Our early-season was unbelievable--I rode shin-deep powder with Bodie-the-dog on Peaked Mountain on October 7th.

After a dry November, the holidays brought fat powder back to the Tetons. Matt Lloyd goes deep near Teton Pass.

Laying our lines with nary a soul around. I spent 2 weeks in the Tetons in January with 5 NOLS instructors on snowboards, watching our tracks fill in every night as we received 1.5 meters of snowfall.

Dinnertime! Working the stoves by lamplight, turning out high backcountry cuisine.

My Winterstick Swallowtail made epic powder riding effortless.

The results of hip-checking on limestone...

Rappelling into the entrance of the Pinnochio Couloir on the Middle Teton. We had hoped to climb the North Ridge and make turns from the summit, but ended up riding this sweet line instead.

Digging the sun with Mark after a long, cold climb and descent on the north side of the Middle Teton.

Climbing out of The Handle of the Skillet Glacier on Mt. Moran. Evan Horn breaking trail.

Beautiful, firm powder riding on the Skillet Glacier with Jackson Lake below.

Summit photo with Jaime Musnicki on the Grand Teton. We took advantage of a short window of good weather and great conditions to make this 2-day trip up and down the Grand in late-March.

Approaching the anchors at the bottom of the Ford Couloir/top of the Chevy Couloir on the Grand. Thousands of feet of air beyond the edge to my right.

Rappelling past the ice bulges in the Chevy Couloir.

Zahan Billimoria leads Stephen Koch up the Chouinard Couloir on a blustery day in April. Middle Teton.

Zahan digs the chalky powder on our descent of the Chouinard Couloir.

Escaping a bit of mud-season with my wife in Belize.

There are always lines that I wish I had ridden in a given season, possibilities that never came to fruition, but overall it was a good season.  And it’s not so bad having dreams to fulfill next season.  For now, I’m moving on to mountain biking and trail running until the snow flies again.  My sincere thanks go to Wagner Custom for supporting my drive to climb and ride with the best backcountry/alpine snowboarding tools imaginable.

Hevenly 11's

Sometimes it’s hard to know what the day will bring?  following a few all time kant-mak-em’s, I loosely made a plan while soaking in the second to last apre ski of the Telluride ski area season. All we  had decided was to bring skins and go for a tour.  The afternoon turned to evening, and the skies had cleared for morning.

Excited to ski something a little bigger, I was sure to catch the first round of chairs in the morning. Standing in line I was fortunate to meet up with the right skiers. A few others had similar prospects for the day.  Making the pilgrimage up the lifts, it was apparent the wind had howled all night . Lines that appeared filled in the day before seemed a bit thinner.  I had high hopes of skiing the Grand Dad couloir however, anything on the little Wasatch face would do.

Making our way across the upper Bear Creek drainage there would be six of us who converged to ski the Little Wasatch face. All friends, all stoked to ski, it was easily decided to let Dylan and Dave go for the Grand Dad first. We would either wait for them to exit safely or choose to ski a different line. We settled for the 11’s.

It’s not all about the powder. Navigating through wind scoured snow was comforting, the snow did not feel like it wanted to move. Our first view down the chute revealed a narrow crux and a significant runnel.

Entering the chute we were greeted by a small down climb. grippy yet firm snow split by the runnel, with constant flow in the runnel, we made our way down one turn at a time to the exit.

Huge stoke factor, psyched to reach the ground floor!

Entering the Chute Photo Brad Foley

My View of Harold, Jon, and Ricky entering the Chute

Harold Ehnbom

Brother Jon

Looking down

Cedar Palmer

After finding or landmarks and a quick laugh at how much snow had fallen over night it was time for a little fun.

Cedar sending the pillow line

Making it look easy

Skiing out out the bottom of the run we all new we be back for more.

Cedar and his custom rockered Wagners

The Skillet pours down from the summit of Mt. Moran (12,605′) on the northeast face, providing almost 6000′ of steep, perfect fall-line.  I had tried to get up it for a snowboard descent twice before, getting turned back by a storm 5 years ago, and by an insidious weak layer of graupel last winter.  Our unseasonably warm temperatures in the last couple of weeks here have pretty well gotten rid of this season’s long-lived weak layers, so we figured that conditions were prime for a successful descent, barring any large unanticipated snowfall.  Dozing off after a hot meal, my confidence was shaken by the flakes coming down outside.  But waking to starry skies, we were ecstatic to see a couple of inches of new, well-bonded powder on the ground.

