Day 49 - Friday Mar. 30 - Longest Tour Ever

I had a few friends over last night for my birthday. As I was thus conversing, I received a phone call from a long distance phone number. I answered it. It was Evan from my snow science class. He wanted to go skiing before class today. I thought that was a great idea and we agreed to meet at 7:00 at his apartment. We did so and we then enjoyed the sounds of Phish - A Live One for the drive up the canyon. We were then met by Leah from class and CJ from real life. This entire season I have trained myself to do one kind of backcountry tour - we go quick, we go fast, and we get as many turns in as possible before we go back to our lives. Today was a bit different from that. CJ got out in front of us early because Evan and Leah were moving a bit slower than what we were used to. I ran into Brad Frost (the Clif Bar dude) again on the Patsy Marley ridge. I am beginning to see him nearly every time I go out. We continued down the ridge on our way to Wolverine. We did finally make it (with no help from my skinny skins and my fat skis - I have really got to do something about that). CJ skied some skinny chute that I have forgotten the name of. It was too skinny for me so I went down one and prepared to ski Bombay chute. I won at rock, paper, scissors against Evan for first tracks; and as I began skiing, the little bit of snow that had remained on this chute sluffed off and I was left with skiing the hard pack underneath. My camera went for a ride with the sluff, but I was able to find it (as I am sure you have guessed with all the sweet pictures attached to this post). Evan and Leah went down a little further and skied Granny chute. It sure looked sweet. At this time CJ had to get back home so we parted ways. Evan, Leah, and I bootpacked back up Granny for a second ride (or in my case a first). It was sweet. It was nice and deep. At this time about 12 other people all showed up to ski these chutes. We decided that we didn't want to deal with that so we skied out and made our way to our next destination - Patsy Marley. We skinned up and out of Wolverine and were able to grab some nice low angle turns in the Patsy Marley, Twin Lakes Pass area. Then we reskinned and made our way to Silver Fork. This was the best stuff of the day if you ask me, and since you are reading this blog, I figure you are asking me. We skied one line down that was good, deep snow at a relatively low angle. It was very nice skiing and we determined that we had enough time to ski it once more before we had to be to class back in Grizzly Gulch. While skinning up we ran into a splitboarder that needed a cell phone. We happened to have one that he could borrow and allowed him to do so. He then returned the favor by taking us up the ridge a little further to this line that I had never skied before. He then had to be on his way and he skied down the Grizzly way while we were left with this sweet area to ski. Evan went first this time and hucked off the ledge into the couloir. That was the best looking thing he did all day since he is boring to watch ski as an AT skier. Leah then followed and she has killer telemark form. She is just really smooth and a lot of fun to watch ski. I brought up the rear and then yo-yoed past them only to find the best run of the day. It was deep. It was soft. It was long. I was proud. It was getting quite late as we reached the bottom. It was definitely time to get to class on the other side of the hill. We tried to hurry on this final ascent, but we were exhausted. We had been out all day (it was now about 2:15). Towards the bottom of the bowl we saw a lost-looking man. I acknowledged him and he mentioned that he needed to find his way back to Solitude. He had been with a backcountry guided group from Solitude and had then become lost. This is why I do not support guided backcountry tours. This guy did not have safety gear. He did not have skins. He did not have the least bit of avalanche knowledge. He simply was not prepared. Not to mention that his irresponsible guide had now lost him in a totally foreign area. He told him how best to get back to Solitude with the least bit of bootpacking. I offered the idea of him going up with us and skiing down into Little Cottonwood for safety reasons. But he insisted that he needed to get to Solitude and I really hope he made it. We did finally make it up to the top of Silver Fork (after even more skin issues on my part), and we skinned a little further toward the Davenport ridge before taking our skins off to ski down - so we could be sure to make it through Michigan City and onto the Grizzly Gulch cat track. We were successful in doing so, all the while catching sweet turns in the sweet snow (although it was considerably heavier on the South facing aspect). We cut up and off the cat track so we could catch a few more turns on top of our class. When I say "on top of" I don't mean that literally. That would be unsafe. We came just to the side, but we definitely looked cool doing it. The rest of the class had just got there and were just beginning to collect data from their snowpits. We simply joined in and didn't miss a thing. I learned how to test tensile strength using the trapezoidal test, we did some shear pull (to test shear strength), and we did some other basic snow pit assessment. I had dinner plans so I could not make it over to Goldminer's with the remainder of the class, and I just made my way back home. It was a long day today. It was a fun day today. I had some super sweet lines in some super sweet snow. Oh, yeah.

