[+] Today we splitboarded up the same mountain for the third day in a row, but this time we dropped off the backside, went up a neighboring peak further up the valley, and slammed the best line of the year so far – very steep, and very deep. Here’s Parker McAbery blasting into a steep chute.
Author: Jack Brauer
And Again
[+] Same mountain as yesterday, different lines. Skiier: Aimee McAbery.
Destroyer Chutes*
Impromptu Rescue on Red Mountain Pass
At 6:00am this morning, I met up with 12 friends in Ouray to head out for a day of cat-skiing in the mountains near Purgatory. Packed in four vehicles, we headed up Red Mountain Pass in the darkness and dumping snow. Several miles up the pass from Ouray, my friends in the lead truck noticed a set of tire tracks disappearing off the road into oblivion. Anybody who has ever driven the pass knows how scary steep and treacherous this road is – in places carved through sheer cliff mountainsides. A closer look down into the canyon revealed the dim glow of headlights in the bottom about 400 feet below.
What a Difference a Year Makes
[+] Actually just several days, but look at the difference from my last post! Same place, fresh snow. First and best line of 2009 so far. Just dreamy…. (drool…) Skiier: Aimee McAbery.
Happy New Year!
Check out some more pictures below the fold.
The Last Line
[+] …of 2008! After several warm sunny days, the snowpack has settled a little, and I finally got out into the backcountry for the first time this season. Here’s Jeff Skoloda hauling some ass through the firm powder.
Have a fun News Years Eve! See you next year.
Island in the Sky
[+] On my way home today from Midway, Utah (near Park City), I made a detour from Moab and drove up to the Island in the Sky, in Canyonlands National Park. There was still lots of snow on the ground, even two days after the Christmas dump, and the roads up there were sheets of ice! After a slippery drive to the Grandview Point overlook, I donned my down jacket and snowboard boots, and hiked a mile along the rim to take photos of the evening light and sunset.
More photos below.
White Christmas in Utah
Merry Christmas from a very snowy Midway, Utah, where it has been dumping snow nonstop. Tomorrow should be a great powder day!
Sketchy Avy Conditions
[+] Colorado’s avalanche danger has been high recently, due to a rotten lower snowpack topped by the recent snowfalls of the last few weeks. Today at Silverton Mountain, I snapped this photo of a good sized avalanche crown, most likely triggered by the ski patrol’s bombs. The largest part of the crown here is probably about 5 feet deep, in an obviously wind-loaded part of the slope (roped off of course).
The tender snowpack has drastically curtailed our backcountry possibilities. While last year at this time a thick, stable snowpack had everybody skiing huge lines all over the place, this season hardly anybody has been going out, and the mountains remain mostly unskiied while we wait patiently for more snow and hopefully a thicker, more cohesive snowpack.
Pow Day #1
I got my first powder day of the season on Sunday at Silverton Mountain. Supposedly 20 inches fresh, though it was blown around so much that some ridges had less, some gullies had more. Not much terrain was open yet, but it’s supposed to snow all week. We’ll be back soon.