makingturns.com

Got up for some turns in Butler Gulch today with Jon Turner. We set the skintrack in the morning almost to Hourglass. I was a little concerned by the state of the new snow after the ramp entrance. Once I got to the steeper trees past this point I saw a fair amount of cracking. We backed off and took the safe alternative. Skied the left edge of Hourglass and found some awesome snow. Face shots have been so few this year. The next 3 laps were over on the west side of Butler. We skied the open face above the deep gully that ends by the lower switchbacks. The snow was really awesome here. We took pics a couple runs. My last run I think I got like 10 face shots.

Let’s hope that this is the beginning of a weather pattern change. All sacrifices to Ullr will be appreciated. Enjoy and go get some.

It’s a sad situation. Every time I visit my blog now I have to log back in. The trips in the backcountry this season have been woefully sub standard. The lack of snow is causing me to question my goals. The focus is changing and it’s really not blog worthy. I thougt I’d put this post up to show how things are looking back there. Fitness has become the goal of trips lately. You have to stay in shape for when the snow arrives.

Peace through visiting the mountains is still peace. Thinking about the life you lead and not thinking about the life you lead are the states you assume in the mountains. This freedom of thought, this focus and lack of focus are powerful draws for me to the backcountry. Losing yourself to find yourself. Perhaps you can only really achieve this outside of the whoops of skiing great powder. Perhaps having the time to think is really all I need. No I need some powder too, and I need it soon.

I’ve been busy writing a lot lately and haven’t been too inspired by the lack of snow. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and get outside for some exercise. I figured that with all the high pressure things would be safe. I was hoping that there would be some enough snow to ski aline, but it didn’t really matter, I was after a little time outside and up high and if I got some skiing in great. I enlisted Brian as a partner the night before, we planned to meet up at the Fall River Rd exit on I-70. We then headed up to the Loch Lomond trailhead and got ready. With a start at the crack of 10:30 we were off. The road was only partially covered with snow so we ended up booting up a lot of the road to treeline. Once there we made for a steep shoulder leading to the East Ridge. This is when the wind started. For the next 3 hours or so we were battling 40-50 mph sustained head winds. It was like climbing a mountain while doing a tire pull, you know those track and football drills where you wear a harness and drag a tire behind you until you fail. After the last hump on the ridge the winds stepped up to the 70mph sustained range. We were leaning into it at close to a 45° angle and every step was tenuous. It was a hard won summit. After spending 5 minutes trying to fold my skins we dropped in from the top. We then traversed over to the East Bowl, finding some really nice blown in snow along the way. A short rock walk had us in the line and enjoying some 35° chalky snow with blown in patches. It was skiing really nice. After the 1st section we traversed over some cliffs to another section that looked really nice. It was good, with some of the nicest snow of the day. We got 3 more nice sections and skied down to the lower lake.

The next day I headed up to Loveland Pass and met up with Bill. We did some quick road laps then headed out to Idiots. We found really nice snow in the lookers right line. It’s unusual to get into steeper zones this early and I’m especially hesitant after the Grizzly incident, however things seem to be holding in place nicely in some of the higher and steeper east facing zones.

Great couple of days guys. Looking forward to next time. Perhaps there is something to be excited about.

The view from I-70 in Genesee

A closer look at Bancroft. Looking a bit thin.

Fun looking zones off Fall River Road.

Another option

Thin skinned. Photo by Brian Lindahl.

Heading into the wind. Photo by Brian Lindahl.

Where's Waldo

Witter Peak has a nice technical line.

The East Bowl of Bancroft. Photo by Brian Lindahl.

Hard won summit shot.

Parry Peak needs some more snow for spring

Brian skis.

The snow wasn't too bad.

There were some really nice, soft pockets.

In the second zone after a traverse we found great snow.

It was soft

Really soft

Brian skis fast.

My turn. It was too cold to wear my helmet.

Really nice snow here.

