These trees are so amazing that they not only provide shelter, but clothing. In this case...Organic Undies.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Crazy Trees
A few weeks ago, France and I went on a hike out to some waterfalls just outside of town. We got to watch the salmon spawning upstream and try and fight there way up these waterfalls and cliffs. Really an amazing, Planet Earth-esque thing to watch. On the way to the waterfalls we saw some more amazingly erie trees that this very wet climate harbors. Beautiful to see.
These trees are so amazing that they not only provide shelter, but clothing. In this case...Organic Undies.
These trees are so amazing that they not only provide shelter, but clothing. In this case...Organic Undies.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Opening Day '09-10
Hallelujah! The wait is over. Summer is exceptionally torturous for me. Today I got my first turns of the 2009-2010 season. Even though I'd gotten a little spoiled the last two seasons getting multiple ski days in October, today was by far the best opening day turns I've had. It had been snowing on and off all week and I knew that there was a good 45-60cm/18-24 inch base. There was a storm forecasted to snow about 6 inches last night with dropping freezing levels and clearing to sun, so I figured that would be a pretty good day to have a look. Well, the storm came and then the sun came and the freezing levels dropped and the wind dried out the snow brilliantly making it positively non-traditional Island snow, which is normally more akin to concrete than the Utah powder I'm used to. And...to top it all of it snowed 30-40cms/12-16 inches of blower snow instead of the 6 inches forecasted. Needless to say today was a good day. Trailbreaking was a bit of work, but that always means the turns are going to be that much better. I went on a solo mission today and skinned up some of the runs at the local hill so no real skiing or touring photos, but enjoy what I got. GOOD DAY!
Happy to be back in winter and breaking trail.
Gorgeous.
I skinned up to the saddle between Mt. Washington peak and a subpeak and then went all the way up to the subpeak on my second lap. Here's looking down at the Ocean from the saddle. Surreal place to be.
My skin track up to the saddle.
Do I have anything in my teeth?
Great views into Strathcona Park looking at Mt. Albert Edward at left and Mt. Reagan on the right.
The contrast on this photo wasn't the best, but some sweet turns were had.
A look at the rocky NW face of Mt. Washington. They use an avalauncher to control parts of that face and the bowl below it.
Glad I got it when I did, because in typical Island fashion it's supposed to rain 80-90mm in the mountains starting Sunday. YUCK! Fortunately more snow on the way next week.
Happy to be back in winter and breaking trail.
Gorgeous.
I skinned up to the saddle between Mt. Washington peak and a subpeak and then went all the way up to the subpeak on my second lap. Here's looking down at the Ocean from the saddle. Surreal place to be.
My skin track up to the saddle.
Do I have anything in my teeth?
Great views into Strathcona Park looking at Mt. Albert Edward at left and Mt. Reagan on the right.
The contrast on this photo wasn't the best, but some sweet turns were had.
A look at the rocky NW face of Mt. Washington. They use an avalauncher to control parts of that face and the bowl below it.
Glad I got it when I did, because in typical Island fashion it's supposed to rain 80-90mm in the mountains starting Sunday. YUCK! Fortunately more snow on the way next week.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Muchas Gracias Dios
Dear Lord,
Thank you for the 45cms/18 inches of snow that fell last night upon Mt. Washington's slopes.
Thank you for the blue skies that came out after the storm.
Thank you for the snow that is forecast throughout the coming week.
Thank you for the start of ski season.
Amen.
From the Mt. Washington webcam today.
Thank you for the 45cms/18 inches of snow that fell last night upon Mt. Washington's slopes.
Thank you for the blue skies that came out after the storm.
Thank you for the snow that is forecast throughout the coming week.
Thank you for the start of ski season.
Amen.
