing snow as well. I'll let the google earth image and the photos do the rest of the talking.

Google Earth image with our tour drawn in

Walking along Gobbler's Knob Summit Ridge

Richard drops into the Wilson Chutes

Looking 4,500' down the last run of the day to Porter Fork!

Today (Monday) we decided to tackle the crown jewel of the Wasatch, Mt. Superior, with some skiing in Cardiac Bowl and a long and beautiful ski out Mineral Fork. We went for the long ascent of the East Ridge of Superior for the added ski mountaineering aspect of the day and summit climb. Once again some great north facing settled powder and some billy goating on ridges and entrances so we can sneak into Mineral Basin where hardly anyone had been. Maps and photos will give you the full picture instead of my babbling...

The East Ridge of Superior. Classic.

Hiking up the East Ridge.

Dreamy and creamy turns down from the Summit of Superior.

Poking around to find the entrance into Mineral Fork

Mineral Fork void of tracks

Some more google earth images of the tour. I think red was up and blue lines were down!

Get out there and enjoy it while you can, I have 4 more days until I head back up to the land of snow (Canada). The weather forecast says atleast 2 more days of high pressure here in Salt Lake though...hmmmm.

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Another day on the pass

Well, I have to say I love this time of year for the soft light on the mountains, lingering sunrises and sunsets, and increasing daylight. Now we are in the midst of a pineapple express to conclusively end 15 days of cold and clear . . . the last day before the storm was pretty darn sweet though. Enjoy the view!!!

photos by Scott Fennell

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A Few Weeks of Fluff

Since Christmas, Wyoming has been blessed with many, many feet of fresh snow. A blessing for sure, but our avalanche danger has been quiet serious with the infamous rain crust on top of depth hore, and record amounts of snowfall sitting on top of this rotten ice cream sandwich. Reports most days have been high, warning people of disastrous consequences if caught. Seeing the Buck Mountain Avalanche really puts it all in perspective, and strikes a chord.

Needless to say, we have been scaling back our objectives during these "hard times," and enjoying some nice low angle treed runs while tip-toeing around avalanche terrain. I will never complain about too much snow and high avalanche danger. It is all about keeping it safe. Enjoy some pictures of "A Few Weeks of Fluff." Thanks to Matt Lloyd for the additional photos.

Jeramie harvesting in Grand Teton National Park:

Matt Lloyd catching an ice cream headache:

Looking for pillows on Togwotee Secret Stashes:

At least two inches of fresh in the Park:

Matt finds a nice little windlip:It has been a great couple of weeks here in Northwestern Wyoming. Looks like this weekend will be bringing the first of bluebird days in a long time. We are all praying to Ullr that the snow will start settling and those bigger lines will start falling.

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Storm Diaries

While the coast has been getting rain of biblical proportions, the interior of British Columbia has been getting pounded by METERS of snow. We have had avalanches run that have not run in anyone's living memory. Up at Valhalla Mountain Touring, we have been braving the weather in the safe tree skiing right out our door, and not stepping any further away. Making ski decisions in times like this in the backcountry is easy, avoid anything even remotely close to avalanche terrain at all costs! The clear weather is here, so now we will get to see what kind of damage mother nature has caused.

Here is a bit of a video diary from last week, enjoy!



You can check out the rest of my posts at evanstevens.blogspot.com

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Snowed In

I can't really say that I have been snowed in before at Valhalla Mountain Touring. We have so much safe tree skiing close to home, that even when the avalanche danger is High, we can still get out and have fun safely. But the pineapple express has something to say about that right now. Just a few hours to the west, the coast is getting pummeled, and people are building arks, leading their animals 2x2 to safety. At just under 6,000' feet of elevation, we are weathering out the storm as all snow, and with night falling, we should just squeak it out as all frozen precip.

However, since we finished our ski day yesterday, it has snowed almost 45cm in about 18 hours. Strong winds have been afoot as well. Waking up this morning with the warm temps and big dose of 'Sierra Cement', we knew we were in for some interesting times. But when you are at a ski lodge in the backcountry, what else are you going to do, post to your blog? So being the good troopers that we are, we set out, at an exceedingly slow pace, but eventually made it up 1200' vertical to the top of some glades right above the lodge. I don't think we could have done it with out puppy power though. My 1 year old mutt has been genetically engineered (read cross breeding) with long legs and big webbed paws, and he has lots of energy to burn. So with our old skin track just barely visible, I gotta give Benny credit for breaking about 60% of the track. At least someone earned their kibble.

