Wagner Custom Ski Blog » Skis

Beating the Storm

AJ Linnell — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:49:15 +0000

One day I’m riding powder on Teton Pass; the next I’m picking my way through rocks on skis.

The conversation went something like this:

Me: “I know there’s a 100% chance of snow in the forecast, but it’s not suppose to roll in until afternoon. We’ll be fine! Let’s get up there early and get it done before the weather craps out.”

Scotty: (Brief pause…) “Okay. Can I borrow a pair of crampons?”

That’s how we ended up motoring over the pass in the wee hours, with starry skies above. Storm? What storm?

Whoa! A beacon checker at the Bradley-Taggart Parking Lot!

As it turned out, we hit it just about perfectly. A shallow coat of new powder covered the skintrack into Garnet Canyon, making route-finding in the dark extra challenging but adding to the ambience. Sunrise from the Platforms glowed pink across the eastern horizon, and gave us a good view of the summits overhead–no storm yet, just some spindrift blowing down from up high.

Sunrise from the mouth of Garnet Canyon.

Smooth skinning turned to rock-hopping once we gained the upper south fork of the canyon, working our way through scree-fields and linking together snow patches. Eventually we strapped our skis to our packs for good, finding bootpacking more efficient, and climbed a combination of last winter’s bulletproof snow and old avalanche debris to the base of the Southwest Couloir on the Middle Teton.

Cimbing out of the canyon toward the Middle Teton.

Being a generally windward-facing feature, the Southwest is often wind-hammered and scoured away, and this day was no exception. It looked as though there was almost more rock than snow in there, so we alternated between kicking steps into firm windbuff and dry-tool scrambling through rockbands. As it turned out, there was more snow available than we initially thought, although there would be no way to link up an uninterrupted ski descent.

Scotty "dry-tooling" up some rock in the Southwest Couloir. Not entirely skiable.

Taking the last few steps up the rimed summit formation.

Lenticular clouds were forming over the South Teton as we reached the summit, and the Grand stood eerily to the north, coming in and out of view as clouds streamed past. What an amazing hunk of rock that is, with a wonderfully snowy cleft right down the south face. It could use some more snow depth before becoming really skiable this season, but is a beauty nonetheless.

AJ on top of the world.

Scotty on top of the north ridge, with the Grand Teton in the background. Just doing a bit of reconnaissance.

The obligatory summit shot. Unfortunately the incoming clouds were obscuring the unreal view down into the Idaho side of the Tetons.

"Hey, is this thing working?" Scotty learns to use his camera.

We took a bunch of photos from the summit and then scrambled back down to the ledge where we had left our skis. The first few turns were actually pretty fun–chalky and firm, with plenty of exposure below to keep it exciting. Then it deteriorated into side-stepping through thinly-covered rocks and full-on downclimbing to get to more skiable snow. Skis on, skis off, skis on, skis off.

Now, how am I going to get through this?

Maybe a little side-step...

...And maybe I'll take a seat.

Finally on some continuously skiable snow.

The trip down into Garnet was surprisingly quick, given how long it took us to get up there, and once we hit the top of the Cave “Couloir” the snow magically turned into creamy, fast powder. It felt awesome to open up some GS turns after chop-turning through the rocks above.

Scotty opens it up in the Cave "Couloir".

Stoked on creamy pow turns!

Garnet Canyon flew past in a blur of powder crystals as the two of us popped off of wind-drifts–so fun. Somewhere around the Platforms we stopped to take a look back up-canyon and received the day’s first face-full of snowfall. The storm had arrived, after graciously giving us just enough time to do what we came to do.

Scotty, stoked to be rolling out of the canyon just as the storm hits.

We turned our skis down-canyon again for another hundred or so powder turns, and all of a sudden we were back at the lake, double-poling our way across to the moraines and our exit to the parking lot. Eight hours after setting out we sat back in the parking lot with beer in hand, watching the high peaks become enveloped in the storm. So thankful to live in this magical place.

Skiing Magazine Sweepstakes

spar — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:49:58 +0000

Check out Skiing Magazine’s website and enter to win a pair of your very own Wagner Custom Skis through their sweepstakes. Good luck, click here to enter before January 26th.