Day 48 - Wednesday Mar. 28 - A Few Laps Before Class

Just ask Jer, anyone who happened to miss the dawn patrol this morning truly missed out. Sorry to say it *cough*CJandCody*cough*, but it was a very nice morning out... and we thought winter was over! How sweet is that?! I met Jer at his house at 5:30 this morning and we packed into the Valentiner truck (my car now has summer tires on it, and Jer's car is broken down in St. George) to head on our way. This proved to be the right decision since the drive up got pretty wicked at times. We decided to hit Patsy Marley since we wanted to get some good turns in before I had to be to class at 9:10. The first open bowl up the ridge was completely untouched when we could first see it, and just as I said something about it, someone came shedding down it. We skied it all the same. The snow was nice and soft - and deep! The turns were nice and low (because we both tele). The gear was performing well (because we are both on Voile gear). Everything was just going well for us. In light of this information we decided to make two more laps. We did just that and got some more great turns. This morning was definitely not the morning to decide to sleep in. We may get a little more snow out of this storm, but not much. We struck while the iron was hot and it was HOT (in a cold, good skiing kind of way)!!!

Day 47 - Thursday Mar. 22 - A Morning Out With The Code-Man

He probably doesn't like to be referred to as "The Code-Man," but since I am such a Step By Step fan I figured it would work. I always liked Code-Man from the show. He was always so wacky, but yet still with it. Anyway, I digress. Cody and I met at the park-n-ride at 5:30 this morning (without any problems waking up). Neither of us said anything about it, but we both thought about doing Patsy Marley. We decided on doing Silverfork instead. We haven't been back there for some time and with the little bit of snow we got yesterday it might be decent, right? eh. I ran into a few issues on the ascent because I am still on my Havoc skins with my Insane skis. With the way the snowpack is right now (hard) and the steep climbs we had to make occasionally, this proved to be quite difficult this morning. There was even a time where it was easier for me to bootpack than to skin. We did make it up, but only to find that the snow was minimal and somewhat stiff at best. We began skiing down and got some decent turns in, but the majority were turn-and-slide type turns (at least mine were that way). The lower angle stuff toward the bottom of the bowl was better than the top and we skied down a little further than we may have any other time because of this. We were planning on making another lap when we heard some definite avalanche activity happening somewhere in the backcountry. We could not tell where it was, or how it started; but we totally heard something big that sounded like a large avalanche. I will keep an eye on the internet today to see if anything is reported. In light of this new information we collectively decided that we would just call it a day. We skinned back to the top and skied down some ridge lines to get back down (for safety reasons). We were able to swing down and catch one or two turns in the Patsy Marley area and the snow was pretty darn good. We totally made the wrong decision on where to go today. Oh, well. It was a beautiful morning and a great way to start off the day. For all of you who are wondering, no, I was not ever in any immediate avalanche danger. We simply took the information we had and adjusted our plans accordingly. Thank you for caring.

Day 46 - Saturday Mar. 17 - P-KEG 2007!!!

