Lindsey Clark

Sh*t Skier Girls Say...

2012-03-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

This video by the uber-fabulous Lynsey Dyer is absolutely hilarious, and so true. While I've never taken a "beacon to the tit", I do occasionally complain about my cramps in the skin track! And who knew that all ladies make the same high-pitched squeaky sounds when slaying the pow?!? Bonus points for the Dynafit bindings making an appearance toward the end.

Kaya the Ski Dog

2012-02-10T14:39:00.001-08:00

There are certain qualities I look for in a ski buddy: stoke, availability, and pockets full of awesome snacks. Kaya delivers on all three, and more!

Headed up a local ski area during an early season dump!

Kaya's ample fluff was our first indication that she would make a great ski dog. We've had lots of speculation about her heritage -- Chow/Samoyed/Golden? Miniature Great Pyrenees? Giant Pomeranian? -- but whatever is in there, her love of burly winter weather obviously runs deep.

Is she a Chinese Crusty?

Kaya is pretty short, and as a result we have to be thoughtful about when and where she skis. She loves the deep stuff, but has a hard time keeping up unless the slope angle tops 45 degrees (she's skied over 50... and loved it!). Otherwise, she wallows in our tracks, and we have to wait for her at the bottom.

In my tracks and keeping up just fine!

The best snow surface for her is nice, creamy, sun-softened corn snow. The good news for all of us is that there is tons of it, all summer long, in our central Oregon Cascades.


Mmmmmm... creamed corn!

Her stoke is always high, both on the up and the down.

Kaya tends to stay right on my tail...

Even when we're skiing! Check out her epic face shot...

She has also been known to warm us up after skiing in tents and camper vans, and who wouldn't love that?

Fluffy foot warmer... my favorite!

And about those pockets full of snacks: there's usually something tasty and easy to grab in her dog pack!

Cheese, nuts, or beef jerky?

So Kaya, thanks for being an awesome ski buddy, and cheers to many more years of shredding together!

Enduring Ullr's Torment on Broken Top

2011-12-18T19:57:00.001-08:00

December 17th, 2011

Skiers: Lindsey Clark, Erik Schmidt and Liam Myers

Liam channeling his inner "Mellow Daddy"

The 2011/2012 ski season has taken its sweet time getting started. After a handful of bottomless powder days, we have been suffering through an epic, extended high pressure system that has filled TGR forums and facebook walls with complaints, prayers, requests for snow dances, and even death threats to Ullr. The blindingly sunny days just keep coming. Ugh.

Rather than continue to wait for the snow to arrive, Erik and I decided to commit to skiing the little snow we've got now. We talked our friend Liam into coming along. Broken Top seemed like a great option, with a huge variety of terrain and aspects to ski. There had to be something holding snow!

Getting out to Broken Top on our snowmobiles was quick and painless. There were a few inches of snow on a firm base, which made for easy and no-nonsense travel out to the wilderness boundary. From there, we skinned out to the middle of the meadow where we ran into Schralper, who had just skied the 1:00 area in the bowl. It looked GNARLY -- his white tracks were probably visible for miles away, etched into the brown snow.

Broken Top: not quite open for business...

Schralper confirmed what we were already thinking: the bowl was still not really ready to ski, with rocks showing everywhere. So we climbed up the West ridge to ski one regular favorite, and one new spot we'd never skied.

The regular favorite, Lunch Bowl, is a leeward slope and probably never sees the sun this time of year. Therefore, even this short line was a great time with no sketchy rocks and plenty of soft snow. Then a short skin back up to the top put us at the top of what I deemed "Mellow Daddy Pyramid", a 800' slope that would appeal to the most discriminating meadow skipper... or Mellow Daddy.

Rippin' skins for round two!

Mellow Daddy turned out to be super fun! A couple ledges at the top, plus rocks and trees to avoid, and creamy corn snow made for a mighty fine ski. We were all wearing huge grins at the bottom. What's everyone complaining about? It's springtime in the Cascades!