On the way down, it was point 'em straight and lean back, and leap frog each other's tracks. And that was on 30 degree slopes. Anything steeper would have been too sketchy! At least it has been an amazing last 2 weeks of non stop cold smoke, and now we have a super fat mid-winter snowpack. The cold front is coming, and we should get some nice fluff laid down on top of the heavy stuff. I guess right now we have too much of a good thing. It's like eating a few too many nachos, time to sit on the couch and digest...

Here are some shots from the last stint of cold smoke to keep you psyched! Thanks to backcountry.com's Tommy Chandler for the shots!

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Where's the Snorkel?

It might sound like a joke, but lately the snow has been coming in by the foot, not by inches. The storm hose is pointed right on British Columbia, and the cold smoke just keeps piling up at Valhalla Mountain Touring. We are in full swing here, with the 3rd straight week of operations, and this week has a bunch of friends from UT and CO up here to ski the pow. But instead of ranting and raving, and storytelling, I will let the pictures from the last 2 days do the talking.

Get up here! We still have some spaces for this winter!

All photos by backcountry.com's Tommy Chandler.

Me checking out the snow as the season starts, keeping it safe

Jasmin testing out the snow on yet another storm day.


Lindsay Yaw asks for the snorkel.


Me trying to get above the snow, but that is hard to do right now!

Jonn Webb taste testing the snow.

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Skiing the Argentine/Chilean border

Well, after the volcanoes didn't go so swell, we headed toward Portillo and then on to Argentina to do some exploratory skiing . . . we didn't have much beta on the area, but it turns out we didn't need much - great roadside access and plenty to drool over :-)

Here's a slideshow from my favorite day - more can be seen on my blog!

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The Calm Before the Storm

Wyoming has been blessed with 5 feet of new snow this week, and everyone is in a powder frenzy due to the slow start to our season. Time to get out and get deep safely with all of your bros while mixing in face shots, but do so with caution.

Bridger-Teton National Avalanche forecasting center has been warning skiers and boarders about deep instabilities coupled with all of the new snow resting on top. It is time to practice those beacon skills and use good judgement while in the backcountry.  Don't forget to always carry a shovel, probe, and beacon while backcountry skiing. We have all season so take care.

Enjoy the photos from Togwotee Pass and Grand Teton National Park during the calm before the storm.

Grand Teton National Park before the five foot dump, and still super thin down low. Steve Romeo skins through sage and willows.

Higher elevations yielded the first official face shots of the season for Matt Lloyd.

Romeo surfing the BD MegaWatts.

So fresh and so clean! The beginning of the big Pacific front covering up tracks with 

each run.

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday season while getting in a face shot or two. 'Tis the season. 

Cheers,

Jeramie

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East Coaster.

Oy! We got snow too! Last weekend the New England region experienced an epic dumping of gorgeous powder. Some places received as much as 42 inches…not too shabby for a December storm over here. Myself and 4 others spent the night of the storm on top of a peak in the Whites, and when we awoke the next morning we were well rewarded.

Here are a few shots of us enjoying the ride down:

Ben floating.
Rusty airing out the new Tele boards.

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Cold, cold smoke

The arctic air mass has taken over British Columbia. I know what you're thinking. It's Canada, you all live in igloos and it is cold all the time. But alas, no, SW BC is actually quite mild in the winter, and that is what makes skiing here so great-it's not frigidly cold! Right now it is so, so, so bitterly cold here that we can't even really ski on shady slopes. The snow is so cold that your wax just doesn't work.

It has made for some interesting plan changes for me this week. Originally I was supposed to be skiing in Roger's Pass. We did two days there, and it was literally some of the coldest outdoor recreation I have ever taken part in. We skinned up to treeline one day, only to met by 25km/hr winds at -24 degrees Celsius. For you math majors out there, that equals a -40 degree celsius wind chill (and -40 is where farenheit and celsius are the same!). This artic front also brought with it heinously strong winds, jacking all the snow at treeline and in the alpine.

