One run off the Lighting Ridge cat skiing at Powder Mountain in Ogden area of Utah. The run I ran in this video is off James Peak which is actually about a 20m hike or so from where the cat drops you off. I hiked it because I'm a man.
Date: December 29, 2008 - January 29, 2009 Location: Snowbird, UT Featuring: Me (Jake Kirshner), Nik Aksamitn, Dex Mills, Brady Newton, Alex Mazurkewycz
Things I have learned in the last month.
1) Getting skiing "out of your system" over winter break is damn near impossible
2) You don't have enough control unless your boots feel like a tourture device
3) High Pressure doesn't have to be all bad
Even though a high pressure system was in Salt Lake for about two weeks during January and made the entire town look like that Steven King book, The Fog (or the Mist or whatever, I forgot the actual title) the skiing at still remained pretty good.
Although, I was the first to drop to praise Ullr when the snow finally returned last week...
But wait! There's more... Pictures
As a bonus for the extra amount of time it took me to upload this, here are some pictures taken with awesome ski photog Adam Barker (http://www.adambarkerphotography.com/) in early January.
Adam and I find some powder off Lone Pine.
I can ski with the sun in my eyes.
Adam shoots my skiing from the 3rd person perspective.
Tuesday was my perfect day. I had the biggest dumb grin on my face every turn and my teeth were all sparkly from all the snow hitting me in the face. This all occurred while the tram was closed too! Maybe there is life beyond the tram for me...
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.
With close to a foot of fresh Snow and the Cirque Traverse finally open it is finally starting to feel like winter again at Snowbird. Seems like a good time to start jumping off stuff =) Watch your landings thought! Chocolate Chip rock are still abundant!
So I have a temporary leave of absence from my ski season...I finished up in British Columbia at Valhalla Mountain Touring with an unbelievable 2 weeks of late season powder skiing, and uber clients that wanted to ski 7 to 8 grand a day. I got home to Salt Lake City where the cold smoke continued to pile up, so with my wife Jasmin working hard to finish up her thesis for grad school, I phoned up some lungs with legs for a quick morning tour last Thursday up Mill Creek Canyon. Tom, Paul, Ashley and I met up early for a pseudo dawn patrol and broke trail in the boot top fluff for a few laps in West Porter Fork. 5 hours and 7,500' feet later, we were all smiles, all wondering if this was our last shot at the soft white stuff for a while.
I got home, ate some lunch and packed up the car to head down to Indian Creek for a few days of rock climbing in the sun. It was a little bit of burning upon re-entry into climbing, as I hadn't touched rock since Christmas, but in Indian Creek, technique trumps strength, so I faired pretty well, having lived down in the desert for a few years of my life. I broke in the arms, and the new evolv shoes, got a little sunburned and a lot pumped.
Pulling down on Slice and Dice at the Creek, photo by Rich Wheater
Overall, could I ask for a more perfect few days? Utah in the spring is a blast. One day I am skiing perfect pow, and the next climbing the best cracks in the world in a t-shirt. Life is good, but my spring will be short lived...
Next week, the ski season continues for me. As it would seem from everyone else who posts to this blog, it is time for the seasonal migration to the big mountain motherlode: Alaska. I am happy to report though, that my trip should bring it down to Earth for lots of you folks. No helicopters, film crews and big budgets. We're talking cheap hotels, cheaper rental cars, bag lunches, winter camping and fully human powered endeavors on the peaks of Thompson Pass in Valdez, Alaska. The first week I will be showing a couple of folks the goods, while the next two will be spent training the next round of aspiring ski mountaineering guides, as I teach a Ski Mountaineering Guides Course for the American Mountain Guides Association. Stay tuned...here's a shot to tease you for the next post:
Well, I finally have some time off. Not much, just 9 days, but man does it feel good not to be guiding for a few days. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job, you see what I get up to! But 33 days in a row is alot of work, even if it is my dream job. I think I tallied something close to 200,000' vertical feet in that stint of works-that's a lot of steeps, glades, bowls, pow and chutes so I am definitely not complaining!
I came home to Jasmin (my wife) who I have been missing lots lately...hopefully she will just be my assistant guide next season, so we won't be apart too much. My first day off I spent watching her take second in the Powderkeg Ski Race, way to go! (you can track her adventures at rockclimberjasmin.blogspot.com!) My other week off treat was getting really sick. Funny how I have seen every sickness come in from all corners of the continent with each new week of guests at Valhalla Mountain Touring and my body holds on to its health until it knows it doesn't have to anymore. Work is done? Okay, lets get sick!
So I fought the sickness and went ahead with our planned 3 day yurt trip up to the Blind Hollow Yurt near Logan Canyon, UT. Tommy from backcountry.com organized the trip to get some photos to work with, and just to get far away from his desk for a few days of 'field' work. We scored it just right with 3 days of cold smoke and Tommy got some killer shots, as you will see at the end of the post. If anyone in the Northern Utah area is looking for some great skiing, with no one around close to home, check out the Blind Hollow Yurt, run by Utah State. A quick 2 hour drive from SLC and you are in your own little powder oasis!
Enjoy the shots, courtesy of Tommy Chandler, and go get some adventure close to home!
The Blind Hollow Yurt
Terrain out the backdoor!
Quality snow-quality skiing.
Jasmin tracks down some untracked
More quality terrain and snow
Jenga, the ultimate in Yurt recreation!
A few Pillow on the way home
And remember if you are really trying to kill some time at work, you can keep track of the rest of my adventures at evanstevens.blogspot.com.
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