Erik getting mellow...

We skied the slope in the sun. Because that's what mellow people do!

We arrived back at the wilderness boundary at 4:20, just as the sun dropped below the horizon. A quick ride back to the sno-park in the dark got us back by 5. Another super fun day out on Broken Top, and a great start to our backcountry ski season!

Perfect time, perfect place!

Butte Baggin' 3 Screening in Bend, OR

2011-11-26T14:12:00.001-08:00

Erik and I are super excited to present this year's ski movie, Butte Baggin' 3: A New Record. Record snowfall, record ski days, record radness!

Featuring:
Erik Schmidt, Lindsey Clark, Dave Bailey, Loren Griswold, Kaya the ski dog, Liam Myers, Rick Peters, Ashley Teren, Jenn Simon, Jodi Line-Bailey, Levi Matkins, Greg Stafford, Frank Palermo, and others.

Filmed on location at:
Broken Top, Mt. Hood, Middle Sister, North Sister, Tam McArthur Rim, Santiam Pass, Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Theilsen, Mt. Shasta, Brighton Utah, Sawtooths Idaho and more!

Please join us in reliving all the action from our epic 2010/2011 season, projected large for your maximum stoke!

The movie will be screening at the Cascades Mountaineers Christmas party on December 14th. The party starts at 7, movie starts at 8. See you there!

Skiing All Year: a Photographic Trip Report

2011-11-05T16:14:00.000-07:00

The 2010/2011 season was the second year that Erik and I skied every month. To celebrate our second year of this crazy achievement, here is a recap of our record season in photos. Enjoy!

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

So there you have it. 12 months of skiing in the Pacific Northwest! With a little Utah and Wyoming in the mix just for fun. We can't stop now... so we are on our 25th consecutive month with no signs of slowing down. Bring on the new snow!

Erik and I in Sierra Magazine!

2011-10-28T11:33:00.001-07:00

Our crazy adventures in the Sawtooths last spring were beautifully documented in this month's Sierra. Here are a few scans from the magazine; thanks to Aaron Teasdale for writing such a gripping tale of our action-packed few days! Powder-choked couloirs, lost skis, missing binding screws, camera rendezvous, avalanches... it was a trip to remember for sure!

"Below: Clark Corey and two camp participants haul four days' worth of gear and food six miles to Sawtooth Mountain Guides' backcountry yurts. Right: Kirk Bachman teaches rope work on the camp's first morning: "It's about keeping a slip from becoming a fall." Lower right: "Self-arrest" practice with an ice ax, for when a slip does become a fall."

"Below: Bachman and crew take a lunch break with the Salmon Valley and White Cloud Mountains in the distance. "We've all got our bubbles," Bachman told the group. "The question is, how are we going to get out of them?" Right: Bracing against 30-mile-per-hour winds, Lindsey Clark and Clark Corey size up the drop on their first serious test, a couloir called There and Back Again. Lower right: Clark gets caught up in a minor avalanche of her own making. Happily, no harm was done."

I encourage you to pick up a copy of the November/December issue of Sierra. You can't beat a print publication! The full story and photos are also online at sierraclub.org.

Enjoy!

Fall is in the Air: Firewood and Ski Movies!

2011-09-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

Our wood shed, on its way to being packed full of winter warmth!

Erik and I spent the weekend splitting (Erik) and stacking (me) firewood this weekend. We got our first dusting of snow in the mountains last night. AND there are two exciting ski movies playing in Bend soon!

TGR's One for the Road is playing at the Tower Theatre on October 5th. I always look forward to TGR's movies! Remember Callum Pettit's hole in one?

There is also a movie from a new (new to me?) crew called Sherpas Cinema. Looks pretty sick. This one's also playing at the Tower Theatre on October 20th.

Sherpas Cinema on Vimeo.