Not to bad and way better than expected. Photo by Brian Lindahl

We skied all the wat to Loch Lomond. Photo by Brian Lindahl.

Now get me out of this wind already.

The weather the next day was far nicer.

No Name starting to fill in.

"Golden Bear" and Hagar have enough snow for some fun.

These are the days that bring a smile.

Dropping in to Half Wit

Git some Bill

Sweet line man.

Entering the choke

Far better than expected

Another fine day in the hills once again.

Well I finally got out in the backcountry for this new season. After a fun day with my little one skiing for the first time and the CAIC benefit in Breck I suffered through a very loud and windy night in Frisco. The accommodations were great it was just absolutely howling last night up there. With a crack of noon start we headed up Mt Trelease, hoping to find some wind loaded slopes. Gary Fondl, Dave Gidley and Brian Lindahl joined me. We ended up getting in 3 nice laps of some surprisingly nice snow. We came across a natural slide in one of the steeper gullies up there. The cross loaded new snow had slid. It looked like a bad bond between old and new. It was getting late so we didn’t bother to investigate too closely. It was great getting out with you guys. Ended up with 2700′ of vertical for the day. That’s a bit more than I usually get for the first tour of the new season. Now lets get some more soon.

Gary Fondl

He's trying to get snow in my gloves

Brian Lindahl

He likes powder

Dave Gidley

Heading for the wind lip

I laughed pretty hard, Gary did too, and Dave and Brian did as well.

Back to the skin track

There were some face shots

There were also some good turns

There were some more face shots

Gidley skis fast.

Went for the longest ride I’ve ever done last weekend. It was awesome. We started at the top Mineral Bottom Edge and met up with the other members from our group. I think the final number was 11 people. Some of the group was from Salt Lake and the rest were from Colorado. We loaded up the 4Runner with the needed gear and rode back to the highway into Canyonlands. About 8 miles down the road we came to a short cut that was really fun though a bit sandy. This knocked off about 5 miles from the total ride distance. Once at the highway we headed south to the park. Back on dirt we headed down Schafer Trail. It was really cool. At one point a mule jumped in front of a rider. It reminded me of the rider that got taken out by the deer in South Africa. Scary. We then took a break at Musselman Arch.

The scenery on the 1st half of the ride was awesome. I didn’t look around as much the second half. I was more focused on finishing before it got dark. I drove a 10 mile portion from the top of Murphy’s Hogback as it was steep and I didn’t want to take any chances with an accident. Murphy’s was a tough climb. I walked the very top 30 feet.  Speaking of hills Hardscrabble was really tough. I walked my fair share of that. At the top of Hardscrabble the shelf road was really cool. The downhill coming off here was REALLY fun. I also really enjoyed the area around the Labyrinth. Getting close to the Green River added a serenity to the moment. The final hill out was tough but I managed to stay on my bike. I still can’t believe that the road goes up that zone. Such a fun ride.

Totals: Start 6:52am – Total Distance 98 miles – Ride Distance 88 Miles – Time 12:02:30 – Vertical 6050′ – Smiles Too Many to Count

It was awesome meeting all you guys from Salt Lake and as always a pleasure hanging with the Rileys. Special thanks to Rob Singleton for planning the trip, great idea.

The 1st Junction on Hosetheif Road

The support vehicle. You may recognize it

Sunrise

A sketchy 4x4 section

Easy stuff for the 4Runner

Wait this is a road ride

Really glad I didn't fall while taking this picture I was going fast and it would have hur alot

Just a little bit pretty around them parts

Kristin having fun

Taking pictures while moving is interesting

At the bottom of a really fun downhill

Waiting to regroup

I had "Belgian Waffles" Honey Stinger Waffles and Jet Blackberry Gu MMMMM

Musselman Arch

Nancy

Such a cool place

More of the group

On the arch

Taking a walk

Sicktarded

Hoodoos

Half way there

Taking a break

Back at the start.