We skinned out of camp just as dawn broke over the Gros Ventres and lit up the day’s enormous climb ahead.  Last night’s gift of powder also meant deeper trailbreaking on the uphill leg of the day.  With a light wind over the summit, 2 inches down low translated to 6 or 8 inches up high.

Taking a break just before starting the bootpack, warm in the sun.

We were able to skin the first 2000′ or so, but pretty shortly traded skis for crampons and put in a bootpack for the remaining 3500′ of the climb.  Kick, breathe, step.  Kick, breathe, step.  Repeat.  Endlessly.  Rotating through the lead to keep relatively fresh legs up front, we didn’t set any speed records on this climb but it was somehow enjoyable to feel the honest work of it and breathe the fresh, thin air as we gained elevation.

Holy crap, this thing just keeps on going! AJ sucking wind as we close in on the top.

And as we got higher, the wicked brutal heat that beset us midway up dissipated and a cool breeze blew down the couloir at the top of the glacier, otherwise known as The Handle.

The pitch got steeper for the final 1500′ up The Handle, culminating in a 10′ section of 55- to 60-degree climbing to crest the summit.

Cranking through the final steep pitch, with the summit rocks in view.

Wind plumes ripped off the rocks protecting the top of The Handle but we stood in a silent eddy in the sun, looking back down at nearly 6000′ of track that we had just laid-in.  Which would now be 6000′ of chalky powder turns–sick.  We rock-hopped over to the actual summit, a broad plateau with view of the North Face of the Grand to the south, Thor Peak and the Idaho Teton Valley to the west, Bivouac Peak to the north, and Jackson Lake and the rest of the Jackson valley to the east.  Just gorgeous.

AJ on the summit, with the Grand Teton in the background.

And Evan on the summit.

To think that we fell asleep in a snowstorm but climbed this gorgeous route under bluebird skies.

I dropped in first, giving a few bounces as I side-slipped the entrance to try and clean off some of the sluff, but nothing moved.

AJ about to drop in, contemplating how to manage it.

...And here we go!

The powder proved to be beautifully firm, solid edging and the 1500′ down The Handle flew by until I found a protected zone to tuck into and wait for Evan and Ben to arrive.

Ben skis out of The Handle.

Once we were all together again, I led out for a 2000′ pitch of lovely softness down to our gear cache midway down the route.

AJ, stoked for the next powder pitch.

The sluff started getting pretty big and pushy, but with such favorable riding conditions it felt good to open it up and outrun the cascade behind me.  Laying over big carves, the rock walls became a blur as I focused on getting the most out of these sweet turns.

Carving sweet turns, AJ builds momentum to race his sluff down the Skillet.

The lower glacier started to get pretty sticky with the sun’s heat adding moisture to the upper snowpack, and we found that subtle changes in slope aspect to slightly shady gullies made all the difference in keeping the snow dry and fast.  Then right above camp it all turned to mush.  We relaxed a bit in the sun as we packed up the tents, listening to kiddy-pop on Ben’s AM-FM radio and downing quart after quart of water before the long slog back across the lake.

Ahh, the long crossing...

It took us 3 hours to get from our camp to the east side of the lake, longer than the previous afternoon but not bad considering how slushy the snow was over the lake ice.  (The lake was frozen rock-hard, it was just the snow that was slushy.)

AJ and Ben take a break midway across the lake, with the Skillet Glacier on Mt. Moran in the background. The Handle is the perfect couloir cutting through the upper face to the summit.

Arriving back at the truck in the late afternoon, cold Budweiser and leftover pizza never tasted so good.  Especially having changed from wet ski boots into luscious flip-flops.  Mmm.