From the Mt. Washington webcam today.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Island Life
France and I just recently moved out to Vancouver Island. I got a job working on ski patrol at the local mountain and she's managing the women's fitness center in town. I love the mountains and she loves the water so it seemed like a good place for us to check out. We got out here about 2 1/2 weeks ago and have been pretty busy getting all moved in. The majority of our stuff was still in storage in Nelson, so we made a quick trip through there to rent a uhaul and visit some friends. It was great to be back where we used to live. Nelson will always have a special place in my heart.
Even though we lived there for almost a year, I never went on the classic Nelson hike up to Pulpit Rock. It's a landmark that sits across the lake and overlooks the town. So, since they'd just completed trail improvements we headed up for a quick hike.
France on the way up.
My beautiful wife.
On top of Pulpit Rock looking down on our old home.
Joshua.
After emptying our storage locker we drove to Vancouver and stayed with France's sister for a few days then hopped on the ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island, ready to make our new home in Courtenay, BC. Looking back at the gorgeous North Shore mountains that sit above Vancouver.
Keeping warm on the windy ferry ride across the ocean.
Gorgeous Mt. Baker in Washington State was our guardian angel on the ferry ride. I'm going to ski that beast someday soon.
The fishermen are out.
Heading towards the Island.
After a few crazy days of unpacking and getting somewhat organized in the new place, we decided to go for a little hike. There is a great park called Seal Bay park about 5 minutes away. It's a lovely mile long walk through amazing old growth forest down to the ocean. There is a lot of rain on Vancouver Island so things can grow quite large. This maple leaf makes France look like she shrunk! Also of note is that the Ewok forest in Return of the Jedi was filmed on Vancouver Island. Amazing trees everywhere.
Looking across the ocean to the gorgeous Coast Mountains.
Courtenay has a great riverfront park where the Puntledge River runs through town and into the ocean. It's a great place to walk, run, or bike. I snapped some photos of the fall colors the other day, although they were better a week before.
Even though we lived there for almost a year, I never went on the classic Nelson hike up to Pulpit Rock. It's a landmark that sits across the lake and overlooks the town. So, since they'd just completed trail improvements we headed up for a quick hike.
France on the way up.
My beautiful wife.
On top of Pulpit Rock looking down on our old home.
Joshua.
After emptying our storage locker we drove to Vancouver and stayed with France's sister for a few days then hopped on the ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island, ready to make our new home in Courtenay, BC. Looking back at the gorgeous North Shore mountains that sit above Vancouver.
Keeping warm on the windy ferry ride across the ocean.
Gorgeous Mt. Baker in Washington State was our guardian angel on the ferry ride. I'm going to ski that beast someday soon.
The fishermen are out.
Heading towards the Island.
After a few crazy days of unpacking and getting somewhat organized in the new place, we decided to go for a little hike. There is a great park called Seal Bay park about 5 minutes away. It's a lovely mile long walk through amazing old growth forest down to the ocean. There is a lot of rain on Vancouver Island so things can grow quite large. This maple leaf makes France look like she shrunk! Also of note is that the Ewok forest in Return of the Jedi was filmed on Vancouver Island. Amazing trees everywhere.
Looking across the ocean to the gorgeous Coast Mountains.
Courtenay has a great riverfront park where the Puntledge River runs through town and into the ocean. It's a great place to walk, run, or bike. I snapped some photos of the fall colors the other day, although they were better a week before.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Big Ben
Well, the first snow flakes of the season have started to fall in North America. Colorado got a dusting last week, Vancouver Island just got a few inches up high, and it's dumping snow at Alta and the rest of the Wasatch, with up to a foot and a half expected. So to honor the new season here's a trip report from a fantastic day last season in Utah.
Towering 5200' over Ogden is 9712' Ben Lomond. It's definitely the monarch of the Ogden area and was instantly on my "to ski" list when I first moved to Ogden. All of the lines off of Ben Lomond are very serious. The most mellow line and generally best snow holding line is the massive NE bowl which falls several thousand feet to Cutler Creek below. The pitch is a consistent 35-40 degrees and was the site of two tragic snowmobiler deaths a few years ago when they triggered a gigantic 1/2 mile wide avalanche. The bowl is pretty exposed and gets massive cross and top loading so I had been biding my time for the right time to ski this beast. Conditions seemed right for a go on Sunday, March 15, 2009.