Nancy’s pictures. I hope the Picasa Links work.

Some of the group

Nice light

I like my 4Runner

Action

All together now

Break time

Musselman Arch

An awesome place

A long way to go still

Sicktarded

The end of a long day

Well I’ve been riding a bit lately now that mountain biking season has finally started. I finally got out to the Buffalo Creek area for some riding. It’s a really nice zone though this day it seemed a bit sandy. The single track is really fun and the interspersed zones on granite riding are really cool. When  you get into the burned out areas that’s when you really start to feel out of place. There’s nothing like that feeling of being in a wasteland being reborn. This is a really cool place, you should grab your bike an go for a ride. It was a really nice day, thanks Bill for the great tour.

So the original plan was to head up for the Winds for 5 days. Nate had to report to his new job in Prudhoe Bay, AK on the second day of that trip so I had to figure something else out. I surely wasn’t going into the Winds alone, there’s just too many grizzly bears up there for my taste. I really needed to do a road trip though as so many of my days this year were spent in the nearby Tenmile and Mosquito range. I craved the expanses of the open road and the time to think. I yearned for the focus and lack of focus that comes from 3000 miles. I figured I could get some skiing in if I headed west. So I packed up the truck and made for California. The plan was to do Lassen Peak 1st then hit Shasta, McLoughlin and Hood. I made it to just past Reno and camped in my truck at a rest area. In the morning I headed up to Lassen National Park. The plan was to climb the snow up the South Face then ski the Northeast Face to Emigrant Pass and hitchhike back to the truck. This is supposedly an awesome car shuttle as it offers about 4000 vert of descent for just 2000 vert of hiking.

Well in the US Government’s infinite wisdom they decided to close the entire mountain. The reason was that they were doing trail work on .7 miles of trail on the south face. I asked if I could access the peak from the Northeast Face and was rudely told that the whole mountain was closed, she also said there was no skiing. I guess I can see why the Tea Party doesn’t want to pay taxes. This is a bullshit move NPS. Tourists aren’t going to climb the Northeast Face its too far and high, and I would have respected the southern closure. LAME.

Irritated I drove to Redding and headed north to Shasta City. Got a nice and early start the next day and headed out from the trailhead up into Avalanche Gulch. I made decent time for the first 3 hours. I climbed 1600 vert and 2.3 miles in the 1st hour and right around that pace for the next 2 more. Heading up to the thumb saddle I was kind of surprised by how hard the snow was and I decided to stop pressing so hard. I took the chance to talk to each of the groups that I passed. I figured that in order to have soft snow for the ski I’d need to be skiing in about 4 hours. At the top of the Red Banks pass I got a really cool view of the Konwakiton Glacier. Then I headed up to Misery Hill and dropped my crampons. Chatted with some guides on their way down and snapped some pictures. It was strange to see weather coming from the east, hough the clouds didn’t seem to be very convergent. The wind was non-existent. Such a pleasant trip. The angle was perfect for a long day.

As for the skiing I dropped in about 20 vert from the actual summit. Then I booted down about 30 vert. and i skied a total of 5500 vert. Not bad for August in my opinion. The snow was really good for the 1st 3000 vert then the suncups and runnels made for pure hell for about 2200 vert. The exit gully was surprisingly good for about 300 vert. So much fun.

Afterward I headed up to visit some dear old friends in Ashland. It had been too long you two. In the morning I headed over to Mt McLoughlin. I wasn’t sure how much snow it had so I drove around and scoped out the Northeast Bowl and was disappointed by what I saw. Not worth it. Feeling a bit dejected I though about what to do. My knee wasn’t feeling all that great I thought Mt Hood might be a bad idea so I just decided to head home. So much fun though. I love the road. Perhaps a ski in RMNP or the Indian Peaks on Tuesday. Enjoy the photos.

Somewhere in Wyoming

Which way do I go?