Skinning under a full moon is cool.  With headlamps off, shadows are so long and the muted glow reflecting off the snow provides a surreal lighting for travel through the lowland approach to the high peaks.  Partners are merely black silhouettes and the skin track is an ill-defined line across the crusty re-frozen snow surface.  Traveling across Bradley Lake and through the forest, we spent the pre-dawn hours quietly skinning through this dreamscape into Garnet Canyon.

As morning approached, the moon set and we were forced to turn on our headlamps for the last hour before sunrise, climbing up out of the forest and into the glacial basin of the Meadows in the canyon.  We stopped for a morning snack in the Meadows as the sun barely lit the eastern horizon and then bared our teeth for the icy, slick-as-snot-on-a-marble climb from the Meadows up into the North Fork.  The slope between the Meadows and the North Fork is about 35 degrees and faces south, so it bakes all day and then freezes overnight.  Skin tracks that get put in during the heat of the day get burnished to a high gloss with the water content in the surface snow and then freeze like glass.  Having forgotten to bring the ski crampons, we alternated between skinning and bootpacking as the snow conditions demanded on the climb up.  Skis on feet, skis on packs, skis on feet, skis on packs.

Mark below the North Ridge and the NW Couloir. Looks pretty thin. Anybody need to check their email?

The sun rose as we cruised through the moraines in the North Fork and we were able to make good time getting to the Lower Saddle.  We could see the BIG red duffel bag with Exum’s high camp in it as we scrambled up the scree towards the base of the North Ridge of the Middle.  Surmounting a series of benches, we soon gained a view of the route and quickly ascertained that it wasn’t going to happen on this day.  There wasn’t a shred of snow on the ridge, and the access to the NW Couloir was dry as well.  Standing in the shadow of the Middle with a chill wind cranking over the ridge and no harnesses or rock gear in our packs, none of us felt inclined to tackle 2000′ of 5th-class rock.  So we punted and decided to seek out the Pinnochio Couloir, a 1000′ line from the base of the North Ridge down to the glacier below.

With a narrow entrance that goes at ~55 degrees, the Pinnochio is a super aesthetic line that we got a good look at while skinning through the moraines an hour earlier.

Maybe this route will work?

Finding the top proved to be harder than we expected; after scrambling up and then downclimbing a few short pitches of slabby rock on misguided routes, we finally crested the Pinnochio Pinnacle and gazed down into the couloir.  My 25-meter strand of rope barely reached down to the notch at the top of the couloir, but with a brief body-wrap rappel we each made our way down to the entrance.

Mark sits back onto the day's first rappel, with the Grand Teton in the background.

Evan raps off the Pinnochio Pinnacle.

I cleaned off the cornice at the top while Mark and Evan found a rock horn to sling the rope around for our second rappel of the day, getting beyond a rocky pinch and into the couloir proper.  Going first, I found chalky powder in the couloir with excellent edging, which felt good in what seemed a bit like an elevator shaft.  55-degrees and barely wider than the length of my board, the Pinnochio Couloir was pretty sporty!

Snowboarding on rappel--not as easy or fun as it might look. But on a side note, this was my first day in the alpine with my new Wagner Custom board. Totally amazing--it's so lively, and with a bit more sidecut it makes tight turns in this kind of terrain feel easy. Awesome. Thanks guys!

After passing a particularly narrow pinch a hundred feet down, things opened up and I found really fun riding down to the mid-couloir rockband.  I pulled off to the side and yelled up for Mark to ski down to me.

Mark skis the upper pitch of the Pinnochio Couloir.

We poked around a bit for a route to downclimb while Evan made his descent to us, ultimately deciding to pull the rope out again for one last rappel past the 15′ band of rock that blocked our path.  Mark slung  another horn, we rapped past the rock, and then ripped dreamy turns out of the fan of the couloir and down the glacier to the moraines below.  The sun felt pretty damn good after spending a couple of hours in the shadow of the Middle, so we took the opportunity to eat a big lunch before exiting the mountains.

Evan skis across the glacier to the moraines after exiting the Pinnochio Couloir. Pretty skinny up top!

AJ and Mark soaking up the sun on the moraines.

