Some adventures

Been a busy summer filled with...  working overtime, ski trips, biking, climbing, dirt bikes, beer, driving, skiing, biking, skiing, and shotguns!  Not too late for some photos though.  First, some wildlife:

 Digging deep for an alpine snack,  June in the Beaverheads.  Grey fox? 

With the whole family in GNP

Billy-billy-billy goats

Three sides of Homer Young's Peak to harvest this pristine corn.  This was my second year stright skiing at Homer Young in the Beaverheads, and will be heading back for sure.  This range seems to create some nice corn cycles, along with beautiful views of wide Montana valleys, Rocky Mountains in all directions, and a sure exit adventure following the spotty marshland trail.

Where'd the trail go?

Another adventure this time solo, attempting to follow the Lucifer Lake trail in the Missions.  A three hour delay caused me to scratch the plan for a big day.  Though the Garden Wall Couli was a fine consolation prize.

Late June powder in the Beartooths, making 10 months straight skiing measurable powder!

The 4th July saw me finishing up the ski season in Glacier Park.  Another repeat of last season, although this time linking ski runs and fun climbing on and between Piegan, Pollock, and Siyeh Peaks.  What a day filled with thunderstorms, goats, alpine meadows, and a 90% off trail route that could not have gone smoother.  One of GNP's busiest days, and not a soul in sight after stepping off Going to the Sun Road.  And an even more pleasant evening, swing dancing under a setting sun to the Lil' Smokies, and FREEDOM in Polebridge.  THIS, is AMERICA!

Looking south into... AMERICA

 Siyeh SW face

Mt. Jackson.  Another phenomenal GNP ski peak with a LONG approach

And a 2,400' ski line on the last day of July!

It wasn't all skiing this summer.  August was HOT and filled with long days at the ranch...  A bike tour along the isolated souther Oregon / northern California coast was in order to ease the pain.  This section of coast is a special place for me where cool air, morning fog, rugged coastline, redwoods, black sand beaches, and ocean mist come together for an always-refreshing vacation.  Watching the sun sink into the Pacific, as the moon rises behind and waking up to the sound of waves crashing below the sand dune keep me coming back here for bike tours nearly every summer.

That fine alpine single track  

El Captain, Bitterroot Steeps

Some lines are steep, El Captain's east face is very steep, and exposed.  And lined with 1000' cliff bands.  From the east side of the Bitterroot valley, El Cap is striking to say the least.  After patiently WAITING for the PERFECT conditions I had the opportunity to attempt this committing run in mid April.

When I set up to ski a line like this, the mental planning starts days or even weeks in advance.  Everything has to be 'good to go'; not only the gear, not only the conditions, but my mind especially plays a huge role in preparing for objectives like this.  Having a good handle on current conditions at the time, and an arctic air mass - high pressure system on the way I had about a week of preparing for the attempt.  The week prior I skied the steepest shots I could find, in the worst conditions (crust, ice) that I could find.  I felt dialed, but even this couldn't help to kill the anxiety and constant thought of the mountain, the line.  The overwhelming thought those days before the trip was skiing el cap, that was it.  Focus in school became tough, and butterflies flew in my stomach every time the thought surfaced.  Excitement grew as we loaded up for the two day trip up Little Rock Creek.

Skier summit is the high cornice to the lookers left

After a late morning start and smooth approach we arrived to the lakes below El Cap / Lonesome Bachelor as sun set came in, giving us time for a quick frozen corn run on one of Lonesome Bachelors lower chutes.  An evening by the fire, as a short squall moved through was relaxing after the long week in town.

Photo:  Mickey Smith

Waking up to a low cloud deck and 1-3" of fresh at camp got us moving quickly up the south chute towards the ridge where we broke above the clouds.  The ridge was windy and cold.  After a few minor mishaps, Kevin returned to camp (gear malfunction).  Mickey and I reached the summit, greeted by clearing sky's, and diminishing wind.  These perfect conditions could not suppress my nervousness, not many words were exchanged as I gazed down the steepest, and most sustained face I was about to encounter.  Hands were shaking, making photographs up here difficult.  My stomach dropped, and still drops every time I come across the picture below.  

With very helpful beta from John I felt as if I had a good idea of the line.  Threading through the three major cliff bands, first left to a small pinch, than right across the ramp, and so on, almost looked straight forward from the approach in.   The line is far from straight forward when on top,  everything looks different standing 3000' above, with spines, cliffs, sub ridges, and rocks spouted over the face.  The pinch I so confidently spotted on the approach is no where to be seen from the top.  Knowing I could trust Johns beta down to an inch, I scooted over the near vertical cornice, carefully making turns in the alpine powder between spines, threading rocks on the upper face as my skis released small sluff slides.  Carefully checking the altimeter, I was able to locate the pinch no problem, the run went flawlessly as Mickey followed me down.  

  

                           

For technical ski descending this face has it all.  It is steep, exposed, committing, and route finding is a must.  When everything lines up as it did for us,  El Cap can be a challenging and very rewarding run.   When skiing above 1000' cliffs, any mistake is one mistake too many; this requires the utmost respect, and focus.  Excited for my next return to this fine Bitterroot test piece.