Here's a view of the massive south face of Ben Lomond as seen from Ogden. This photo was taken in mid April about a month after we skied it.
I met up with Doug and his friend GR at the parking lot at 6am and we began skinning up by headlamp.
We watched the sun come up behind James Peak and the rest of Powder Mountain.
And the first few rays of light shone on our objective: The NE face of Ben Lomond.
We worked our way up to the main ridge on the left in the photo above and then switched to booting as the angle increased and the snow became more wind jacked. I liked this one better in black & white.
GR looks over the Ogden Valley after booting to the ridgeline. Mt. Ogden can be seen in the background along with the stunning Banana Chute, a 40 degree, 2500 vertical foot couloir we skied in February down to Ogden.
Me booting the rest of the way to the summit.
And delivering a Sunday morning summit sermon to the masses.
The boys on top. Doug, GR, and Joshua.
The views over to Willard Peak were fantastic. The whole bowl from Ben Lomond to Willard slid when it killed those snowmobilers.
Doug dropping into the upper 40 degree section. We had nice windbuffed powder. All in all, good snow for a line that exposed.
Two variations on the same shot. One without tilt shift...
The other with. This is GR about half way down the face.
And another of GR.
The snow got even better down low below 7500'. Here's Doug finding some nice pow.
4100' of skiing, and just over 4 hours later we were back at the car. Here's another view of Ben Lomonds NE bowl and the whole Cutler Basin as seen from James Peak at Powder Mountain on April 17, 2009. Ben Lomond on the left, Willard Peak on the right.
Towering 5200' over Ogden is 9712' Ben Lomond. It's definitely the monarch of the Ogden area and was instantly on my "to ski" list when I first moved to Ogden. All of the lines off of Ben Lomond are very serious. The most mellow line and generally best snow holding line is the massive NE bowl which falls several thousand feet to Cutler Creek below. The pitch is a consistent 35-40 degrees and was the site of two tragic snowmobiler deaths a few years ago when they triggered a gigantic 1/2 mile wide avalanche. The bowl is pretty exposed and gets massive cross and top loading so I had been biding my time for the right time to ski this beast. Conditions seemed right for a go on Sunday, March 15, 2009.
Here's a view of the massive south face of Ben Lomond as seen from Ogden. This photo was taken in mid April about a month after we skied it.
I met up with Doug and his friend GR at the parking lot at 6am and we began skinning up by headlamp.
We watched the sun come up behind James Peak and the rest of Powder Mountain.
And the first few rays of light shone on our objective: The NE face of Ben Lomond.
We worked our way up to the main ridge on the left in the photo above and then switched to booting as the angle increased and the snow became more wind jacked. I liked this one better in black & white.
GR looks over the Ogden Valley after booting to the ridgeline. Mt. Ogden can be seen in the background along with the stunning Banana Chute, a 40 degree, 2500 vertical foot couloir we skied in February down to Ogden.
Me booting the rest of the way to the summit.
And delivering a Sunday morning summit sermon to the masses.
The boys on top. Doug, GR, and Joshua.
The views over to Willard Peak were fantastic. The whole bowl from Ben Lomond to Willard slid when it killed those snowmobilers.
Doug dropping into the upper 40 degree section. We had nice windbuffed powder. All in all, good snow for a line that exposed.
Two variations on the same shot. One without tilt shift...
The other with. This is GR about half way down the face.
And another of GR.
The snow got even better down low below 7500'. Here's Doug finding some nice pow.
4100' of skiing, and just over 4 hours later we were back at the car. Here's another view of Ben Lomonds NE bowl and the whole Cutler Basin as seen from James Peak at Powder Mountain on April 17, 2009. Ben Lomond on the left, Willard Peak on the right.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)