Paging Ptor Spricenieks…Ptor Spricenieks to the courtesy phone please.
If you’ve followed this blog and the comments at all over the years, you know that on most weather related posts, Ptor Spricenieks usually chimes in about solar flares and other weather anomalies that I can’t even pronounce, never mind understand. So, I’m wondering what he (and YOU) has to say about this latest report from the UK that states the earth’s average temperature showing no signs of increase over the past 15 years. It also claims that the sun is now headed into what is called a “grand minimum“, which creates cold winters and short summers…or even a mini-ice age? What the…?
Not a whole lot going on in my world this week (except that I got out of jury duty…yay!) and just tip-toeing up and skiing the basics, trying to stay on top of the snowpack. Here is a photo of a poster we have at the shop that gets quite a few comments. It’s a lithograph from Grivel that depicts “How to Ski and How Not To” in the year 1912. These things are really hard to come by and the photos are kind of funny, if you can make them out.
If you are looking for a distraction from that-other-post, this is a pretty good one.
It is over an hour long though, so only watch it when you have time.
Today, a highly experienced local avalanche guru caused a stir on Taylor Mountain and the Coal Creek region on the west side of Teton Pass when an intentionally triggered avalanche resulted in more than he bargained for. The slide grew in size quickly, pulling out far to the skier’s right and left sides of the main south facing avalanche path on the mountain. The resulting avalanche gouged an impressive path all the way to the bottom of Coal Creek and stimulated calls to Teton County Search and Rescue, who responded via helicopter to investigate. No one was caught or injured in the avalanche. Read More…
I’ve been pretty busy with work and life-planning since coming back from the trade show, but dawn patrols have been paying off big. Today there was a pretty sunrise and the Carbon Megawattsmounted at +2.5cm treated my right. The tips are huge on these things and darn near impossible to bury, so I opted for a more forward mount to make them a bit more turny. These skis beg for some bigger and more open slopes though,and really shine when going full throttle.
While you have been sleeping the past few days, WYDOT crews have been working their butts off trying to get Teton Pass’s Highway 22 open and safe for car travel. As you can see in the photo below, with all the new snow Jackson Hole have been getting, this hasn’t been an easy task and this car got smoked by an avalanche in the early morning hours today. Skiers, please choose your line wisely if you are skiing on the north side of the road today and let those WYDOT workers get some much needed sleep.
Photo courtesy of Jamie Yount, WYDOT Avalanche Technician.
PUBLIC SAFETY ANNOUNCEMENT CONCERNING AVALANCHE CONTROL AND WINCH CAT OPERATIONS
Do not travel above red line during Snow King snow control.
Snow King Patrol and Grooming Operations Need Your Help
Avalanche control and winch cat operations present hazards to anyone in the vicinity. For the safety of skiers, boarders and hikers, as well as the safety of Ski Patrol and Cat Operators, Snow King is asking for your help. Read More…
Today is my last day at the trade show and I’m headed back to Jackson. With 36” of new snow in the past couple days and 4-6’ avalanche crowns being reported, the drive should be interesting. Luckily there looks to be lull in the action this afternoon and tonight, before the snow ramps up again on Saturday, so I’m hoping to catch a window to make it home in.
Last night I attended a dinner with some amazing athletes in the outdoor, climbing and skiing industry. However, I sat next to the dude that did this and this, and I was very much impressed with his energy and “it’s my way-or the highway” attitude. Definitely a person committed to his trade and stoked on life in general. If you ever get a chance to meet Matthias, I highly recommend sitting down and talking to him for a while. He may enjoy skiing even more than myself.
There were some comments on a post I did a few days ago about how some folks don’t like sculpted or scalloped shaped backpacks because they don’t think packing them is as easy as say, a rectangular box or cylindrical tube on your back. I’m not sure I agree with this and personally I think I’d rather have a nice, sleek pack that has nice lines, instead of a suitcase on my back that looks like it could have been made by Samsonite. Read More…
Pretty uneventful drive down to the Outdoor Retailer All Mountain Demo this morning. It was blowing sideways when I left Jackson, but seemed to taper off once I got further away from the Tetons. They could definitely use some more of the white stuff here in SLC…to cover up all the city shit, never mind to help out the skiing situation.
The Hoji inspired, Dynafit Vulcan.
Anyway, I covered some of the new Black Diamond and Dynafit products for Fall 2012 in previous posts, but I wanted to make a few comments on the new Dynafit Vulcan and One boots, now that I have gotten a chanvce to ski on them, as well as few other tidbits I think you might find interesting from the demo. Read More…
The guy in this video riding the Mieders Alpine Slide with no brakes has nerves of steel and only makes a peep on a few epic corners and drops. Maybe that Snowbird Alpine Slide wasn’t such a bad idea after all? Sure makes the Snow King alpine slide look…ummm, nevermind. Imagine one from the top of Rendezvous Mountain!
(This clip is a little slow in the middle, but cranks up again for the second half.)
MAN…I have been having some great days skiing in the Tetons lately! Last week, it was warm spring-like conditions on sunny aspects, and now…powder and wind! It looks like it’s gonna dump huge this week, but I’m glad I got another warm sunny day skiing above the clouds on Teewinot with Kim Havell and John Walker last Monday. We skied the Southeast Couloir on Teewinot, a line i did solo in the spring 8-10 years ago. So it was nice to get back and score it in January, with friends. The day was stellar once we climbed 2-3k’ out of the low clouds that lingered all day, with zero wind. Kind of one of those ski days you remember for a long time.
Yesterday, I showed you some of the new gear Black Diamond has in store for next season (known as Fall 2012 in retail lingo), so today I figured I’d share some of the changes BD will be making to their extremely popular Flicklock poles and ski packs. Two products I use nearly every day I go backcountry skiing. I’ve been using some of the new 2012 poles and packs and I must say, so far…I give the changes two thumbs up! Read More…
Black Diamond Fall 2012 FreeTour Series Skis.
From left to right – Carbon Megawatt, Carbon Justice, Drift, Starlet and Revert.
When Black Diamond started selling their own ski and boot line a few years ago, the common mantra was that it was “All About The Down”. Well, it seems as though the tides are changing a bit down in Salt Lake City, and every year we see a little more focus put into not only making gear work better for us, but also making it lighter. This continues into their Fall 2012 offerings, as Black Diamond will make some tweaks to boot and liner fit, skin glide and glue performance, and…what I’m most excited about…the addition of three new skis to their Touring Series (which was known as the Efficient Series for the past few years) that will make those of us that think skiing is also a little about the up…smile. Read More…
Remember when Dynafit was known for making ultra-skinny and short skis for rando’ers that liked to spoon tight wiggle turns and put in low angle skin tracks? Well, they still make skis for that, but for next fall, Dynafit will add a new stick its collection called the Huascaran (a 6,768m peak in Peru) that will one-up the Stoke as their flagship powder slaying ski and is sure to be a hit with the fat and baggy crowd. Read More…
Last Friday, I got out with Reed Finlay to ski an obscure line on the southwest side of Teewinot Mountain that drops down into Glacier Gulch. I’m not really sure what to call this route, but we dubbed it the “Son of Southwest”, after Teewinot’s more prominent and more often skied Southwest Couloir, that lies a little further to the east. I hope you like this little video I put together from the day. Still images in remainder of post. Ciao for now! Read More…
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