Been enjoying the seeming endless moisture train in the mountains lately... here are some highlights from some of the only sunny days in the las month.

Alaska

Alaska... In January?  With most of the month of January free Nick, Jack, Stewart, and I figured it was a good chance to pack into the Subaru Forester and head north.  On New Years Eve I left Pennsylvania  and landed in Anchorage to the crew who had spend the last three days driving nonstop from Missoula.  Thanks guys.  The rough itinerary included Kenai Peninsula, Hatcher Pass, Valdez, Haines, Yukon, and the drive back respectively. 

The first week was easy living with stays at a cabin on the Kenai Peninsula, a hut on the Snowbird Glacier, and stops at friends houses in between.  Kenai was a little below average on snow upon arrival but we left to a strong system of storms that dumped feet of snow on Turnagain Pass causing touchy avi conditions. After struggling in alder for a few days we were eager to arrive to a deeper base and more predictable avalanche danger at Hatcher Pass.  We skied some 2500' powder laps above the parking lot day one before heading to the Snowbird Glacier for three.  The Snowbird Glacier is home to American Alpine Club's most prized hut.  5000' of climbing and crossing of the glacier brought us to the cabin.  I quickly realized that everything is bigger in Alaska, 5000' fall lines are in your line of sight and glacier crossings can feel endless.  Storms blew in and out during our three day stay and the images of skiing the mellow terrain around the glacial nunatak will be remembered forever.

Southern Alaska does see sunlight during the solstice.  For about 5 hours a day the sun is setting in the south, dusk lingers on until about 4:00pm and the sun peeks back up around 10:00am.  I came to enjoy 18hr of darkness, the all day moon... in a way it is relaxing.  No need to set alarms.  Plenty of time to gaze at the stars, cook tasty meals, dry gear, drink beer, sleep, and eat cookies.  Twelve hours of sleep is easy to get use to.  The access to skiing is so close to the car, we had no issues skiing 6,000'vertical hitting the trail at noon.  

Crescent Lake, Kenai Peninsula  

Snowbird Glacier

The hut sleeps 12 and is perched upon a ridge just above Snowbird Glacier with 360 degree views of surreal mountain scenery

Valdez

We arrived in Valdez on the tail end of a system that had dropped two feet of new snow in the last week.  Lucky we were to have clear views of the amazing peaks rising 5000' from the ocean surrounding the Port of Valdez.  Locals in this quiet fishing and oil town were pleased to see some visitors during the shoulder season, and treated us to warm hospitality.  Skiing to the ocean has been a goal of mine for years, nowhere better to achieve this than a town with 350" at sea level on average.  The mountains come steep and tall here with much snow.  40 miles east of town at roughly 2,800' is Thompson Pass, long powder runs line the road for miles on either side here.  Valdez truly is a backcountry skiers paradise, and I hope to spend a winter in this amazing place.  There is something special about waking up to salt water mist, sounds of seagulls and barges, eating fresh salmon, and going skiing.

From downtown Valdez

US Coast Guard 

First light on town from across port

Wake up and its cold, dark, wet.... look up to towering mountains...  squeez into the Subrau for another day in the mountains.  Would not want to live any other way.

A typical campsite

Some Thompson Pass terrain

One of our coldest nights in the tent -10... time to whip up some bacon in the morning

Haines and Yukon

Although not as much easy access terrain as Valdez, Haines is a beautiful area and the town has some more character.  We drove into a wet storm, the first photo is taken just east of Haines on the edge of the storm.  After a night at the local Laundromat,  we were treated to a home to spend a few nights in on the shores of the Chilkoot Inlet.  Drying our gear by the wood burner and watching the waves crash through the window was great.  In the Yukon we enjoyed some adventurous driving conditions including digging the car out of the middle of the highway as well as making our own parking spots when we spotted a ski mountain from the window.  

A 60 hour drive awaited us after Haines.  The drive was a highlight, a unique adventure especially in winter.  A true feeling of isolation on a road is hard to come by in the south, here gas stations are few and far between, some antique, no hotels, no food, no people, just mountains.  For 3,000 miles we did not see dry road, road conditions include packed powder, ice, slush and frost heaves.   It was standard for six  hour stretches to pass bye without seeing another vehicle, only stopping for buffalo, moose, and elk.

What a great experience it was to be able to sample south east Alaska in deep winter.  I hope to return in the near future for more ski trips and hopefully some years will be spent living in this magnificent place.  On the 20th we returned to Montana and I headed straight to my home range of the Bitterroots.  Alaska is stunning, big, extreme, and unknown to me and I still cant help to feel privileged to call Montana home.  Hopefully these pictures can highlight our trip and give you an idea of what it was like up there in the darkness of January.

Laundromat party, lots of time on the cast iron

View from Patrick's ocean side cabin

Stuck on the Yukon Highway

Drive Home

Typical Petrol station in northern BC

My view... 20hr a day, three days

The road goes on forever.  What an amazing drive it was.