Ski Base Repair

spar — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 03:54:53 +0000

Early season ski conditions exist across the Northern Hemisphere right now. Rocks, logs, snow snakes, and other uncovered or barely hidden obstacles can wreak havoc on the bases of your skis. Base damage and core shots not only reduce the gliding efficiency of your boards, but they can shorten the lifespan of skis by contributing to water damage and de-lamination that may compromise a ski’s structural integrity. If you happen to ding your skis, take them to your local shop for repair or acquire the necessary materials to patch up your skis. Here is a good instructional video from our friends at Sun Valley Ski Tools on how to repair a damaged ski base. Happy filling and scraping!

Good day in the San Juans

Brad Foley — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:38:00 +0000

Wagner skier Greg Hope doing what he does best on his custom Wagner skis, finding deep snow and blowin’ it up…

Greg Hope in Telluride

Teton Ski Mountaineering in November?

AJ Linnell — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:12:41 +0000

November is typically a bit earlier than I start pursuing big lines in the alpine; regardless, Z and I started off the day with all kinds of grand visions for today’s trip. Neither of us quite anticipated the actual result.

Skinning away from the truck at 04:45, stars shining brilliantly overhead, we broke trail up Garnet Canyon–feeling good and ambitious, hoping for steep turns on sweet snow and fun climbing. We did find some of that, and some other stuff. Like a questionably-frozen lake that creaked and popped as we puckered up and kept skinning across the ice.

Skinning below the Middle Teton at sunrise.

Entering the upper canyon--bulletproof skinning through rocks. Awesome. (Here, Z is skinning below the Z Face on Cloudveil Dome. How appropriate.)

Windy? Windy.

We found a whole lot of horrifically scoured snow in the upper canyon. More scree than snow, actually. The East Ridge of the South Teton held so little snow on it that we left our glisse gear at the bottom and climbed it for the sake of climbing. (What?!) Ski mountaineering turned into mountaineering, in a gusty wind that threatened to peel the skin off our faces.

Climbing the East Ridge in blustery conditions. Note the lack of skis on Z's pack.

No snowboard, but fun climbing. Amazing views, too.

Climbing back down the East Ridge. That's what you do when there isn't enough snow to ski.

Or you might opt for a rappel or two.

The mandatory Eddie Bauer shot. Contemplating how we're going to get out of the mountains.

See all that snow blowing around on the ridge? That was unpleasant. You can just make out our bootpack in the center of the image.

We also found horrifically awful turns (bulletproof windslab, 10″-tall sastrugi, remnants of last winter’s snowpack with the consistency of glacier ice.) Lots of them. Punctuated with stretches of scrambling over snow-dotted scree fields in a hurricane.

Check out Z's edge penetration into the hardpack. Mmmm.

Better turns as we drop down to 10,000'. Blustery up there!

To be fair, we found really good turns lower down as well, sweet powder thinly covering jagged granite. Like skiing through a minefield, except the casualties were the bases of our boards. We left curls of base material and edge shards all over that place.

And then we skinned back across that lake.

But the question is: would I do it again? Hell yes, in a heartbeat.

*You may have noticed that I used the term “ski mountaineering” rather than “snowboard mountaineering”. Fear not–I am indeed still snowboarding, and loving my Wagner Custom board and approach skis. I use the term “ski” generically. Consider it a pursuit of efficiency, or laziness. “Ski” requires 6 fewer letters to type, and a whole syllable less to think or speak.

2011-2012 Skiing Mag Editors Pick

Pete Wagner — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 04:40:43 +0000

Queensland Walnut Topsheet

The editors at Skiing Magazine selected 33 pieces of the best gear for the 2011-2012 season. Wagner Custom skis made the list. See entry 3 of 33 at http://bit.ly/phP6OV

ESPN Love

Pete Wagner — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:20:34 +0000

ESPN featured Vermont brothers and Freeskiing World Tour stand-outs Lars and Silas Chickering-Ayers. Silas is a great guy and Wagner Custom factory team rider. Check out the ESPN story here.

