Perhaps the biggest highlight of the season was summiting Mt. Superior and skiing both the north and south faces in the same morning. This peak is the backdrop off the Albion Basin and a high priority for skiers in the area. Since first coming here in '95, I've looked at that peak with a sense of fear and anxiety, always knowing that I 'could' ski it if only given the chance. Things go bad fast up there, slides run the full 3,000 ft. and there are many terrain traps.
Getting up with the sun, skinning up in the early morning light, reaching Cardiff Pass and approaching the eastern flank of Superior was magical. The skiing was great off the north aspect, things had set up a little by the time we hit the south face...at 10am. Here's a slideshow of the morning...you'll see a number of pics of the different aspects, our tracks on the north side, and a pic of my skis before dropping into the south face...:
Another highlight of the season was heading up north to Jackson to meet up with Scott, Doug, Adam, Eric, and a few new friends. Jackson is having one the best seasons they've ever had, now approaching 580"...a welcome sight after last years dismall snowfall. We mostly skied the backcountry off Teton Pass since none of us had the cash to throw at lift tickets to the resort. Also, Adam was just learning to ski pow and the low key vibe of getting out in the bc was a perfect intro. We skied a couple shots of The Claw, a lap off the top of Glory Bowl, a day at Targhee beating around the glades, and a solid couple nights of fine sushi, a Hot Buttered Rum and The Waybacks show, and a lasagna night at a cabin in Driggs. Here's a slideshow of some of the fun (don't mind the butt crack shots!):
Mt. Baldy is the center piece of Alta Ski Resort and is extreme enough that it only opens a dozen or so days a year. Every year I've come out it has magically opened (most often due to long bouts of high pressure), so I came into this year feeling pretty orientated to the chutes. Another side of living in this canyon (and very close to any mtn. that is), is the benefits of easily doing things at NIGHT in the moutains. In December I was fortunate enough to get a perfectly clear night on the full moon. We skinned up Cardiff Pass and skied 2 1/2 ft. of freshly fallen snow in the moonlight. Getting barried in snow, sucking in face shots of snow, and seeing everything from the moonlight was one of the most incredible ski experiences of my life. This was after we had skied in the resort all day, I worked that night, and we summited at 11pm! Of course, the light and the skiing conditions didn't warrant any photos. BUT, here are some photos of the most recent full moon. My friend Nick and I got off work at 9:30pm, had a beer, and skinned up Mt. Baldy for a late night decent of Little Chute. The pics in the slideshow are a little blurry, but I think it adds to how surreal the whole experince was...
This is Mt. Baldy, taken by somebody else in 2006. Little Chute is the gully directly to the looker's right of the true summit. If looking from the left, you see the high shoulder, then Main Chute, a small powder field, then Little Chute, then a series of large cliffs and then the saddle and Perla's drops through the saddle heading east (left). The slideshow below shows our decent up the shoulder (far left of photo above), booting up the highest part of the summit, and then hanging out on top and looking into our chute.
Mt. Baldy 3/22 (Full moon)
Here's a few fun pictures from the season:
Mt. Superior from outside my room, looking down over GMD.
At one point this winter, we had 8 days in a row where the doors to go outside looked like this. Basically, the snow totals are so high overnight or nonstop for days that the avalanche danger throughout the canyon shuts down outside foot traffic. This also means that your going to get some DEEP snow. We had weeks of days like that this year...one day when the road up canyon didn't open, Snowbird was closed, and all your friends were the only ones on the hill...20"in the night before, 20" during the day! The call that a "country club" day.
This is Mt. Sunset, a quick 10 minute sidestep and traverse out of the resort. GREAT skiing off the top of this beauty.
Parties at the employee house at the top of the canyon, looking out over Mt. Superior at dusk. "The Big House" is the best employee housing the canyon, maybe even in all of skiing! Another jump party this tuesday....
The same party, we all take a break from the jump to watch the sunset on a perfect day.
Another highlight of the season has been skiing with this crazy Brennan brother. Kyle is Garett's second youngest brother, recently moved back home to attend the U, and has gotten after it this season. Always good for laughs (look at what he's wearing!), its been a joy to ski with him.
You can't understand the whole Brennan phenomenah without skiing with moma bear. Here's Brenda gettin' deep in Garett's turns.
Here I am celebrating "Mustache March" while at work, chatting it up with some friends in the lodge's bar.
Mom, Russ, and Evan came out for a week and skied their butts off. Here we are taking a break watching the US Freeskiing Nationals at Snowbird a week ago.
Got a great day in at Snowbasin with Mom and Russ, here's Mom and I at the top of the Strawberry lift with Ogden, UT and the Great Salt Lake behind us.
This is me getting deep in Rocky Point earlier this year. Although this was a greybird day, I've gotten the chance to ski with a few photographers this year.
Here's a better one on a clearer day. Patsy Marley on March 3rd.
And one I took on the same day of my friend Paul.
Of course, there are so many stories from the season and so many photos. I've commited to coming back next year and working at the lodge, a little bit this summer in between Hawaii and the farm, and I've made a ton of new friends to boot.
More to come...
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