I love road trips

Yeah there's no skiing on Mt Lassen

First look at Mt Shasta

Looking up Avalanche Gulch at sunrise

Such a different place. From the look to the smell

Looking up at the route

Heading up

The Red Banks

The upper Konwakiton Glacier. Pretty

The upper Whitney Glacier. Also pretty

Summit plateau

Happy place

SkiLogiks on Shasta's Summit

Dropping in

Nice corn

Upper Konwakiton Glacier

So much great skiing in Avalanche Gulch

Mt McLoughlin. Gonna come back for this when there's more snow

Mirage

Happy trails to you until we meet again

Back in ’93 this was the 1st line I skied in the range. I only have one surviving shot left. So the first becomes the last. Dobish and Jesse joined me for this one. Old friend and new friend. NICE.

Me and Dobish headed up the night before. The plan was to get as far up Wheeler Road as we could. By the time we got up there it was dark. The 1st obstacle by the mine was difficult. The second obstacle was just too difficult in the dark so we made camp. Jesse hiked up to the camp site in the morning and I decided to give driving another shot. I don’t have lockers on my 4runner but I thought with proper tire placement I could get it done. I got it on the 1st try. The next obstacles went down pretty easily and we stopped at the snow at about 11500. That’s one bumpy road.

I love hiking for skiing in the summer. There’s just something about the grassy tundra and the wildflowers. Knowing that you’re getting in some turns just makes it that much more appealing. We couldn’t find an easy way across Wheeler Creek so we just followed it up to the flats near the lake. Then we climbed some nice steeps and made our way to the base of the line. We had all brought crampons and Jesse and me elected to wear them. The slope maxes out at about 46° and averages about 40°. Not really needed but hey we carried them why not. After the snow we tagged the summit and then came back and got ready for our ski.

It was quality corn. Some of the best I’ve gotten this late in the year. I dropped oin 1st then set up for pics. Dobish had his turn then Jesse had his.

The out via the road was bumpy yet again. It always scares me going downhill while 4 wheeling. The bouncing from the pull of gravity really makes things interesting. I hit my hitch a few times but that was the only bangs that I got. It’s a fun road for sure. I might have to put some lockers on my truck, I was reminded of how much I like 4 wheeling.

This is the last line for the book. Now I just have to finish the writing. Hopefully I’ll get it done by October. Perhaps I’ll ski a different range soon, stay tuned. Enjoy the pics

Looking over at Silverheels. Photo Jeremy Dobish

A look at Democrat. Still holding on. Photo Jeremy Dobish

Democrat still holding some snow. Photo by Jesse Peterson.

Pretty Flowers. Photo by Jesse Peterson

The line on the left was the target. Photo by Jesse Peterson

Onward and upward. Photo by Jesse Peterson

Heading for the top. Photo Jeremy Dobish

Jesse

Dobish

REALLY BIG TRUCKS

I'm up first. Photo Jesse Peterson

Mmmmm. Photo Jeremy Dobish

Nice to start and finish here. Photo Jeremy Dobish

Great snow thru here. Photo Jeremy Dobish

So green this year. Photo Jeremy Dobish

How sweet it is. Photo by Jesse Peterson

Strange perspective on this one. Photo by Jesse Peterson

Dobish drops in

Nice turns man

Not bad

Especially for July

Energizer bunny season

Fun Line

Jesse's turn or maybe turns

Perfect corn

I like this one the most. Check out the moon.

Decent angle on this line

Just a few more turns

At the choke. Photo Jeremy Dobish

Working the lower patch near the lake

And the skiing is complete for the project

Fun stuff. Photo Jesse Peterson

Last obstacle other than the snow that stopped us. Photo Jeremy Dobish

Nice rollover. We got him upright pretty easily. Photo Jesse Peterson

Second obstacle. Photo Jeremy Dobish

Tough road. Photo Jesse Peterson