So fellow skiers. How do you claim a FD (first descent…bra) without getting chastised by the greater backcountry community when some lurker comes out of the snowpack and says he skied the line back in 2002? Good question. Now first off, please know that this isn’t a prelude into claiming some sick new line on […]
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Jimmy Chin’s Trifecta Route. Click here for larger image. Well, on occasions I do, but when I hear about days like the following, I feel like I’m slow as molasses. Photographer, skier/climber and The North Face sponsored athlete, Jimmy Chin shot me an email last week breaking down his recent (last Friday) light and fast […]
Ciren Wang Mu carried the Olympic torch to the summit of Mount Everest. Now I don’t want to get into the whole political side of China and the Olympics, but I don’t think they should have closed off the mountain for this event and I will say I think the Olympics shouldn’t be about politics…but […]
Is French ski mountaineering racer, Patrick Blanc, a dope(r)? You know the competition is competitive when athletes take drugs and cheat to gain an advantage. Recently, after the famous Patrouille des Glaciers race, 1 of 10 test results for doping have come back positive for one of the members of the winning French team. The […]
NOTE: This post is mainly directed to those that live outside of Jackson Hole, WY. Photo of Bill Briggs: Courtesy, The Mountain Culture. Photo of The Grand Teton: Courtesy, Teton Gravity Research. I got an email from Tom Turiano while I was in the Winds asking for some help getting legendary Jackson skier, Bill Briggs […]
Gasherbrum II Good luck to Jackson’s John Griber, Montana’s Kris Erickson and the rest of the The North Face ski mountaineering crew on their attempt to ski and snowboard Gasherbrum I and II. The plan is to hopefully nail G2 with the whole team and if things go well, and conditions and funding can support […]
At a time when a lot of ski expeditions to the Himalaya are getting ready to head out, Fredrick Ericsson sent me a link to a video he has put together from his attempt to ski Dhaulagiri, the 7th highest peak in the world, last year. The film is a blend of cultural, landscape and […]
With all the precipitation lately, looks like I’ll be skiing powder in the Winds. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately and I wasn’t sure what to talk about today. I thought about how I’ve been getting the shop opened up for the summer, or how I’ve got a week long trip in the […]
For all those Wind River rock-jocks out there, Joe Josephson has teamed up with Steve Bechtel to put out a new pocket/pack sized guidebook for the “Cirque of the Towers and Deep Lake” region. I’ve checked it out at the shop and they are nicely done, with informative trail and route maps, as well as […]
Rock for Brains Couloir. I never really thought I would be saying this…but man…there looks like there is some cool skiing to be done in the Laramie area. This is the second trip report from Galen Woelk (see Airline Couloir post), who seems to be doing a good job of keeping the ski mountaineering spirit […]
Not one from the Teton herd, but I have seen some while skiing the SE Face of the South Teton, Static Peak, and Eagles Rest. With the big snows this year, there is no doubt a lot of wildlife have had a hard time and unfortunately paid the ultimate price. It’s requested that if you’re […]
Well, looks like some fresh snow out this way today…not a whole lot though. Our snow surface was starting to get a bit on the brown side, so it’s nice get a fresh new layer going. I want to thank my Mom for forwarding this story to me. It’s not about skiing…or racing …or gear. […]
I’m gonna milk one more post out of the Winds trip, but I wanted to congratulate Bryan Feinstein, Colin O’Farrell and Ty Cook for a descent of the rad Otterbody Route on the Grand Teton last week. If I have my numbers right, only four other people have previously skied or snowboarded the route…”old school” […]
I’m thinking the snow on The King will last at least another month. I have to tell you…I’m loving these lazy days of spring. Its pretty slow in the shop, which makes late day laps on Snow King all the more enjoyable. I don’t even need to bring extra clothes as my MK’s seem to […]
Bryan climbs a steep section at the top of Radio Tower Couloir. Having trouble deciding if it’s safe enough in the high country last Friday, I decided to head up to Togwotee Pass and ski Radio Tower Couloir. This line’s proximity right next to the road and the Continental Divide make it a great way […]
American rando racer Lyndsay Meyer sent me this great report of her and teammate Nina Silitch’s experiences racing in this year’s Pierra Menta just last weekend. It is a four day stage race and arguably the hardest ski mountaineering race there is. Lyndsay and Nina were the first ever complete US women’s team to compete […]
I’ve had a few days off back in Jackson after getting home from Europe. I’m glad too because I’ve been having a bugger of a time getting my internal clock reset and have been waking up at 3 and 4am the past few days…though daylight savings time helped a bit yesterday. The weather has been […]
Somehow Jason Tattersall got my email address about a year ago and if there is one thing you can count on him for, besides skiing hard and speaking his mind, it’s entertaining emails about once a week. He forwarded this video to me (and many others) on Tuesday. Most of the time when I get […]
Courtesy: Ski Mountaineering.org Staying on the rando racing theme today…congrats to US Ski Mountaineering Team members Nina Silitch and Lyndsay Meyer on their 2nd place finish in the recent TSF (Tournette Sources du Fier) Millet in Les Aravis, France. The TSF has become one of the bigger races in the European rando race circuit and […]