Lars and Silas Chickering-Ayers share the podium at the US Extreme Freeskiing Championships

One’s too many, one more is never enough…

Brad Foley — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:56:04 +0000

Not sure how to spend the rest of my time in sunny California, Rob A. and I thought with the 136% of normal snow fall in the mountains of northern CA. we pulled the trigger on a near summer solstice ski on the north side of Mount Lassen. Finding skis, skins, and a pair of boots from the bros at The Backcountry we started driving north.

: Rob A. at the wheel

We got to Lassen Volcanic Park just before sunset, fired up the Weber and filled ours stomachs with chicken sausage and beer. Waking up around 5am and at the trail around 5:30 we easily made our way through the low trees to the bottom of the north face.

: At the end of the road

: Rob A. making it to the bottom of the north face

After half a PB&J we started boot packing the rest of the way to the summit, a little over a thousand feet and about an hour later we standing on top enjoying the view of the crater left behind by the 1914 eruption and Mount Shasta 80 some miles to the north.

: Close to the top, looking out to the north

: Skiing just below the summit with almost 4000′ back to the car

: Rob A. opening it up with Shasta in the background

Great skiing from the top on my first volcano, not a bad way to spend the day before the summer solstice.

: Enjoying the hot sun, the traditional post ski beer, and the view of the days work.

Wagner Custom Junior Athlete Skis the San Joaquin Couloir

spar — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 21:39:09 +0000

Check out this edit of Wagner Custom Junior Athlete, Cedar Palmer, skiing the San Joaquin couloir in the Bear Creek Backcountry near Telluride, the kid is only 11 years old!

This map from Brett Shreckengost’s website, tellurideoffpiste.com, provides a clearer picture of what Cedar accomplished.

First Turns

Brad Foley — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 03:42:15 +0000

When I got the message from Spar down at the shop that my skis were ready I dropped what I was doing and drove down valley to pick them up and get them mounted before going to Silverton later that evening. Rallying Chason’s monster truck over the pass to Sil-town to a good friends birthday party we talked about how we would ski over the peaks between Red Mountain pass and into the Telluride valley the next day, our version of a mini European tour. A quick car shuttle in the morning after a cup of coffee from the Avalanche and we were standing at the turn out atop Red Mountain Pass watching our ride drive away.

Checking the map, Red Mountain Pass

Following a skin trail from the day before that led up to the top of the Commadore we made good time heading west toward Telluride. Checking the map one more time and a stop to tend to a hop spot on Emily’s foot we enjoyed a beautiful day with fantastic views into the Weminuche Wilderness and into Telluride.

New Wagner's and one of the many great views

Chason and Emily making their way to the top of Telluride Peak

With warm temps, no wind and plenty of time we stayed on the summit for almost an hour eating lunch and taking the amazing view, from the high steep peaks of the Weminuche to the La Sal mountains in Utah.

Chason looking down the north face of Telluride Peak

Chason, Telluride Peak

Chason on his favorite Wagner's, Telluride Peak

First turns on my new skis...

Skiing off the shoulder just under the peak into boot top powder I was nothing but smiles all the way down into the basin below. Light, stable, a little rocker, and easy to turn my new backcountry ski is exactly what I’ve been wanting for my touring ski ( 143mm-107mm-127mm and 180cm ).

Chason skiing soft trees below the ghost town of Tomboy

Thanks again Pete and to the crew down valley for building another great ski. I can’t wait to put my skins on again and go for another tour.

... after a cold one

Wagner Athlete Takes Third in US Extreme Freeskiing Championships

spar — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 21:50:48 +0000

Wagner Athlete, Silas Chickering-Ayers, celebrates his 3rd place finish in Crested Butte. Photo courtesy of Eben Wight

Last weekend, Wagner Custom Factory Team Athlete, Silas Chickering-Ayers, took third place in the Freeskiing World Tour’s stop in Crested Butte, Colorado. Chickering-Ayers, 18, was one of the youngest competitors in a field of experienced veterans competing in a classic and technically demanding ski venue. It was a family affair, as Silas’ older brother, Lars, took the top honors and the two Vermont natives were able to share the podium together.

