About two weeks ago, the long awaited “jet stream pattern shift” occurred and ski areas across North America began receiving more consistent snowfall. This has been a much needed reprieve from a very dry early season.

Opensnow.com is a website run by meteorologist Joel Gratz. He offers regionally based snow forecasts tailor made for skiers and riders in search of fresh snow. His forecasts are comprehensive, updated daily, and let you know where and when to catch the best snow.

In this blog post from his site, he explains how “handcrafted” forecasts are more reliable and informative than computer generated forecasts and models. Thanks for all the hard work Joel!

Click here for his full post and check out this video from his “Don’t Eat Yellow Snow” video series.

A Day in AK from Chason Russell on Vimeo.

Chason Russell and friends made a trip to Southeast Alaska last spring, check out this edit of one of their days on the glacier.

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.

Scott Kennett waxing skis in the Elk Mountain Lodge basement

Skiing with the athletes and crew from Wagner Custom, some long time ski partners and some new friends,  is always a good time.  So when Pete called and ask if I wanted to go cat skiing at CS Irwin Lodge I couldn’t say yes fast enough.  Driving up from Telluride to Crested Butte the night before warm temps and rain made us more nervous than if we were driving in a blizzard. By the time we rolled into town the rain had turned to snow, and nerves were replaced by excitement of the day to come.

After an early breakfast, we met Karina and snow cat driver Caroline for the short cat ride up to the ” Movie cabin “, more coffee, a quick safety talk and we were out the door and on our way for the first of what would be many great runs.

Lead guide Billy Rankin gives the morning safety talk

Heavier than normal snow took a few turns to get used to, but then it was game on.  Run after run guides Billy and Allen Bernholtz led us to fall line skiing in soft snow protected from the wind.

Snowing hard at tree line

Wagner athlete Chason Russell enjoying the soft landings

the Winterstick in action

After a long day of soft and deep powder runs in the beautiful Elk mountains we were ready for a cold beer and some food, Billy on the other hand looked like he could go for a few more.  Thanks to the entire  staff at CS Irwin for a great day of skiing.

Billy, ready for more

Aspen's Mountain Chalet: Home of the World Cup Wax Room

What’s the secret to becoming the fastest woman in the world? Part of that answer lies in the bowels of the Mountain Chalet in Aspen, Colorado.  Located in the subterranean garage of this classic Aspen lodge are 45 temporary World Cup waxing rooms built for the athletes competing in Aspen’s annual Winternational World Cup races.

A French Ski Technician irons on the secret wax

Within these 8’x12’ rooms, ski technicians are hard at work perfecting the winning wax combination that will give their athlete that hundredth of a second advantage, which, by the way, was the winning margin in the Giant Slalom this past weekend.  With so much at stake, each room has it’s own dead bolt lock and there is a 24-hour security detail.

Olympic Champion Lindsey Vonn's Wax Room

Removing burrs from ski edges

For us non-World Cup competitors it is important to regularly wax our skis with the proper temperature wax. The right wax will protect the bases of skis from hard snow and rocks, as well as providing the glide needed to get to your favorite stash ahead of your buddies. Colder snow requires harder wax that won’t get scraped off by the cold sharp snow crystals, where softer wax is needed for spring conditions when snow has higher moisture content. Stop by your favorite local ski shop, set up your own wax room in your garage, or send your Wagner Skis back to the factory and make sure they are properly cared for.

Cold Budweiser is the key to Austrian ski waxing strategy

The American Solar Energy Society featured Wagner Custom skis’ ultra-modern, clean and green ski factory in its December 2008 issue of Solar Today magazine.  Solar Today recognized Wagner Custom for its industry leading energy and recycling initiatives.

Wagner Custom is by no means perfect.  However, the company has several energy and waste reduction initiatives in place that help reduce the company’s carbon footprint.

Regarding energy, Wagner Custom first focuses on simple energy efficiency and conservation measures to minimize their overall energy loads.  The company’s entire factory floor is heated by a large solar thermal array (see image above).  To offset its electricity loads, Wagner Custom purchases high quality wind-energy credits that support farmer-owned wind turbines in the Midwest (see Native Energy Farmer Distributed Wind Projects).

Regarding waste stream reduction, Wagner Custom recycles it’s steel and plastic scraps while reusing (and selling) its wood core scraps as kindling.

The Solar Today magazine feature can be seen on page 25 of the December issue at http://www.solartoday-digital.org/solartoday/20081112/