Speaking of ski movies, our little production is in its third year! Yes, Butte Baggin' 3 will be ready soon. We have been editing like crazy for the last few weeks... and damn we skied some amazing snow in the 2010/2011 season! Local friends, look for your invite to the screening soon!

September Skiing: It’s not for Sissies

2011-09-13T00:11:00.001-07:00

September 2nd – 3rd, 2011

Skiers: Erik Schmidt, Lindsey Clark and Kaya the ski dog

Kaya and I cruising down some sun cups on Middle Sister

Preface: It’s Monday afternoon, and I’m sitting in Dr. Cara Walther’s office with significant shoulder pain. She tells me I have rotator cuff impingement and to take it easy for a month or so. Of course I mention the Middle Sister trip I have planned for Friday and Saturday, and that I planned to spend a day and a half carrying a 50+ pound pack. With a funny expression, she asks me if I can lighten my load. I say probably not. So she gives me a cortisone shot and tells me to make up my mind on Wednesday. Of course my mind is already made up…

This is the second year that Erik, Kaya and I have made a pilgrimage to Middle Sister via the Obsidian trail to get in our September turns. The snow on Middle Sister is not easily accessible, but the approach is through spectacular country, and the snow is reliable. Last year’s adventure was memorable and worth repeating.

In summer, the western approach to Middle Sister can’t be beat. The Obsidian trail is famous for a reason! After about 3.5 miles of hiking moderately uphill through a beautiful and rather magical subalpine forest, the trail climbs up and over an ancient, rugged and bright orange lava flow. Descending off the lava, the trail crosses White Branch Creek and enters a beautiful small alpine meadow choked with lupine, Indian paintbrush and alpine dandelion flowers.


A little out of our element...

An adorable fluff nugget in a field of wildflowers

The next short, steep uphill section of trail along some small waterfalls brings you to a junction with the Pacific Crest Trail. At this point the trail becomes Glacier Way, and Middle Sister peeks out through even more wildflowers. At the back of the Obsidian trail loop a creek crossing takes you to a climber’s trail that heads uphill. From there, it’s a straightforward rock and scree scramble up the mountain.

Kaya resting at the intersection of Glacier Way and the PCT

We left the Obsidian trailhead at around noon on Friday. It was a challenging first few miles being burdened with a heavy and awkward pack, but my body quickly adapted to the load. We reached the stream crossing after about five hours of hiking, then cruised up a prominent, treed ridge back to last year’s perfect bivouac site at about 7,300’. This site is a favorite for its ski in/ski out location!

Cuddle time

After taking some time to unload gear and relax, we all headed up the adjacent bowl for some pre-dinner turns. 7 PM is the perfect time to ski in September on the West side of Middle Sister. The sun cups are soft and the lava rock, expansive views and sunset are a pretty dramatic backdrop. Our fun, fast and easy turns were lit by a particularly spectacular sunset that evening with the sky full of layers of smoke from the forest fires down below.

Erik skiing off into the sunset...

After skiing, we had a great time cooking and eating dinner in our bivy sacks, surrounded by warm air and a great view of the milky way. We even saw some shooting stars! Tents are overrated; an alpine bivy on a warm, clear night can’t be beat.

Melting snow for water under a beautiful sky

We woke on Saturday to crazy gusty winds that were totally demotivating. After slow preparations, we set out at about 9 AM. Crampons were really the only option as the snow was frozen solid. Kaya’s built-in crampons seemed to work nicely! We made a direct trajectory toward the summit block, ascending what we refer to as the “RenCol” bowl: a large, steep, persistent snowfield between the Renfrew and Collier glaciers. It’s a non-technical route with some moderately steep snow climbing toward the top.

Erik was climbing out in front with Kaya, and I was following closely behind. After she slipped a few times, Erik decided to take the dog and call their high point at a convenient shelf. I continued to the top of the bowl, topping out at around 9,000’.