The Chickering-Ayers brothers on the FWT Crested Butte Podium. Photo courtesy of Eben Wight

The final day of the competition was blessed with fresh snow, which allowed the athletes to confidently showcase their abilities. Silas remarked, “Most of the time during comp runs you’re trying to ski tough lines on hard pack; the steep trees and deep snow made for more than ideal conditions and a lot of fun.” Silas’ competition skis have a beefy 110mm waist and are built around a sugar maple/white ash core, which is playful and predictable in technical terrain and provides a stable platform for landing big airs.

Silas Chickering-Ayers Getting Big Air

Congratulations Silas and good luck throughout the rest of the competition schedule! For more coverage see the official press release and the Freeskiing World Tour’s website.

N. Ridge of the Middle Teton, Take 2

AJ Linnell — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:41:41 +0000

If you’re getting your ass whooped, you might as well appreciate it. So, with memories of last weekend skimming through my mind I say that it’s good to get whipped every now and then. It helps keep a body humble, helps me remember to set my eyes on realistic objectives and pursue them in appropriate conditions. It makes me thankful for friends who appreciate a healthy bit of suffering. And it’s a good reminder that coming home safe to ride another day will always be better than the alternative.

After a brief spurt of technical difficulties, Zahan Billimoria, Nate Brown, and I set off from the truck at 6am last Saturday with the hopes of climbing the North Ridge of the Middle Teton and traversing to the Southwest Couloir for a descent on skis and snowboard. The weather in the valley was gorgeous–clear, starry skies and warm temps with no wind. The skin track was firm and fast, a nice change from the cold and sticky skin tracks we’ve had for most of the winter. I am continuously impressed at the performance of my Wagner approach skis–light, agile, and remarkably smooth when I just need to glide on a rolling track.

AJ skins out of the Meadows and into the sun. Love those approach skis!

Easy conversation brought us to the Meadows and sunshine, where the day’s first winds blew down from the Lower Saddle, a preview for what was to come. The skin from the Meadows up to the Moraines below the Saddle is always a bit of a butt-kicker–steep and firm, offering little chance of stomping in an edge. With gusts swirling down the slope, I was occasionally unsure whether I would be blown off my feet as I stood precariously in Z’s faint “skin track”.

Coming in for a break.

Approaching the final climb to the Saddle the wind kicked up in earnest and we hunkered behind a boulder to take a break for food and water. Wind-borne snow pounded through our “shelter” while the sun shone from above and we took in as many calories as we could stuff in our mouths, put on harnesses and helmets, and prepared ourselves to commit to the climb above. The North Ridge was plastered in amazing rime formations and spindrift tails blew over the Saddle from Idaho. Brrr.

Nate leads the traverse around the Bonney Pinnacle.

Climbing into the shadow of the Middle, we got a good taste of the conditions for the rest of our climb as we donned crampons and every stitch of clothing we carried with us. Winds blew hard enough to knock us around, bare hands quickly became unusable. Nate led us up the ridge, around the head of the Bonney Pinnacle, and down to a notch at the top of the Pinnochio Couloir. Once gathered there, with the wind funneling through the notch, we decided to push on and see how conditions were further up the ridge. After all, we were only a few hundred feet from the summit.

Climbing rime in the windy cold.

Z backs off the North Ridge of the Middle.

After two more pitches of interesting climbing on rime-covered rock, we estimated that the winds were blowing at a sustained 50mph across the ridge and decided to pack it in. Standing in that kind of cold and wind while belaying is unpleasant, but climbing with a cold body and the constant fear of being blown off the route adds a whole different element. So, two quick rappels brought us back to the top of the Pinnochio Couloir, and a pretty good consolation prize. Z slung a horn and we threw the rope down the steep and narrow entrance; Nate put himself on rappel, cleaning out 20cm of fresh windslab as he skied-on-rappel down past the entrance choke.

Z approaches the end of the rappel into the Pinnochio Couloir.

Z followed Nate, and I rappelled last, muttering expletives when I got to the bottom of the rappel and discovered that the ropes were stuck. Stepping out of my snowboard in that terrain is always a bit dicey, but I managed to get it off my feet and anchored into the snow without dropping it 1200’ down the couloir to the glacier below. Repositioning the ropes back at the notch for a clean pull (after climbing back up) turned out to be easier than anticipated and my second trip down the rappel was smooth, the ropes pulled easily, and the rest of the couloir was pleasant, chalky powder.