More challenges awaited us on the way out, mostly in the variable and shallow snow conditions that we have this winter at mid- and low-elevations in the Tetons, but we eventually made it back down to the lake and cranked out the last two miles to the parking lot.  Though it was disappointing to get turned back from summiting the Middle, getting to ride the Pinnochio was pretty sweet and it was a fantastic day to be in the mountains with good friends.  Ultimately, the most disappointing part of the day was arriving back at the parking lot to find that somebody had taken the beers we stashed under the car to keep them cold!  So lame!

And so, we wrapped up the day with the standard trip to Dornan’s for a pitcher and some quesadillas while gazing back up at the Range through the gigantic bay windows behind the bar.  Another decent consolation prize.

Trenching in the Wasatch

Ski touring with your friends…. It is not always about getting the steep, deep, first tracks, or first D. It’s about doing what you love. It’s about being outside with your friends. Choosing the right terrain on the right days. Making good decisions. Taking memorable photos, and leaving nothing but sweet, sweet tracks. At the end of the day you and all your friends know the cold frothy beverage in your hand is well deserved!

Deep Turns in Mustang

Brad Foley on the Alta Ridge

This year the touring in the San Juan’s has been limited by sketchy conditions, though it ’s still possible to get out there. The big lines will be there later in the season. Conditions will change, new lines will fill in, when it happens we will be there. For more touring with friends photos, check out the web gallery at the following link: http://www.chasonphoto.com/SkiTouring/

Enjoy the journey, ski safely out there…..

Enjoy the photos!

My tools for the trip. I am continually impressed with the approach skis and snowboards that I've received from Wagner Custom. Durability and quality construction make them the ultimate backcountry tools. After watching the rest of the crew work with their splitboards--long transition times, endless problems with skins and hardware--I was super appreciative of the low maintenance and efficiency of my approach skis. And the Winterstick Swallowtail? Holy crap--awesome.

AJ riding with the sled behind. Not often done, but way more fun than dragging it uphill! Check out the Swallowtail float!

Camp life. Hot food, snow shelters, and warm clothing...living the dream.

Our tracks on Chicken Knob. Soft and fast.

Kyle rides wind-etched powder on Treasure Mountain.

Josie flies down "The Graveyard".

Now that I’m home, the guiding work seems to be rolling in and there’s a Level 2 Avalanche Course to teach this weekend.  And my new board just arrived from the crew at Wagner Custom–so stoked to take it up Mt. Taylor today for its first backcountry turns.

The Future of Skiing is... Wagner Custom

Thanks for the recognition, Skiing Mag.

The Observatory

After a season ending injury last year it feels great to get back into the snow get to it.  With a fragile snow pack and firm skiing on the ski area we decided the best thing was to hit the backyard for some mellow pow and some not mellow control work.  Patience has never been one of my strong suits when it comes skiing, but this year more than ever we have had to endure long periods of little to no snow, long cold days and a very tender snow pack.  I can’t take it anymore, it’s time.  One of my favorite zones to ski in the San Juans sits just over the ridge from the Telluride ski area, the Cirque above the Alta lakes Observatory.  With an unlimited variety of terrain, from mini golf power to the steepest of couloir skiing Garrett and I made the call the night before to go “play” in his backyard.

Skiing over from the ski area was more an exercise in avoiding rocks on the south-facing slope down to the Observatory.  Moving quietly through the trees past a few “Red Coats” on “break” we made our way down to the house for some left-over chicken and a hot drink.  After a quick bite we made our way up the skin track to the top of the Powder Reserve, ski cutting the pitch above the trestle we found light, dry snow perfect for skiing.  Making turns back to the house for another hot drink, we were putting our skins on for another lap, this time pushing higher to the top of the Bride’s maid couloir.   Putting in the skin track to the top of the Bride’s maid I was surprised to find the couloir was  holding better  snow than we expected.  It was satisfying to reach the top knowing that we had made the right call.  A few minutes to evaluate the snow pack, good to go.  Garrett dropped first, making little noise as he moved down thru the snow leaving his mark behind.  One more pitch of skiing back to the house we found perfect snow and few face shots as a wonderful bonus.

Garrett in his Backyard

Cold and a little tired we sat around telling a few jokes and watching the alpenglow fade on the west face of Palmyra Peak.  Nothing left to do now put grab our headlamps and puffy coats and head home.  Just another great day in the mountains playing in the snow with my Wagner skis.