Erik and Kaya climbing RenCol bowl

When we split up, Erik asked me if I felt confident skiing the slope I was about to climb. I said, "Of course!" Really, I should have thought it through a bit more. 45-degree frozen sun cups? Easy! (Not really.)

On top of RenCol bowl, looking out over the Cascade crest

I dropped in with confidence and within the seconds it took me to make my first two turns, I realized a few things. 1: I was skiing right above multiple patches of lava rock. 2: The snow was shiny. Shiny = icy. 3: It was steep! I could hear Stefano De Benedetti's adorable Italian accent running through my head: “When you are in the situation that if you fall you die… You think very much about turning.” I wouldn’t consider this to be no-fall terrain, but I was indeed thinking very much about turning.

I traversed to a safer location and worked my way down the slope. Not my most beautiful ski descent, but I held it together and enjoyed the ride.

We leapfrogged back to camp, with the snow improving as our elevation dropped. Kaya seemed psyched to be skiing with us, and stayed right on our tails during the entire descent.

Kaya and I making some fun turns back to camp

Back at camp, we ate a well-deserved lunch while Kaya snoozed. She had just run down about 2,000 vert! We were packed up and skiing out by 3 PM. There was enough patchy snow that we were able to ski almost all the way down to the creek crossing, saving time and knees.

The Obsidian trail is generally populated this time of year, but we only saw two ladies on our entire hike back to the trailhead. Come to find out, there were over 500 people evacuated from a nearby stretch of the PCT that was close to a large forest fire. My guess is that the smoke deterred most people from hiking the trail on that particular weekend.

We arrived at the trailhead by 7 PM, and were back in Bend and eating Hungarian sausages by 8. Another fun September ski mission complete. Cheers to 24 consecutive months of snow worship!

Back at the trailhead after a fun and successful September ski trip!

Epilogue: My shoulder still hurts.

More photos here:

August Turns on Mt. Shasta: When a Plan Doesn’t Exactly Come Together...

2011-09-01T17:50:00.003-07:00

August 12 - 13th, 2011

Skiers: Erik Schmidt and Lindsey Clark


Wintun glacier on the left, Hotlum glacier on the right

Erik and I were excited to explore the Northeast side of Mt. Shasta for the first time, try for the summit, and get in our August turns. Here’s how the trip went down:

Plan:	Reality:
Leave Bend Friday at noon	Leave Bend Friday at 3 PM
Cruise south, carefree, with wind in our hair	Get stuck in traffic five miles South of Bend for over an hour. Stop two more times for road work.
Grab a quick, healthy, tasty meal in Klamath Falls	Wait... Where’s the food in Klamath Falls?
Hike up 1,000 vert, bivy under the stars	Sleep in the back of the Subaru at the Brewer Creek trailhead
Get an early start, climb strong!	Get a late start, climb slow Wait... Do you have food poisoning?!? That must be why you are shaking..
Summit! Yay!	10,000 feet! Eh.
Get in our August turns for 23 consecutive months of skiing!	Get in our August turns for 23 consecutive months of skiing!

2 of our 3 missions were accomplished, we got in 2,000+ vert of skiing, and the summit isn't going away anytime soon.

Bonus points: amazing Crater Lake sunset on the way home:

Out of the Hammock and onto the Glacier: A Trip Report from summer skiing on Mt. Hood North

2011-07-29T11:11:00.001-07:00

July 24th, 2011

Skiers: Erik Schmidt and Lindsey Clark

The last few weeks have been full of quintessential summer activities: canoe camping, slacklining, beer drinking, and vegetable gardening. So when we decided to head to Portland for some city-style partying and ski the north side of Hood on the way back home, the idea seemed like a good one. The north side of Hood is an outstanding place to spend a warm summer day!

Eliot glacier

We arrived at Cloud Cap around 9:30 PM on Saturday night and were in our truck camper sleeping by 10:30. We were up at 4:30 AM, took care of business, and were hiking up the Timberline trail by 5:30.


