Tag Archives: pow day

Day 20: Steamboat

Posted on 11 February 2012 by BJ| Leave a comment

Spending time in Steamboat, shredding new lines or checking out the Winter Carnival on Lincoln…it’s always a good time.  Nice, quiet weekend with Jenna and CoCo, taking in the sights, strolling on the Yampa and indulging our palates.  It’s good to see the trees finally filled in to the point where base damage is more of a rarity than the norm.  Steamboat always delivers.

Posted in Ski Days

Tagged , , , ,

Days 16-19: Silverton BC, AIARE Level II @avyschool

Posted on 6 February 2012 by BJ| Leave a comment

Red Mtn Pass touring

I left Wednesday Feb 1 on a road trip to Silverton, CO and spent 4 days fully immersed in  AIARE Level II training, hosted by Silverton Avalanche School.  SAS is a top-notch program in my humble opinion, the reputation is well-earned.  Our course instructors were field and industry leaders, and the wealth of experience at the helm was a bit mind-boggling.  I HIGHLY recommend SAS.

We spent our days in town at Kendall Mountain Recreation Center, ski slopes, and on Molas Pass, Red Mountain Pass day tours.  The days were spent practicing multiple burial rescue scenarios, transceiver techniques, snowpit craft, crystal and weak layer identification, maintaining seasonal snow history, weather pattern review, terrain choices, travel techniques and hammered away at perfecting standardized snow, weather and avalanche observations.  I’ve come away from this class with a lot more on my mind, but also a better understanding of the bigger picture and a focused approach to practicing safer BC travel. I may never fully  master this art, but I can start fully appreciating nature’s snowy works that are in front of me.

 

 

Posted in Ski Days, Training

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Day 15 – LUV

Posted on 27 January 2012 by BJ| Leave a comment

One of those powder mornings that come in slightly unannounced and deliver much more than you expect. A front row ticket watching the CDOT crews blast away at the avy chutes on Loveland Pass in the early morning.  Got some work done before the chairs turned, and then shredded ‘special’ lines for the next 3 hours.  It was no doubt Double-digit deep, and filled with that special blend of air and float that Loveland powder mornings bring.

Not a track in sight - LUV Chair 2

Snowed hard all morning long and the sun began to peek thru as the place got tracked.  Can’t wait until the Ridge opens up, but still by far the best pow day of the year so far because of the number of freshies we scored.

 

Posted in Ski Days

Tagged , , ,

Day 14 – Copper

Posted on 25 January 2012 by BJ| Leave a comment
image

Union Bowl from S Chair, Jupiter in close

Sunday morning pow days are trouble when you live in the Front Range.  I normally avoid them like the plague but in this case it had been so long since a good stinking pow day that I put into place my stealth plan and scored while the iron was hot.  No 3.5 hr traffic for me.  Just first chairs up Super Bee and first tracks down Jupiter Bowl.

image

Jupiter Bowl. Patrol ski cuts, ready for shred

Patrol informed us that the bowl was opening, and we had to follow directed skiing to ease it into operation. All good with me.  Slash and burn, slash and burn all the way down.
The storm dropped about 9″ between close of lifts on Saturday and 5am Sunday.  It continued to snow all morning, so I am probably going to call it 10″+ new by lift open.  HELLZ YEAH. Rode my Gyrator 162 for the first time and it absolutely plowed through all conditions with no chop.  Floats like a champ in the deep stuff and never got stuck.  Definitely solidified as my double-digit resort pow stick.

Usually on weekends I avoid resorts altogether, but this storm kicked off a major natural avalanche event all throughout Colorado.  Not even worth taking chances.  Several riders died in a matter of a few days here in Colorado after this storm – both out of bounds and inside the ropes.  Not worth taking a chance in the BC right now from my perspective, It will always be there next time.    I wore my beacon in bounds on Sunday at Copper.

Great day to stretch the speed limits on an untracked slice of my favorite mountain.  Copper Mountain always delivers on a pow day.

Posted in Ski Days

Tagged , , ,

Day 12 – Incognito

Posted on 8 January 2012 by BJ| Leave a comment

Geez, it feels like it’s been forever.  Watching the jet stream do it’s Col thing is getting old.  Knowing there would be new snow, but also knowing how funky and unstable  the current snowpack would be with the new weight, I decided to head up to Berthoud Pass and do some exploring on lower angle terrain.  Get some photos, shake out the kinks in my touring legs and, earn some pow turns.  Today did not disappoint.

The skin approach was a bit more difficult than expected as I worked my way up to treeline.  Felt like I was skining up bottomless pow, but in reality it was the 6 or 7″ new overnight on top of ground to surface facets.  pole strikes went straight through.  tough sledding on the steeper sections for sure.

Above treeline the snow was untracked and very dry/fluffy.  Skin up, shred pow.  skin up, shred pow.  skin up, shred pow….and so on.  Meadow skipping laps and that familiar flow and float.

