Ski Dog in Powder Magazine

As a product designer for Ruffwear and a ski-obsessed maniac, there are many times when my professional and personal lives intersect. I love dogs, and especially love snow dogs, so when that happens it is usually a good time!

I was recently flipping through Powder Magazine's 2013 Photo Annual, and came across a photo of a dog cruising up a boot pack with a Ruffwear Singletrak Pack on. How exciting to have my two worlds collide!

It is no accident that this particular Ruffwear product happened to end up in Powder: the idea was born from backcountry skiing. Our director of product development was a backcountry skier, and wanted to figure out a way to have his dog carry water -- and not much else -- close against his body rather than in a big pack that flapped around while he was chasing his ski buddies down the mountain. We already had a secure, stable platform in the form of our Web Master harness, so we modified the footprint of the harness slightly to accommodate two pockets sized specifically to carry 0.5L Platypus SoftBottles.

Kaya the ski dog had the pleasure of testing a prototype up on Broken Top, one of my favorite mountains. She was happy to do the job!

It was a great excuse to enjoy yet another gorgeous day on Broken Top!

Back to today: here's what the Powder dog had to say about skiing in the backcountry:

"This is what it's all about. Me and the boys. The wild. The monotony. The grind. The weight of the pack and the balls of snow on my paws. I remember my first climbs. Was still a pup. Brazen and all about the down, the next cookie, the next stick, the next thing to pee on. I'm older now. Is that a squirrel? Damn squirrels. At my age, it's more about the up. The slog. Patience and delayed gratification. The trust of fellow men. I smell peanut butter. I love peanut butter. I'll follow these guys anywhere."

Kaya has been following her people around snowy mountains for most of her life as well, and loves every second of it. That Powder dog is invited to come along on a ski adventure in Oregon sometime... she may even have a little peanut butter in her pack to share!

Broken Top's A la Mode

February 24th, 2013

 Skiers: Erik Schmidt and Lindsey Clark

A la Mode is the lovely face illuminated on the right

When mid-winter high pressure is in the forecast, Erik and I tend to head straight for Broken Top... and this day was no exception. Fresh powder and blue skies awaited us!

We decided to ascend the southeast ridge, and ski whatever looked good.

 Clouds moving in and out throughout the day made the views extra dramatic.

Once we gained the ridge, we assessed the recent weather and current snow conditions, and decided to ski the south-facing A la Mode. 

It took a little traversing across a steep slope of firm snow, then some more booting, to get to the top of the line.

Erik was happy to arrive!

Standing on top of the line, I was equally excited and intimidated about the ski down! It makes things a little more interesting when you can't see the bottom.

I dropped in first, then watched Erik ski the line. The snow went from firm at the top, to breakable crust on the apron down below. Glad I had my rockered skis on my feet!

There were big smiles and high-fives at the bottom! I was super excited to ski such a sick line. We got to look back and admire our tracks during our ski out.

As a perfect end to a perfect ski day, we rode off into the sunset.

SheJumps Get the Girls Out Mt. Bachelor, Winter ’13 Recap!

February 9, 2013

Giggles and smiles and bright colors everywhere... the girls were out in full force for our first ever SheJumps Get the Girls Out Mt. Bachelor!

What is it about shredding around on snow with a crew of ladies all day that makes you feel so amazing? It is incredible how fun, silly, motivational, and inspiring a day out skiing with a group of women can be!

We had ladies travel to Mt. Bachelor from all over the west: Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California, and of course from all over Oregon. It is pretty unusual to ski with a group of ladies, so it was worth the travel effort to enjoy this special day!

We met about 35 ladies at the bottom of Pine Marten in the morning, and started our day by fanning out all over the front of the mountain. It was awesome to watch a ton of brightly-colored ants spread out and fly down! By the second run, we were already split up. It's crazy how fast that will happen!

Some ladies hit the terrain parks off Skyliner, some explored the trees off Northwest, and a crew of about 15 of us rode the Summit chair and hiked to the top of the mountain for great views and some good, old-fashioned hunting for windblown pockets of snow!

It took some hiking, some traversing, and some rime skiing, but we definitely found what we were looking for in the gullies above Pine Marten and Northwest: smooth pockets of fluffy snow! We were psyched.

We all met back up for lunch with even more ladies who had missed us in the morning. Our special guest Meghan Kelly -- Regional Coordinator for SheJumps in California --  introduced the organization by sharing her personal experiences with SheJumps including making new friends, and finding other women to help her learn new outdoor skills. We also talked about ideas for future SheJumps events and what a central Oregon chapter could be all about.

In the afternoon, we rode the Summit chair again and dropped off the backside for some afternoon corn turns in the sunshine. We enjoyed gullies, trees, playing around on the wall of voodoo, and of course jumping! We wrapped up the day with a classic 4 PM cone hike. We dropped in to inner cone, made some great turns in soft snow, and even found freshies in the parking lot glade! 

With all the out-of-towners coming to visit, it was important to let Mt. Bachelor's best features shine: lots of awesome skiing on all aspects, 360 degrees off the summit, on a beautiful and sunny day! The cone hike was just icing on the cake : )

We headed back down the hill to downtown Bend, where our friends at Crow's Feet Commons hosted our après ski party! We all had a great time reliving all the action from the day, exchanging phone numbers, and planning future days together on the snow!

Thanks so much to everyone who came out and made it a day to remember!