Pre-dawn starts are never easy...

Topping out on the Eliot glacier moraine for dawn views of Mt. Hood can’t be beat.

On the Eliot glacier moraine at sunrise

We cruised up the moraine, then traversed over to the rock shelter, which we reached around 7:30.

Mt. Hood's rock shelter. Air guitar mandatory.

Did I mention that the entire lower mountain is in bloom right now? Wow.

From the rock shelter, we made our way up toward the Cooper Spur. Erik booted straight up some patchy snow (he was in ski boots), I followed the faint trail along the edge of the moraine (I was in approach shoes). We seemed to make similar time, except I had drool-worthy views of the Eliot glacier icefall all the way up!


Glacial gnar!

Along the way, we noticed two black specks moving toward the summit. At around 8:30, they started their descent. I yelled over to Erik, “check it out, I think those two climbers are skiers!” They were indeed, and we got to watch their solid ski descent off the summit. Rad!

We crossed paths with the two skiers at their bivouac site at around 8,500 feet. Turns out one of them was a Mt. Hood climbing ranger and had met some friends of ours during the Mt. Hood leg of their Cascade Challenge a few weeks prior. Gotta love our tiny Oregon backcountry ski community...

The Cooper Spur climbing (and skiing!) route

Finally at around 8,700 feet or so the snow on the ridge was continuous and it was time to put on my ski boots. We continued to walk up the ridge, as it never made sense to put on skins. In fact, we didn’t use our skins at all that day. Made for a slow ascent for sure.

Once we were about 6 hours in and about 4,000 vertical feet up, my legs had turned to complete Jell-O. After falling in the bootpack twice, I decided to call it my high point at around 9,300 feet. Have I mentioned my recent fascination with hammocks? Erik continued up the boot pack for another 20 minutes, to about 10,000 feet.

Erik in the boot pack

The ski down was fun, but pretty mellow. We considered skiing left and down onto Eliot glacier, but it didn't look like we'd get much vert before we were back on the rocks. Granted, those few turns would have been nice and steep, and with a fun berschrund crossing.

We ended up skiing to our right and onto the Newton Clark glacier. Picking a line between an open crevasse and a rock wall is always fun! We got around a 2,000 vertical foot descent. Most of it was very nice corn snow, which eventually transitioned into a runnelled nightmare. Jibbing off runnels is pretty challenging when you have Jell-O legs!

Avoiding a crevasse off to my right... sweet turns on Newton Clark glacier

We followed the Timberline trail back to the rock shelter, then back down the moraine to Cloud Cap. The maze of trails up there gets a little confusing, and neither of us wanted to end up at Tilly Jane rather than Cloud Cap.

From our walk down the Timberline Trail... Mt. Adams in the distance

It's usually rather entertaining to hike down a trail covered in dirt and rocks after a day of summer skiing. I've been asked lots of funny questions about my skis by bewildered hikers and sightseers on a variety of mountains. On this day however, the trails were full of savvy people generally asking after the quality of the snow and our turns. Awesome.

I hope to get back out there this summer, as Snowdome looks to be in great shape! The road to Cloud Cap is finally open, the crevasses on Eliot are open as well, and there is sweet, sweet corn to be had hopefully until the snow starts flying again!

More photos here:

Trip report: Broken Top's 8:00 Snow Cliff and 1:00 Face

2011-06-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

May 10th, 2011

Skiers: Erik Schmidt and Lindsey Clark

Erik has been spending quite a bit of time out at Broken Top this season, and is well on his way to climbing and skiing every viable ski line on the mountain. He'd had his eye on a particular line that seemed "in" this season... not really a couloir, this particular ski line was just a skinny ramp of snow wedged between two huge, intersecting cliffs. He really wanted to ski it, and we agreed that this year's epic La Nina season may be the last time in a while that it was even a possibility.

