Winter 2010-2011

I finally have finished editing a season edit. I enjoy the creativity in this piece, trying to show a fraction of the amount of fun we had throughout the winter days. It truly was one of the deepest snow years Utah has seen in a while. All of this is backcountry skiing in Central and Southern Wasatch. Next year I'll be mostly skiing in the Uintas. I look forward to the new scenery, new snowpack (more of a continental one), and also helping out with the Utah Avalanche Center (Uinta division) as much as I can.
Enjoy the video!

New Chapter

I was going to write a big long winded piece about my new job but upon reflection I'll keep it short. Live your dream, each day. This video has been the past year of my life doing exactly what I want, which eventually led me to a professional job. I'm excited to have this new life where everyday is not a Saturday, however each day I'll still be living my dream: Editing/Filming/Climbing/Skiing

This past year...


By the way, this winter has been absolutely absurd which copious amounts of snow. Utah is pretty sweet. So sweet that I'm finally planting roots in this great state.

Lisa Falls

"At least once a year, the mountains deal me a healthy dose of humility. When I found myself repelling knee deep in a water fall while it filled my ski boots, I realized today was one of those days" - Shelby

The plan was hatched two days ago. Lisa Falls or Pfief...maybe South face of Superior? At any rate, Shelby (my ski buddy) wanted a big time adventure. Reading about Lisa Falls has always sparked my interest. It would be an enormous day. Sitting at work up at Brighton I was just contemplating if this would actually happen. Two co-workers were intrigued and wanted to come along as well. Joe (who always seems like he's up for a big adventure) and Corey (who's just looney tunes crazy sometimes) wanted in. Perfect!

The day started out leaving a car over in Little. We wanted to go via Broads Fork and not up Tanners. This added a little bit of mileage/vertical and time but that was alright with me. It would be less time with the skis on my back and booting up something. The idea of booting up a slide path never really excites me.

Heading up to the north side of Sunrise, gaining the saddle on the lookers right. We would gain the East Ridge of the East Twin from there.


On the ridge.. It was a windy one looking down Little Cottonwood Canyon.


The wind was stronger than what I thought it would be. Clouds were rolling in to and I just had an unsettling feeling about 400 ft from the summit. Thank goodness with such a large group, there was no complaining about me pulling the plug on the summit bid. So we did a variation of Lisa Falls, which who knows, could be even steeper than the original from the top!

Shelby skiing down. Right after this little bit, we join the original Lisa Falls run.


A pretty steep, no fall zone section


The rappels at the end. Shelby about to get wet. It was before and after these rappels that really drained me. Lots of tedious down climbing on slick wet granite rock was not reassuring.


Long approach, Steep skiing, narrow chutes, down climbing, anchor building, rappelling, post hole walking... this run had it all. And 3 of the 4 of us were late for work that night up at Brighton. Underestimated the exit greatly.. I am beat up from this type of outing but look forward to more like these.

Before the New Year

I've been real lucky to ski a bunch of new lines so far this year. The snow base is deep and what seems to be above average for the year. Certainly much more than last year. Mineral may be my new favorite spot. Quite a bit of solace, minus the Powder Birds, but that's a-okay. Enough room for all to play in. Here is a quick edit of the past few weeks..



There are still many days left in the snow calender year. I'm really looking forward for the next few weeks. Another storm system is brewing up mid week this week. There's no such thing as too much snow.

Cold Days

The forecast called for lots of snow. That's what happened. And what came with such a big storm, meaning... measuring the the snowfall in feet, was wind. Penetrating wind. Wind drifts everywhere. Pockets of danger everywhere. It's almost hard to keep your head together when venturing out in such conditions. Which way do I go, am I going the easiest way, when is this wind going to die down, where is the steep stuff I want to avoid!! This talk may seem like something from mid-February, but no, it's still before Thanksgiving. The Wasatch is playing a little trick and pretending to be the middle of the winter. The ski run delivered but by the end of it my bones where cold to the core. I wanted no more. I wanted inside. A hot shower and a pb&j after this outing made me feel like I was in a four star resort. I need to continue going out in these adverse conditions to help me for bigger things, but today, I just felt shot.

Me at the end of the day. Frozen.


This day will keep me hungry for more when I get back. Leaving to NY for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Washington

About a month ago my friend Andrea has surgery on her ankle. I decided with only having a short window of opportunity, to go see her. She gave me a quick and dirty run down of the Seattle & Ferndale/Bellingham area. There is a big difference coming from Utah. Everything is green in WA. After being on sensory overload of how lush everything was I took some pictures, and realized I missed this part of the outdoors.
Here are some pictures to show you what I mean.








By spring time, I hope to be back. This time to ski & hopefully, all contingent on the recovery of the ankle, with Andrea!

And a short video edit I made about the trip:

Times are a changing..

And just like turning on a light switch, winter is here. Last week the Wasatch received over 30 inches of snow! Amazing!! Early this month, I went out on some solo ski tours. It was exciting as I checked out a couple of new areas that I've never been to before. Going solo is quite enjoyable. No indecisiveness whether or not you want to go here or there. You just go.

Early November... North Face of Patsy Marly

The next day... Skied a bowl Near Sunset Peak (Backside of Alta)

The view down LCC. Superior is looking mean!


Today, I went with Shelby, my BC Ski partner. We went back to Patsy Marly's north facing shot to ski it...this time in powder.
Video of Shelby here:


So much fun. Hope the season continues like this!