After all this time waiting, the PowderKeg has finally come and gone. No need to continue living life at the edge of your computer chair as you religiously check this blog. The Black Diamond PowderKeg Race was today, and it has been shown that they do know how to do at least one thing right - put on races. I had the alarm set for 5:20 so I would have ample time to get myself ready and eat breakfast in order to meet Cody to carpool up there. When the alarm sounded, however, because my phone said the battery was completed charged I thought this was why it was making all that noise and I simply turned it off and awaited the real alarm. It wasn't until about 5:50 that I awoke because of a nightmare consisting of me at the PowderKeg with skis but no bindings! I hurriedly got my gear together, had a quick bowl of Nature Valley Cereal (best cereal ever) and I was on my way. Cody wasn't too upset having waited an extra ten or so minutes, but we immediately began our journey. Check in began at 6:30 and we arrived shortly thereafter. We checked in and made our way into Goldminer's to prepare for the race (and to size up the competition). Eventually, Jer made his way up while dawning his blue and yellow skin diver suit. He and I had a quick 5 Hour Energy shot and we were ready for the race. For the Recreational division there is a lemans start - meaning our skis are all lined up at the starting line, but we are behind them when the gun goes off. Soon enough the gun did go off and we were on our way. I was able to pull ahead early with the company of Jer and Cody at this point. There was one dude who really shot ahead (he skate skied across the flat spot at the beginning and then put his skins on there). We nearly caught up to him, but to no avail. I rarely even caught a glimpse of him the rest of the race. I quickly got to the boot pack and because of my practice involving attaching my skis to my pack without removing the pack I was able to pass two guys at the bottom (when we attached the skis) and two more guys at the top (when we detached the skis). I was now in front other than the one dude who was obviously in it to win it. I was paced by two AT Rec guys and we made our way to the peak of Patsy Marley. At this point I thought I was the number one tele guy, but to my disgust there found out that the dude in front was tele. Bummer. I quickly removed my skins and began descending. I was in too much of a hurry, though, and I had forgotten to put my bindings in ski mode. Skiing with a free pivot is not very easy. I learned that the hard way. I did reach the bottom after a small fall or two and I reskinned to begin the ascent up Black Bess. I was getting tired at this point (I was still in the number two spot) so I had some GU during one of the more mellow spots of the climb. It definitely helped in the long run even though it was disgusting at the time. I continued to keep pace with the two AT Rec guys as we continued to skin. It was at this time that another of them joined us and one or two of them eventually passed me. I did not care at all about this because I ski tele! I had not seen a tele guy near me all day (including the one that was way in front). The descent here was not exactly a picnic. The snow was hard and icy. It turns out that 150cm Femme Fatales are not the best ski for these conditions (but they are the best ski for the uphill - which ended up being worth it for the down). I did make it down in one piece and began my last climb. About in the middle of this I began to be passed by some of the guys in the race division. This was a bit different from last year when I was passed by these guys as I reached the ridge of Patsy Marley. I ran out of water just as I reached the summit (perfect planning if you ask me), and I began my last descent. I knew I was still in second and as long as I didn't have a major blowout this would remain the case - while at the same time I was hoping the dude in front was going to have a blowout of his own. I came around the last turn and had to begin skate skiing early because of my lack of surface area on my skis. It was here that I was finally passed by Cody - whom I had not seen all day - and he ended up crossing the line about ten seconds before I did. But this did not matter to me. I finished second in the Men's Recreational Telemark Division! I was stoked. My wife and parents showed up a few minutes later after I had told them I didn't have a chance. I didn't care. They did what I told them to do. The race was a blast. We all had a good time. Cody came in fourth in the Rec AT division and Jer finished somewhere around seventh or eighth in Rec Tele. I got a Patagonia down vest for reaching the podium, not to mention my sweet medal! Jer got two packs from them throwing stuff into the crowd (he's just glad he got out), and Cody got some Voile straps and an XL sweatshirt (at least he got something). I immensely enjoyed the race this year. I look forward to doing it again next year, but I will have to make a difficult decision of whether to do Rec or Race (only first place is required to do the race). I will be at the Whittaker home this evening if any of you are looking to get an autograph. PEACE!