Riding fun snow in the Pinnochio.

When I rode the Pinnochio last year I had to rappel a rockband midway down, but today it was well filled-in and we were able to squeak through a narrow passage to the fan below and made quick turns down to the moraines. The steeps above the Meadows were probably the best riding of the whole day, nicely lit up and softened by the sun, the first time I was able to really open it up. Z and Nate carved their way down to me and we all admitted to being pretty worked as we stowed away our climbing gear for the romp out of Garnet Canyon. Tired legs, tired backs, tired bodies. Whether mental or physical, or both, the cold and wind really took it out of us today.

Returning to the truck and warm, spring-like temperatures felt like a relief after being up high. We agreed that a bit of suffering was good for us, and committed to getting back on the route for another attempt soon.

72 Hours in the San Juans

Brad Foley — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 05:27:16 +0000

: The ridge between Palmyra Peak and Silver Mountain

2.12.2011

With a week of warmer weather and a settling snow pack I spent the time skinning, and getting sunburn in the mountains around Telluride. Starting early on saturday with bacon and coffee I met Brian C. and Dustin H. with intentions of skiing the Silver chute off Silver Mt. Skinning up the north side of Lena basin I had my doubts of getting around the south side of the peak due to the quickly warming sun. Summiting Silver I decided to ski back into Lena basin in the cold north facing powder, Brian and Dustin continuing on making the exposed and scary traverse to the entrance of the Silver. Back in the Bear Creek basin I met up with Jim C on his way to ski the north side of K 12, I joined in.

: Jim getting ready to ski on K 12

After a short but steep skin we were looking at soft creamy snow back to valley below. Not wanting skiing to go buy to fast we stacked tight turns from just under the summit to the bench below. Wanting a few more turns and time left in the day we put our skins on and made the move to ski the Bear Face off Little Wasatch.

: Jim skinning up for one more pitch with K 12 looking on

: Looking south at Palmyra, Silver, and K 12

: Jim puling skins one last time

2.13.2011

Sunday blessed us with another beautiful day, warm, sunny, and a dinner party up at the Alta Lakes Observatory. Skiing over to the house with Chason and Emily we empty our packs of the nights dinner and drink and started up to the Birthday chute above the house. Having tried to ski the Birthday four time earlier this season and being turned back for one reason or another I was hoping this would be the day we would be able to gain the ridge and put turns down the Birthday Chute.

: Making our way up the chute next to the Birthday and the ridge above

: Chason and I watching Emily make the last switch backs to the ridge

: Pulling skins on the ridge above the Birthday

Great snow all the way back to the house was only to be out done by Annie P’s amazing dinner in one of my favorite places in the San Juans.

: Chason havin’ one in the Birthday Chute

: Dinner at Alta…

2.14.2011

It’s always a treat run into friends from out of town when you don’t expect to. Late sunday I met up with two friends from Durango, Parke and Ryan and made plans to ski the classic Telluride tour, Trout Lake to Ophir. With plans set and the Ski Patrol rookie party in full swing the only thing left to do was grab one more beer before heading home. Breakfast at the Butcher and Baker and it was off to Ophir to drop a car and on to the skin track.

: Never enough much sunblock

: Ryan, Parke, and Tffan enjoying a snack and the view from above Trout lake

In, what seemed like no time at all we were standing on the ridge looking down towards Ophir embracing the wind and excited to ski.

: Parke enjoying the creamy snow on the apron

: Ryan keepin’ it real

: Apre ski at the Ehler’s

Great skiing with great friends in one of the most amazing places, I love my life…

Ski Telluride featuring Wagner Custom athletes

Pete Wagner — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 23:57:26 +0000

Venture Out [4min cut] from felt soul media on Vimeo.

Video by Ben Knight

85 second Video Testification: A Chason Russell Couloir Line

Pete Wagner — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 23:47:04 +0000

Chute Ski from Chason Russell on Vimeo.