Broken Top from the wilderness boundary

We skinned across the meadow, over the moraine, and into the bowl on a sunny morning. Rounding the corner toward 9:00 couloir, I was rather unclear about the objective. "You want to ski that?" I asked, "because if so, you're on your own. I'll just stand here and watch." The line looked really steep, really narrow, rather exposed, and the snow didn't look friendly at all. Not my idea of a fun line. Of course, Erik loves this kind of stuff and soon was on his way up the snow cliff.

Erik booting up 8:00 snow cliff

After about 40 minutes, he reached his high point in a moat near the top of the line. At the very top hung a giant cornice, not exactly something you'd want to climb up and over. After a gear transition in the moat, he was ready to drop in.

Erik negotiated the couloir with a variety of hop turns and a little sideslipping here and there. Everything was going great. Then, at one point, he made a turn, slid out, and started sliding right toward a cliff! Fortunately he stopped himself pretty quickly and made turns out of the couloir and down the apron intact.

As he skied down to me, I could tell he was totally hopped up on adrenaline: that amazing cocktail of fear plus accomplishment. These were the raddest ski tracks I'd seen laid down on Broken Top all season!


"I was puckered as fu%k!!"

With that ski line checked off his list, we agreed to cruise across the bowl to a more mellow line in the 1:00 area. Two skiers had already set a boot pack, so we used it about halfway up, then split off toward the right to access some steeper terrain.

Two skiers headed up for round two on 1:00 face

At our high point, we saw some other skiers down below who'd used the orignal boot pack to ski the more traditional 1:00 face.

Two skiers at the top of 1:00 face with Middle and North Sisters in the background

From the left: 8:00 snow cliff, 9:00 couloir, 11:00 couloir

Erik about to drop in to 1:00 face

We skied the 1:00 line, then booted back up again to ski another variation that led us past the bottom of 3:00 couloir and back out to the wilderness boundary.

Yet another stellar day out on Broken Top!

Chute School: A Trip Report from Ski Mountaineering Camp in the Sawtooths

2011-05-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

April 28^th – May 1^st, 2011

Sawtooth Mountain Guides offers two ski mountaineering camps each year based out of the Williams Peak yurts in Idaho’s Sawtooth wilderness. Erik Schmidt and I joined five other campers from around the west (Ryan, Aaron, Curtis, Dave and Brent), as well as guides Kirk Bachman, Mike Hatch and Clark Corey, to climb and ski some sick couloirs in epic midwinter conditions.

Thompson peak from profile basin

Day 1: Erik and I attempt to locate the Sawtooth Mountain Guides office. How hard can it be to find an office in a town with a population of 100? As it turns out, not so easy. After a bit of searching, we found a lineup of five Subarus that suggested we were in the right spot. After introductions, an overview of recent weather and snow conditions, gear selections, and lunch preparations, we drove to the trailhead at the Stanley ranger station.

The skin out to the yurts via the Alpine Way trail took a few hours, and was really mellow. It had been a few months since I skinned with a heavy pack on, so I ended up chilling at the back of the line with Clark, who was pulling a sled full of gear. Our skin track chatter included stories about Clark’s trip to ski equatorial pow in Ecuador, and my summer of glacier skiing in Oregon and Washington.

That afternoon under cloudy skies Hatch led Erik, Ryan and I on a ski tour above the yurts to ski some really cold pow. I was actually quite shocked to feel the supremely cold face shots – colder than I’ve ever experienced. It was a pleasure to make turns with a crew of rippin’ skiers in such epic snow! This was shaping up to be a good trip.

Day 2 began with a tour plan, then we were out the door skinning up to skier’s summit. Kirk demonstrated anchor building using a tree, then belayed Hatch into the top of KB’s to ski cut the slope. Half of the crew skied KB’s, and the rest of us cruised over to the slightly less intimidating (and less rocky!) Beef Log.