Day 45 - Wednesday Mar. 14 - Practice Makes Better Than Before

I met Jer and Cody (new guy) at 7:00 this morning - although we didn't leave until some time after that because Jer thought he would take his sweet time. We went up to the site of the Powderkeg while listening to Ringside - Ringside on the drive. The three of us are planning on competing in the annual Powderkeg race this Saturday so we thought now would be a good chance for us to get out and practice. I put together my race setup last night and I was ready. I will be racing on Stacy's skis (Atomic Femme Fatale - 150 cm) with my Switchbacks on them. It is so light! All I can feel below my feet are the bindings - and that's not much! We were not sure where the bootpack begins so we just kind of guessed. I need to practice over the next couple of days attaching my skis to my pack without taking the pack off, so as to decrease down time. I feel like the majority of my time lost in last year's race was not in the racing itself, but in the transitions. I made a few comments about Cody taking the easy way out and skiing AT, but I don't think he thought it was very funny. I found only a few spots of difficulty using those little skis. I have to say that I was rather pleasantly surprised. We skinned across the PM ridge (all the while waiting for Jer) then skied down into Grizzly. I was most nervous about the ski down on these skis. I did not think that I was going to be able to make a good turn. Much to my surprise my turns were great as long as we were in the soft stuff. The skis were more difficult to handle on the hard pack, but that was to be expected. I think this race will be fun to do on these skis. Cody made some very boring turns as an AT skier, and Jer made some nice smooth turns, but with the occasional double pole plant. We took a look at the rest of the course and decided it wasn't worth trying to do it all today, because the snow would totally suck on the more Southerly aspects. We did not want to have to do that more than just on Saturday, so we made another lap up Patsy and made a few more turns then made our way back to the car. All morning I had been getting derogatory comments about my race skis from both Jer and Cody. As we were putting our gear into the car we began talking to a gentleman in the car next to us that was also racing in the Powderkeg. You guessed it. He, too, will be skiing on his girlfriend's skis. It is just the way to go. We listened to Madeleine Peyroux - Careless Love for the drive home. It was a nice warm day. We got in some exercise. We got in some practice. We skied with someone new (even if he does ski AT). All in all it was a good morning and I feel like I am just a little more ready for the race this weekend.

Day 44 - Saturday Mar. 10 - The Adventures of Jer and Dust

Several other people were planning on joining us this morning, but many changed those plans. I met Jer at his house at 7:30. We listened to Beck - Odelay as I drove (not to say that we don't care about the environment - we do - it's just that Jer can't drive every time - give him a break - where do you think he gets his money? - Charbucks?) up to Guardman's Pass. We decided to ski this area today because Dan and Ray had already gone up there a little earlier this morning and we though we might be able to catch a lap or two with them. I have now come to the conclusion that this area sucks. Yes, you heard me. It sucks. It is overpopulated with 'bilers (that is short for snowmobilers for those of you who are not keen on the lingo), the approach is long and crappy, and the snow gets windblown and sunexposed. Why would anyone want to ski here? I ended up asking myself that same question. By the time we got to the ridge Dan and Ray were on their way out. They stopped by to say hello, but they followed that with a quick goodbye. We were planning on getting some good exercise in today and making a few laps. We approached the ridge only to get cold and unpleasant due to the wind. While Jer was deskinning he broke his Black Diamond Carbon Fiber Adjustable Probe Pole in half! What kind of product are they making over there at BD? I am sure glad I work at Voile where we make a product I can trust. We put our heads together and using our trusty Voile straps (note who it is that saves the day) we connected his two inferior and shorter poles together to make one long one to be used similar to a paddle/oar you would use in a kayak. There was one little area of decent snow, but not enough for a second lap. Jer's turns look nice. Check out this video of him using his new pole system. Doesn't he just look so cute? Here is a little video of me skiing (but I had my regular pole system). We made our way out and I fell over on my Voile pole bending it a little. I came to the conclusion that the snowpack may have had something to do with our pole issues, but poor workmanship has reared its ugly head and proven what gear will break under pressure and what will merely bend, but continue to fight the fight. I think you all understand what I mean. It was an educational morning. We vowed never to go back to Guardman's. It is just not an area for guys like us. We did have a good time and we got some exercise. There is no complaining about that.