Sven wanted me to try some new boots — the Head Raptor Supershape, a plug boot with a solid upright stance and very narrow last, especially in the heel. For the past couple of years I’ve been in the Rossignol Race 1 Pro shell, with a Zipfit liner. We popped the liners into the Heads, and Sven ground the inside of the Head shell near the toe buckle rivet to take the pressure off the lateral metatarsal.

The stance in the Head is more upright than in the Rossignol, and the closer around the heel gives a better sense of power. I felt really rooted to the skis. We skied hard snow, especially in spar gulch, and I was able to match Wayne ’s snaky fast short-radius carves. Exhilarating. I like the boots. I love the skis.

Happy to report that Clendenin still skis like a pro moguls world champion, and Sven still skis like a guy who trained with Perillat and Killy back in the day. –Seth Masia

2008 & 2009 US Masters Extreme Skiing Champion. Photo: Eben Wight/MSI

Wagner Custom Factory Team Rider, Scott Kennett, age 51 won the U.S. Extreme Masters Championship last spring, for the second year in a row.  We talked to him about the Crested Butte competition.

Us: The competition was pretty tough there.

Scott: Well, some of these guys have just turned 40 and are just out of the pro class. And they’re Crested Butte locals, so they know the terrain cold, and I’m coming in from Telluride.

Scott Kennett airs Cheeseburger Rock during the 2009 US Extreme Skiing Championships

Us: What keeps you going?

Scott: I have the passion. I’ve competed all my life, starting with motocross at 11. And by now I feel I have to compete at something, have something to train for. I need that goal or purpose. Besides, it’s healthy to get involved in competition. It’s a reason to get up earlier, eat healthier, get in the extra run. If you just sit around on the couch, you rot.

Us: How do you prepare mentally for an event?

Scott: I still get just as nervous as I did as a kid. I used to use Rolaids to settle my stomach. Now I channel the nervous energy. I visualize winning. I focus on this idea that “I love this and live for this.” It turns into that feeling like you’re in love. I stay focused on the goal, and go there saying I’m going to win. That way I don’t stress out. I visualize the perfect run and never have a negative thought – think positive thoughts all the way. It works if you have the desire and mindset to win.

Us: What’s your training routine?

Scott: I ski a lot in the backcountry. In Telluride that requires some hiking. It means working hard at higher altitudes, and skiing varied conditions. I try to get a lot of runs – I do long days with two or three runs, skinning up radical terrain. Meanwhile, Telluride keeps opening up more and more radical terrain, like Lower Bear Creek.

Us: Isn’t that where you got hurt sometime back?

Scott: It was six years ago, and it was out-of-bounds then. I hit a tree and did a compound tib-fib fracture. The patrol guys had to haul me out of deep heavy avalanche terrain, and they kicked me off the mountain for two years – about how long it took to rehab. And now it’s legal. The Forest Service said “Maybe we should open this up.”  Maybe I opened it.

Us: What else about training?

Scott: I watch the diet. I eat pretty good. I drink mostly alkaline water to counter lactic acid. I have a machine that treats the water through electrolysis at the sink. It changes the pH level and filters it. I eat elk meat a lot – we all hunt. Each year someone in the family gets an elk and we share it out.

Us: You’re still coaching freestyle?

Scott: It’s fun to go to events and coach kids. If I’m going to be there anyway, I feel I can compete.

Kennett Freeskiing near Telluride

Us: What gear did you use at the Extremes?

Scott: I’m in the Lange Banshee Pro Freeride. I’m an oldschool bumper. I used to use the Raichle Flexon Pro. Now I get boots from Lange and try to get the flex and lean of the old Raichles. I hate to get in back seat so I put shims behind calf and crank the boot forward. For bindings I have the Salomon DIN 16. The track for the heel binding is reinforced with steel so it won’t deform like plastic. In the backcountry I’ve been on Marker Dukes, but I’m going back to the Fritschi Freeride this year. It’s better in crucial situations because you don’t have to take off the skis and your glove to convert. You can do it with a ski pole and go right into sidestepping.