KB's

Beef Log was an adventure! Clark dropped in first, making some big, ski cut/traverse-y turns to see what he could get to run. It looked like sluff was our only issue. After Kirk’s quick lecture on sluff management, Curtis dropped in like a ski racer after too many red bulls. He made a few turns charging fall line, then BAM! was knocked down by his sluff. Both skis released. One was found… and pretty soon we realized we had a situation on our hands.

One at a time the rest of us dropped in trying not to release too much more snow. We all spent at least an hour probing the debris pile looking for Curtis’ other ski. No dice. Eventually Kirk sent Aaron and I out with Clark to do a little more skiing and a little less practice on our switchbacks. Kirk ended up skiing back to Stanley to bring a new pair of skis up for Curtis. Thanks, Kirk!

Sluff on Beef Log

The three of us cruised over the high traverse and onto Peak 10,084 in almost whiteout conditions. We gained the ridge, dropped over to the other side and skied our first legitimate couloir of the trip: There and Back Again. Clark dropped in first, then Aaron, and finally me. I kicked off a little wind slab at the top, but it didn’t run very far and wasn’t too big of a deal. The turns were epic! Snow flying everywhere all the way down! 10 turns of absolute bliss. After meeting at the bottom of the couloir, we made giant powder turns through Lower Meadow, across the shoulder of Peak 10,084 and skinned back to the yurts for some much-deserved hors d’oveurs!

Our tracks on There and Back Again... RAD!

On day 3 we toured to profile basin for snow school. We learned techniques for boot packing and self arrest, including the use of an ice axe and crampons. It was impossible to find a fast, icy slope on which to practice, so we ended up on a 40 degree slope with fresh snow. Probably a good thing so I didn’t impale myself on an ice axe while arresting an upside-down, backward fall! Kirk’s lesson was informative and entertaining; clearly he was speaking from years of experience. Some favorites included advice on self arrest: “act like a cat on a hot tin roof!” and advice on stomping out a platform on a steep slope: “give yourself enough room so you can squat and take a shit!” Won’t be forgetting that advice anytime soon.

Skinning into profile basin for snow school

In the afternoon, we split into two groups to climb and ski What’s Up Doc. Kirk had joked earlier that morning that we should bring some carrots to leave at the top as an offering. Looking across the basin, I was wondering if I would become that carrot… The line was definitely intimidating, but I was up for the challenge.

I joined the group of three splitboarders (Clark, Dave and Brent), which was super entertaining! Hearing “GOD DAMN IT!!!” echo off the walls of the couloir while a certain member of our group was mid-switchback was pretty hilarious. Halfway up we transitioned to boot packing, which was a little hairball for me but seemed easy for the rest of the crew. An ice axe in my uphill hand and a Whippet pole in the downhill hand made me feel extra safe!

Booting up What's Up Doc

The scene at the top of the couloir was a little hectic: people peeing, taking photos, coordinating with photographers on the radio, queuing up to drop in… there was enough activity that I didn’t have the opportunity to think too much about the line I was about to ski, which was probably a good thing.

Pretty soon it was my turn to drop in. Had the Deadsy cover of Rush’s Tom Sawyer running through my head. Clark told me to take it easy and watch my sluff. Made a couple of turns as slowly as I could (no easy feat on DPS skis!), no sluff issues, but wow it was steep! Made a few more, stopped, everything was cool. Lined myself up to transition below some rocks to skier’s right of the couloir where there was fresh snow…. Made a big turn, let ‘em run a little, whoa I was going fast, freaked out, fell, kicked off a slab avalanche. Then I was down, tumbling, all I could see was white, snow was in my mouth, snapped into full survival mode. Got into my well-practiced “cat on a hot tin roof” position, jabbed the Whippet pole into the slope, and stopped my slide.