Day 43 - Friday Mar. 9 - An Actual Tour For Class?

For several varied reasons, we have not had field day class for what seems like some time now. Today we got back in the swing of things. I met Matt and Paige at the mouth and we carpooled up. It was my turn to drive so they were blessed to listen to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. I am not totally sure they were into it. We were split up into three groups. My group consisted of five students and the class professor, Ralph Patterson. It was my first real day in the field with him. It was nice to be able to get out there and have him point out different things that he had been trying to explain in the classroom all semester. We just skinned up the Grizzly Gulch cat track and observed/reviewed as we went. I felt kind of cool saying I was the one who had made all those tracks in that first open area we came across. They, too, were surprised to hear that it was good snow. We continued on our way up close to the Twin Lakes Pass area. Ralph stopped here because he wanted to keep another group in sight as he didn't feel comfortable with where they were digging a pit. A few of us in the group continued up and skied down the super mellow areas in Grizzly. We came to the conclusion that this was not enough and we skinned up and skied the very same area I skied this morning. It was not quite as good (the snow had warmed up during the day and was a little heavier), but still enjoyable nonetheless. It is always nice to ski with people I don't normally get out with. I dropped Matt and Paige off at the Goldminer's Daughter for refreshments, but I just headed home since it was already 5:30. I figured my wife had things for me to do - and she did. Peace out.

Day 42 - Friday Mar. 9 - A Few Laps Up the PM Ridge

I met CJ, Arlo, and Jer at Jer's house this morning at 5:30 (CJ called me at 5:29 to see if I was coming - as if he has reason to doubt me). We all piled into Jer's VW knowing that this would be our most carbon neutral means of transportation. For those of you who are unaware, Jer is on BioDiesel (only 20% during the cold months). We listened to Weezer - Weezer on the drive up in order to get pumped. We were hoping we would become equally as pumped as that guy on the VCast phone commercials where he listens to the new Fall Out Boy song, but I have come to understand he was just acting and he was paid to do so - I no longer know what to believe if I can't believe TV. After the decision was made not to head up Suicide Chute we made the rest of our way up to the Grizzly Gulch parking lot. It was here that we gathered our necessary goods and began our true ascent up the ridge. CJ was in front and he just began bootpacking it (it was rather hard packed snow at this point). I made the following humorous comment: "So I was reading the other day on TelemarkTips that they have this new invention called climbing skins. I don't exactly know how they work, but they somehow allow you to climb up the mountain with your skis on! Doesn't that sound like a novel idea?" At least I thought it was a humorous comment. We decided to ski the first open bowl area up the Patsy Marley ridge. After instructing Arlo on the art of skin removal whilst keeping the skis attached to your feet, I checked out the snow for myself. It was, surprisingly enough, really good skiing. The snow was soft and the turns were good. I was feeling particularly well today and my turns were really on. We quickly reskinned and began our ascent for a second lap. We saw a few people out at this point, but not too many. The second lap was equally as enjoyable as the first. Can we just talk about the Insane - Switchback combo? It is sooooo sweet! Because of the agreeable conditions, we all came to the conclusion that it would be worth another lap. At the point where we took our skins off we were met by two men out for a morning tour. We began chatting and they happened to mention my sweet ski and binding setup. I told them I work at Voile and we figured out that we had been in contact for the past two weeks via email. They are the local distributors of Clif Bar, Gu Energy Gel, and several other similar products. The final turns were nice and we all headed down to the car. It was an enjoyable morning and was well capped off with the sounds of Sufjan Stevens - Illinois. Goodbye for now, but not for long.

