Ran across this video when searching about snowboarding in Switzerland… this is what it’s all about! Great riding and headcam footage by Jonathan Brasey, I think.
Category
Backcountry Skiing/Snowboarding
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Backcountry Skiing/Snowboarding
Endless Ride Down Mt. Adams
May 24, 2010 | Permalink | 5 CommentsAfter our great descent down Mt. St. Helens on Saturday, we drove over to neighboring volcano Mt. Adams, found a great spot to car camp, and slept in for 12 hours. The next day was mostly spent relaxing and fueling up on food next to the campfire, then at 4pm we set off with minimal camping gear in order to position ourselves better for the big 8,000 vertical foot ascent of Adams the next day.
By setting up a basecamp near treeline, we were able to knock off about 5 miles and 2,000 vertical feet from the approach (which was longer than usual due to the unplowed snowpacked road). Here’s a shot of Mt. Adams in the moonlight, 6,000 feet higher than the tent.
Though the mountain looks very steep from afar, we were actually able to skin up most of the way up the Suksdorf Ridge on our skis. We started the hike at 5am under perfect bluebird skies, but by the time we got up towards the top, some high clouds started moving in, adding a bit of anxiety and urgency to our hike.
The grueling 6,000 foot hike really started wearing us down towards the top. Due to icier snow up top, we switched to crampons for the final 1,000 feet and slogged up past a couple false summits until we were finally at the summit! The summit towered above all the clouds and we sat up there and enjoyed the panoramic vista, with Mt. Rainier and Mt. Hood off in the distances, both looming above the clouds.
Scott McCurdy skis down Mt. Adams. The hard and bumpy ice-snow below the summit soon gave way to softer, smoother snow, and we were able to carve progressively bigger and smoother turns.
We descended into the clouds for a stretch, which cut down on our visibility but actually provided some really fun and interesting ski conditions, as the snow was smooth and there was enough light to see our immediate surroundings. This was some of the best “braille” riding I’ve ever done, carving mellow cruisy turns down the enormous face, through a dreamlike fog.
After 3,000 feet skiing out through the cloud down the main face of the Suksdorf ridge, we then left the normal route and dropped in to an amazing variation down the Crescent Glacier, which provided another 3,000 feet of perfectly smooth, soft spring corn down a series of huge mellow bowls.
And the line keeps going, and going, and going. By this point we were practically ecstatic, blown away by the seemingly endless descent and perfect snow. Wide open high speed carves were the ticket here.
All smiles at the bottom!
Unfortunately, after our Mt. Adams descent, a big Pacific storm was rolling in, and the weather forecast looked horrible for the whole next week, so we decided to cancel our Mt. Shasta plans and hightail it back towards Colorado. Although we didn’t get to ski all our goals, the two mindblowing descents we’ve scored over the last few days have convinced me to make the northwest volcano tour an annual spring tradition from now on.
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Backcountry Skiing/Snowboarding
St. Helens in a Cloud Sandwich
May 22, 2010 | Permalink | 3 CommentsMt. St. Helens was our first goal on our northwestern volcano tour. After a night of camping in the rain, we started the hike at 5am in the gloomy mist, with little expectations other than perhaps a sopping wet “exercise” day in the fog and rain. After an hour or so of hiking, however, our hopes rose dramatically as the clouds above us started to show signs of clearing.
Sure enough, we popped out above the lower cloud deck and enjoyed a spectacular skin up within a cloud sandwich.
Scott McCurdy skins up a steeper portion toward the top. The 5600 vertical foot ascent was surprisingly easy going, and the summit ridge seemed to arrive quicker than I expected.
[+] Panorama from the summit ridge, looking into the steaming crater, which blew its top almost exactly 30 years prior.
Now the fun part! After relaxing on the summit in the calm weather for a while, we strapped on our skis/snowboard and dropped in, enjoying perfect snow conditions – about 2 inches or so fresh firm powder atop silky smooth spring corn snow. Skier: Scott McCurdy.
The skiable terrain on Helens is vast to say the least. We had untracked lines down a huge face that probably 100 skiers couldn’t even track up. The face emptied into a huge gentle gully which snaked down the mountain in one or two big sweeping curves. ~5000 vertical feet of cruisy wide-open terrain, in perfectly smooth and soft spring snow conditions… my dreams of snowboarding aren’t even this good!
Completely stoked on our surprise score on St. Helens, we headed to our next (and bigger) volcano: Mt. Adams.
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Backcountry Skiing/Snowboarding, Wyoming
Bluebird After The Storm
April 7, 2010 | Permalink | 3 Comments
The storm cycle has cleared for the time being, and we enjoyed a beautiful bluebird morning up at Teton Pass, scoring three powdery descents before noon. This late in the season, you’ve got to get the powder early on sunny days! Rider: Jason King.
Rider: Jack Brauer. Photo by Jason King. -
Backcountry Skiing/Snowboarding, Wyoming
Deepness
April 6, 2010 | Permalink | 4 Comments
Another foot or two of fresh powder! It’s ridiculous! I stepped off the bootpack at one point and sunk up to my waist.
April faceshots. Rider: Jason King.
Thigh deep powder… on a snowboard. Probably the deepest snow of the season. It felt like cloud surfing today. -
Backcountry Skiing/Snowboarding, Wyoming
Happy Belated Winter!
Rider: Jason King.
Winter has returned in style this last week in Jackson Hole, bearing the late-season gift of four feet of fresh powder. We’ve enjoyed a fun week of powder in and around the Village, but now that the ski area has closed, today we headed up to Teton Pass for a couple deep mid-winter-esque pow lines.
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Backcountry Skiing/Snowboarding, Wyoming
Powder Playground
Ryan Vanlanen shreds some deep slackcountry powder on another fluffy day at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort today.
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Backcountry Skiing/Snowboarding, Wyoming
Very Nice, I Like.
April 2, 2010 | Permalink | 2 Comments
Top notch powder day today at the Village! We’ve had nearly 3 feet of snow in the last week, and more storms are lining up in the forecast for the coming week. The dream for April is coming true! Rider above: Jason King.
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Backcountry Skiing/Snowboarding, Wyoming
Getting Ours
March 31, 2010 | Permalink | Post a Comment
Jackson’s finally been getting more snow the last few days, which has eased my anxiety after hearing reports of storm after storm dumping on the San Juans back home in Colorado the last few months. It was an “official” powder day at the ski area today, meaning that every man, woman, and child in Jackson were waiting in line for the lifts to open. We were up early and waiting at the front of the gondola line, only to be informed that it was having mechanical problems and would be delayed for who knows how long. Seeing as every other line was jammed with people, Jason and I bailed and went hiking on Teton Pass instead. More mellow. And we rode a sweet untracked line with perfect cream-cheese Wyoming powder.
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Backcountry Skiing/Snowboarding, Wyoming
Winter Again
March 26, 2010 | Permalink | 4 Comments
Jason King slashing some slackcountry powder this morning. Maybe it will keep snowing through April… one can dream…
MOUNTAIN
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I am a mountain photographer and this is my blog about all things related to mountains, photography, and especially mountain photography.
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