In the contest I’ve used the same Wagner Custom skis for two years and they’re still holding up. It’s my best-friend ski. I might have worn the bases off from tuning but the ski still has plenty of life. I’ll have a pair made just for backcountry powder,  really wide with normal sidecut and camber but a rocker tip. But I’ll compete on the original Wagner skis.

Us: What’s next? If you win a third time, do you retire the trophy?

Scott: I’d like to win five, and then call it quits. I need to keep that passion for competition. I don’t know many people who’ve done as many extreme events as I have – Alaska, Colo, Argentina, France, all over. Even if you don’t win, it’s great fun to be involved.

Countervail is a visco-elastically dampened carbon fiber material

After 2 seasons of product development and testing with the Materials Sciences Corporation, Wagner Custom is pleased to announce that Countervail® (visco-elastically dampened carbon fiber) construction is now available as an upgrade on all of its designs.

The patented material, available for use in skis and snowboards only from Wagner Custom, is a structural fiber used to supplement fiberglass. It provides the smooth ride and stability of an aluminum or Titanal structure without the weight. In fact, Countervail® has the lightweight characteristics of carbon fiber.

Countervail®, developed to forestall flutter in the carbon-fiber control surfaces of supersonic aircraft, consists of a thin viscoelastic polymer cloth, with fine strands of carbon fiber woven along its length in a sinusoidal or serpentine pattern. Because the stiff carbon creates a two-dimensional pattern, it provides strength in both flex and torsional axes. The harsh reactive stiffness of the carbon is moderated by the viscoelastic fibers. The result: it’s a light, strong, whippy but self-damping structural layer. To get the same flex and vibration characteristics you’d need a heavier layer of aluminum backed up with a neoprene damping layer, or an even thicker sheet of very hard prepreg fiberglass.

The hyperperformance Countervail®, in short, gives you the speed and buttery smoothness of an aluminum or titanal ski, at considerably lighter weight and – this is critical – without the fatigue, bending or delamination problems common with metal skis.

Peter Kray is a great guy and prolific, talented writer (check out The God of Skiing series).   You might know his work from The Mountain Gazette, Ski Press World, or one of many other cool publications.  Recently, Peter has been working on a new project called Shred White & Blue which celebrates surfing and skiing in the United States.

Shred White & Blue did a quick Q&A with me recently about Wagner Custom’s American Made skis.  Check it out here and take some time to look through the Shred White & Blue site.  As you’ll see, the content is impressive.

Click Here for Shred White & Blue Q&A with Pete Wagner

We’ve had an amazingly snowy October here in the Tetons.  While the valley has been mostly just cold and gray, the mountains are holding a remarkable amount of snow.  A storm cycle at the start of the month dumped over 20″ at Targhee and we had powder turns before the crops were all in.  And then last week saw another decent cycle move through and it’s powder again!  Granted, the base is a bit thin (watch out for the sagebrush,) but it’s pretty fun anyway.  Bodie has so much fun that it’s hard not to take advantage…

It felt a bit too warm in the valley for skiing, but the parking lot temps up at Targhee were just below freezing–perfect for warm, fast skinning.

Wray and Bodie cruising up the track

We flew up the cat-track with long strides and lots of glide (these skins from Climbing Skins Direct are unbelievable,) out towards Peaked Peak.  The majority of our local over-eager early-season skiers stay over on the main mountain so Peaked guaranteed a blank canvas, and less than an hour later we were at the top, transitioning for the trip down.

The whole trip down is pretty mellow terrain, but with 10″ of creamy powder on November 1st, who cares?  (And back on my Wagner Custom board again!  So sweet.)

November 1st powder with Bodie

We tore through the cream, laying it over until we hit the lower slopes and transitioned to rock-skipping down to the cat-track.  A second run on the upper slopes would certainly have been icing on the cake, but perhaps later in the week.  It’s awesome to start logging vert this early in the season, working out the kinks and starting the season’s base endurance.  Now, with almost a week’s worth of skinning and riding already this fall, I’m all fired up to get up high and start pursuing big descents once the alpine fills in.  It’s a good year to be a rider in the Tetons…