Posted in Ski Days

Tagged , , ,

Day 10 – Upslope goodness

Posted on 22 December 2011 by BJ| Leave a comment

First day of winter solstice 2011 came in with a bang here in the Front Range.  14″ at my house and that means shreddable lines in South Boulder County.

New lines - BikeinRidge

Good times with C-Low and Don from WildyX.  Don toured in from his house, Curtis and I toured in from 66th.  2 miles across the top of the mesas, scoping possible lines and enjoying the views as the storm lifted and the sun came out.  We scored!    pretty frickin cool when my commute back home was 3 minutes.

already scanning the mesas in my backyard for next turns and shreddable lines.  I guess big Upslopes aren’t that bad after all!

Posted in Ski Days

Tagged , , , , ,

Day 7 – WinterPark and Berthoud Pass

Posted on 3 December 2011 by BJ| Leave a comment

Upslope events are bittersweet to me.  New snow on the ground at home always makes me smile.  Hit-or-miss snow just over the divide?  You can keep it.

4WD from my driveway to the Berthoud Pass parking lot.  Snowing and only one car in the lot.  Had to meet with a friend at WP, so I decided to go there first, then hit up Bert afterwards.  Winter Park – while typically a fun mountain (especially on the Jane) – was gray, cold, windy and not an inch of new snow.  Probably only a few miles as the crow flies to the top of the Continental Divide, but a world away on this particular morning.

2nd day on the teles: I am really digging my Volkl Gotama‘s with the Hammerheads.  Even on this crusty morning, I still had fun.

after a few laps, decided it was time to head back up to Bert.  My mission for this day was not to slay pow – it was actually to dig a couple pits, and explore top of West Side.  As I got my gear on around 10:30 or so the sky started to break up.  Winds weren’t even that bad either.  Skinned up West Side on my Poacher splitboard, and poked around – checked the coverage on Russel and Pumphouse, then over to Current Creek and assessed the conditions.

I was able to dig 2 pits: a N/NE aspect at the top of Meadows, and a E aspect skier left side of Test Slope.  Pretty ugly results: shallow (35-50cm total depth) and persistent weak layer right at bed surface.  Test Slope was entirely ground to new snow layer facets…junk snow.

Noticed these 2 hiking Russell’s flank.   leeward side dropping into Current Creek.  Their travel techniques were to take off almost together.  Watched  rider2 drop in right above ryder1 on a 5 second delay, make two turns and then caught an edge,flipped. 123 quick.    not a good situation considering the deeper snow in that lee side was actually scraped then loading with the wind shifts.    I hope they come to Friends of Berthoud Pass on-snow at MaryJane next weekend ($20!). complacency is not the answer anywhere in the BC unless its over a pit fire with tasty beverage.

Overall, taking photos and exploring a bit overrides bad resort snow any day.  Managed to score some pow too, along the way.

Posted in Ski Days

Tagged , , , ,

Day 3 – Berthoud Pass

Posted on 19 November 2011 by BJ| Leave a comment

Today was a day for sharpening the Avalanche Awareness skills in preparation for another soon-to-be snowy La Niña winter (we hope).  Spent much time around the Berthoud Pass warming hut and on the East Side working on transceiver use: search, orientation, single and multiple burial scenarios. And of course, a brewski at the end of the day.

Time like this is invaluable, especially when you can take a break and skin up a few hundred vert and score some new turns.  But most importantly, it brought back to mind all of the thoughts, attitudes and process-of-analysis that are necessary to maintain while out in the BC. My partners may thank me one day :-)

5 hours on beacon/transceiver practice?  Yes please.  It’s always worth the effort.

Video Courtesy: Backcountry Access

Posted in Ski Days, Training

Tagged , , ,

Day 1 – Berthoud Pass and Loveland

Posted on 29 October 2011 by BJ| Leave a comment

October in the Front Range – snow begins to fall and the ski season begins. Spending time on Berthoud Pass chilling and not in a hurry, time flows by just right. After our last storm a few days ago, the east Side had coverage enough to bring out the rock board and get a hike or two in. Surprisingly soft and fluffy snow, it felt surreal – “…am I dreaming?” “Is this really pow I am bouncing through right now?” about 10-15 turns, maybe 6-9″ deep, but that familiar floating sensation. Felt like a longboard wave – mellow and groovy. grinning.

CoCo joined in on the laidback parking lot convos. her first time up here and she fit right in.

We headed up to Loveland to pick up the season pass and score more turns.
Loveland was chilly and yet had fun, soft hardpack. Chair 1 was open, good for getting the first carves in, and speedy descents. The vibe is the same – easy, fun and low key. Seeing the ridge and upper drainages begin to fill in is ‘fantastico’. The new season, my 30th on snow, has begun.

If today was any indication of the upcoming season, I will be plenty stoked all year long.

Posted in Ski Days

Tagged , , ,