We decided to pull the plug and head a bit south to the family's lodge in the Valhallas. A bit of protection from the wind and slightly warmer temps tempted us and Valhalla Mountain Touring has delivered yet again. We have just spent the last 2 days tracking out the cold powder, first a bit in the trees, and then today in the blazing sun. I gotta tell ya, it might be freezing cold out, but that is the bet time ever to ski the pow in full sun, the snow just stays as cold smoke all day long!

So, a video here to keep you psyched, and some photos from today as well...

Benny and Jas racing for the freshies!

Richard heading towards sunny powder on Rugged Peak

My Karhu Storm's getting psyched for 2 grand of cold smoke.

Richard steals some of Benny's powder

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First Summit Park Turns Of 08/09

When the sun came out Sunday afternoon, a few friends and I decided to throw our skis and skins into the truck and drive up to Summit Park on the outskirts of Park City to find out how our favorite playground fared with the weekend storm.

After seeing first hand the results of a snow pit in the Cottonwoods a week ago, I wasn’t interested in going anywhere near steep, wind-loaded slopes.

Our biggest concern with Summit Park was mainly if there was enough snow without much of a base to begin with. We were starting at 7,200 hundred feet, so prior to last weekend’s dump the mountain would have been bare.



I had my doubts when we dragged the skis out of the car, but surprisingly the foot and a half that fell Saturday held up well enough for a skin track and some great turns up high.



Up on top (approximately 8,200 ft.) the turns were soft and deep. Still – there was no way I was dropping a knee into a telemark turn - that's going to have to wait for at least another storm cycle.

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Finally, WINTER!!!

Living on the coast of British Columbia has its pluses and its minuses. The rainy fall, when the snow line hasn't lowered down, can be quite tough. I have spent the last two weeks desperately trying to find some winter outdoor recreation: 3 skiing attempts, and 1 ice climbing attempt. Actually, the 2 days of clear and dry weather were some of the best days of bouldering I have had in Squamish!



But quietly in the interior of British Columbia, winter has started, and about a meter to a meter and a half (3 to 5 feet for the yanks) has slowly started to pile up, and just this last storm cycle a good half a meter has just been added. I did all that I could in the face of more rainy weather on the coast and packed up my truck to drive to the interior.

As my friend pointed out today, I luckily married into a backcountry ski lodge in this zone, and guide their full time in the winter. So I took advantage of that with my wife, father-in-law and dog to go test out the ski legs in our own private backcountry ski paradise at Valhalla Mountain Touring. I shot some video of the day, so I will let that speak for itself. Winter is in full swing here, and the powder is dry and fluffy. Besides we have to start training our new puppy for his winter of ski touring - as you can hear from his yelping in the video, he was having fun.

Come join the fun! We still have a few spaces left on trips this winter...

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First Turns of the Season

Finally, the snow has arrived! Here in Wyoming I have been watching my friend, Steve Romeo getting out and making the best of the early season at TetonAT. Well, our season has started and the early birds get the worm.

I have to admit, I love early season turns almost as much as rippin' pow in cold, deep January. What is there not love? There are no crowds, you get to set the skin track, and it is just so great to finally be skiing or riding again. I hope you enjoy these pics taken this weekend on Togwotee Pass, WY.

Kevin and Al enjoying a wintery mountain morning:

Kevin looking into B-Couloir and getting ready to drop a sick early season line:

Kevin getting his second turns of the season. His first were on Bear Butte, South Dakota:

Big Al from Chadron, Nebraska (originally a UT boy) gets 'er done:

Finally, booting back out of French Spy Bowl on Togwotee Pass:

It was a great first day of the season! The waiting and anticipation for snowsliding is finally over. Now, we wait for those first face shots, gnarly lines, and many good times to be had this season. Game ON!

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Eight Pics & A Show

Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!

February is back in Utah*
*I use a powder calendar, not a Gregorian one...

2 Pix & 1 Clip to Prove it!

Shane fighting his way out of a waist deep bucket of awesome!


Shane does his best Dan Treadway imitation...


Shane surfs his way off the snow!


I break in my new skis with style!


I thought rockered skis were supposed to float?!?!


I time travel into the future and start skiing February pow!


I hang ten on some funny shaped boards...


Alex (the photog) making some turns after packing up his camera!


Camera! Lights! Powder!!!


I know, it ruled.
Jake

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