Both skis were still on my feet, but I lost one pole. Dug around a bit for it, but really I just wanted to get the hell out of there! So I stood back up and made some smooth pow turns down the steep apron to the sweet sound of cheering from the rest of the group. Sorry I erased your turns, Aaron!

Oops!

The last three people down were the spliboarders, who opted to ride the “Skinny Minnie” variation of the line with no tracks and a really tight choke. All three of them rode the line with style. Very nice, gentlemen!

Dave shredding What's Up Doc

After some traversing, some mellow turns, then some skinning back to the yurts, fiesta night was on! The Tecate and Jäger were flowing, along with spirited reliving of the day’s events and lots of other awesome stories about mountains and snow. A particularly fond memory is of Hatch describing his philosophy of ski mountaineering as “Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome” while gesturing wildly during the “Overcome” part. Good times indeed.

On day 4 we split into two groups again: one group headed back to profile basin to ski a sick couloir called Resurrection, while Hatch led Erik, Curtis, Kirk and myself on his classic tour, the “Peak 10,084 Reacharound”, with the goal of doing some rope work.

After skinning and bootpacking up to a ridge high on Peak 10,084 (which Kirk refers to as Peak 10,082 after he knocked a rock off the summit), we skied a giant cirque called Upper Meadow. With my previous two days of avalanche issues I was a little squirrely about skiing such a wide-open face. Kirk seemed to think everything was fine, so I dropped in for some nice powder turns without incident.

The transition from Upper to Lower Meadow involved a super steep slope that we sidestepped down on belay from Hatch, then transitioned to a hand line for the rest of the steep area, before dropping the rope and making some turns in the quickly softening snow. I had romanticized the experience of a free-hanging ski rappel, but it didn’t happen for me on this trip. Next time…

Sideslipping on a hand line

Once back at the yurt, we got a quick and dirty classroom session from Kirk on anchor building and ski belays in the warm sunshine. Before I knew it, we were all packed up and headed back down the trail, leaving the spectacular Sawtooths and fantastic yurt livin’ behind.

Arriving in the parking lot of the Ranger station, I felt relieved, sad, exhausted, and excited all at the same time. Relieved because I knew this trip was going to be an incredible challenge, and I was psyched that I was able to push my limits and succeed. Sad because such a fun and exciting weekend full of epic snow, amazing terrain and great people had come to an end. Exhausted because we were averaging over 3,000 vertical feet per day. Excited because I was leaving with a whole new bag of tricks and a totally different idea of what a ski line could be in the alpine.

Happy campers!

Thank you to Kirk, Hatch and Clark for giving me the opportunity to improve my ski mountaineering skills in such an ideal environment. Your backyard is spectacular! This was a trip I won’t soon forget.

More photos:

New sticks! DPS Wailer 112 RP, aka the Sexy Bananas

2011-03-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

Erik, in all his infinite wisdom, bought me some powder skis for Christmas this year. I think he got sick of seeing my tips dive all the time during our epic La Nina season...

Riding a 185 cm gigantor ski was a life-changing experience, but this particular setup (Dynastar Huge Troubles with Marker F12 Tour bindings) was way too heavy to bring on a legitimate backcountry tour. Enter DPS...

I first saw DPS skis at the Outdoor Retailer show in January. In the sea of backcountry-specific skis, these stood out due to their unique shaping and simple topsheet designs. They are also fairly lightweight. Erik brought their catalog home after the show, and it sat on our kitchen counter for weeks, haunting me...

I decided that the DPS Wailer 112 was the perfect choice for a powder-specific backcountry tool. It was absolutely nuking here in Oregon when I ordered them, so it was less than a week before I had them mounted up (Dynafit, of course) and on the snow.

Yay!

Here's a little edit I put together of my first long weekend on the skis. It was my first time skiing a rockered ski, and these are extreme. The footage is chronological... note my awesome fall when I tried to use my tails... ooops! Super fun, super awesome, I love these skis. Thanks DPS!