Day 41 - Saturday Mar. 3 - Powder on Porter Fork Road

Yes, I know it doesn't mean much when it is on a low angle road, but hey, I just wanted to keep this pattern of powder days up. Stacy went to yogalaties this morning, but still wanted to join Bowie and I for a tour up Porter Fork. I washed my car while she was gone, then we made our way up. We listened to Movin' 100.7 for the drive and really got pumped for the tour. We were out for the exercise today. It was nice. We got to get out as a family and so some skiing. We need to go somewhere else next time, though, because I am bored of this road and we need to get some actual skiing in. Yes, I enjoy it, but I want Stacy to be able to improve her skiing and I want Bowie to get to really have a good time on a slope of some sort. On our way down the hill we ran into a couple that were out hiking with their dog - a female version of Bowie. They looked exactly alike. Bowie was bigger (not to mention better looking), but they had the exact same coloring and body type. This was cool, because we had never seen a dog like Bowie. Unfortunately, they did not know what kind of dog their's was either so we did not learn anything new. They also got their dog from the shelter. We had a good time today, but like I said, I am ready for a change.

Day 40 - Friday Mar. 2 - Powder at Snowbird?

I thought it was just a myth. After I made my way down from Big Cottonwood with CJ I went to my parents' house to meet Cole. We waited for Little Cottonwood to open then made our way up to Snowbird. We listened to The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots on the way up. We were able to park in the lower lot and get skiing quickly. We immediately began finding some sweet snow. Run after run we were hitting sweet powder shots all over the mountain. We skied the chutes underneath GadZoom. We skied the Cirque. We skied all over all day. We just couldn't go wrong. As the day progressed we decided we would just make a few large laps all the way around to the Cirque (and since we don't have Tram passes this takes a while). On our last lap all the way around they opened Road to Provo for the first time in a couple of days. We decided to ski that instead and we got the best run of the day. We came all the way around and got fresh tracks. Fresh tracks? Yeah, fresh tracks. At Snowbird! They do exist. This was almost like seeing BigFoot, but even more rare. Cole was tearing it up today. He has improved so much this year. He has improved so much this week. He is really becoming a good skier. Next step, freeing his heel. We had a great time today. We just couldn't get enough. We didn't have time to eat. We ran into a dude I work with, Mike, at the Aerie. He took a few runs with us, but we were difficult to keep up with, so he didn't last long. What a day - killer tour this morning and the best resort day I have had all year this afternoon. We listened to the Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not on the way down.

Day 39 - Friday Mar. 2 - Deepest Day Ever

It has just been dumping outside lately so we just had to get out. One of the few places we were comfortable with the avalanche danger was Circle All peak. CJ and I met at 5:15 at the Big Cottonwood park-n-ride. We listened to the same mix CJ had in the car last time he drove and I continued to not recognize any of it (and to tell you the truth, I didn't have the desire to get to know it). We were surprised to see a couple other cars already at the Butler Fork trail head, but we were happy to see a skin track. There was so much snow that I am sure it took a lot of work. We made our way all the way up Circle All. It was super windy on top with very low temps. We tested the snow stability by trying to set off some cornices and stuff, but could get nothing to go. So we went for it. It was strong. We began our way down only to find that the snow was so ridiculously deep it made it difficult to ski at times. I was on the Insanes so I was able to stay on top more than I would have with any other ski I own, but with this much powder it would have taken a surfboard to really stay on top. Check out the sweet photo of me!! I love that shot. We may have moved slowly down the hill because of the deep deep snow, but it was a blast. This was the deepest snow I had ever been in. As you can see from the pictures, there were times when the snow came up to our armpits. It was nuts! I wouldn't want every day to be like this, because it wasn't the easiest to ski, but it certainly was fun this once. Peace.