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CultureGuiding on the Olympic Peninsula
Guiding on the Olympic Peninsula
Click on the image below to launch a slideshow of the Olympic Peninsula. You’ve skied all over the world. What’s so special about the Olympic Peninsula? I grew up here, and a lot of what I know about the mountains I learned in this range. They’re not tall—Mount Olympus, the highest in the range, is under 8,000 feet—but they’re remote, rugged, wild peaks that hold a special place in my heart. What advantages do the Olympics have over, for example, the Cascades? Access here is some of the best in the state for backcountry skiing. The Hurricane Ridge…...
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CultureBackcountry in the Daks
Backcountry in the Daks
Slide skiing in the Adirondacks. Courtesy photoThe Adirondack Backcountry Ski Festival—a fundraiser for the New York Ski Educational Foundation’s Nordic teams and the Adirondack Ski Touring Council—turns 10 this weekend in Keene Valley, New York. An on-snow demo at Mount Pisgah in nearby Saranac Lake kicks off the event on Saturday. Gear companies including Black Diamond, G3, Garmont, Scarpa, and Dynafit will offer free demos and mini-clinics on backcountry skills. Guest skier Glen Plake will ski Saturday and give a presentation that night. And Cloudsplitter Mountain Guides, a Keene Valley outfit with AMGA-certified guides, will host backcountry clinics and tours…...
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GearQuick Tip: Cold Weather Skinning
Quick Tip: Cold Weather Skinning
Pete Swenson, a race promoter for the Colorado Ski Mountaineering Cup (COSMIC) and a decorated ski mountaineer, shares his tips on how to dress for skinning to ensure comfort when the temperature drops below 20 degrees. —Sydney Fox / Edited by Ashley Prill...
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SkiField Report: Irwin Cat Skiing
Field Report: Irwin Cat Skiing
Lead guide Billy Rankin gets to know his zone. Photo courtesy of Irwin LodgeHow does a cat skiing operation fail in a ski town that gets 600 inches of snow a year? Too much riff raff. Crested Butte, Colorado’s Irwin Lodge closed in 2002 because the 30 guests a day they ran on their 1,000-acre plot tracked it out too quickly, and because their barroom’s rowdy scene drove away the high-end clients a cat ski operation needs. Irwin Cat Skiing has risen from the dilapidated hulk of Irwin Lodge (nine miles west of town in the Elk Mountains) with a…...
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CultureNo Alpinist Left Behind
No Alpinist Left Behind
Glen Plake shows his stuff on the steeps. Photo courtesy of JulboThe name Glen Plake brings to mind a mohawk, hot-dogging, and extreme skiing. What about a harness, ice tools, and climbing ropes? More of a mountaineer than a bumper these days, Plake hopes to share his love for technical terrain with young alpinists through a program with his sponsor Julbo. Mountain caught up with Plake in his winter base in Chamonix, France about his latest project and the changing mountaineering scene in North America. My base is Europe, but I’m a born and raised Californian, which is also…...
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CultureMountain Download: PROBAR
Mountain Download: PROBAR
After Jules Lambert became PROBAR’s first employee, he and his family drove an RV around the country, bringing the whole food energy bars to the people. Now, Lambert is the president of the company. (Click on the image for a photo slide show.) We sold everything we’d acquired in eight years of marriage, and loaded up a U-Haul behind our SUV. My wife was seven months pregnant. We had a little money in the bank, but we didn’t have jobs. We said, “Let’s move to a new state and move into your parents’ basement.” My brother-in-law showed up and…...
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GearSneak Peek: Petzl NAO headlamp
Sneak Peek: Petzl NAO headlamp
The NAO headlamp features “reactive” lighting to offer varied brightness and beam patterns that can spotlight physical features 300 or more feet away or provide soft illumination to read a map in your tent. OK, most headlamps are adjustable these days, but with the NAO, the adjustments happen automatically. No fiddling with buttons and knobs—just point the light and it changes the setting for you. A light sensor (similar to those used in cameras) detects ambient light and communicates the information to two LEDs. It’s an impressive range of lighting: The output grows from seven lumens (the lighting equivalent…...
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CultureBetter Bouldering
Better Bouldering
Peter Beal on Small Arms, a V11 problem at Lincoln Lake, Colorado. Courtesy photo Peter Beal has been climbing for 30 years, and he’s one of the few masters climbing boulder problems at the V11/12 level in the United States. As an instructor, he’s someone climbers of every age, skill level, and background would want to get advice from. Now they can, thanks to his new book, Bouldering: Movement, Tactics, and Problem Solving, published in October 2011 by Mountaineers Books. The book covers gear, physiology, training, injury prevention, competitions, and more for climbers of all abilities. It’s an ideal introduction…...
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BikeRacing Mountain Bikes on Snow
Racing Mountain Bikes on Snow
The starting line at Copper. Photo by Sydney FoxI’m at the start line of the Copper en Fuego bike race surrounded by 161 other racers, my breath frosty in the night air. I’m not thinking about winning. I’m thinking: How I am going to stay on my bike on snow? Fireworks explode on the side of the course and we’re off with a bang. It’s the first event of the Leadville Winter Mountain Bike race series, held at Colorado’s Copper Mountain. The series of four races (three are at night) is considered the ultimate in winter bike racing—in the…...
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GearSneak Peek: Salomon Guardian 16 Binding
Sneak Peek: Salomon Guardian 16 Binding
Click on images to enlarge. Early last week, Mountain took to the scratchy slopes of Alta—this was before storms dumped 40-plus inches on Utah’s Wasatch—to ski the Salomon Guardian 16 binding. The Guardian 16 is designed to offer a single option for skiing in-bounds and touring the backcountry. It’s distinguished by a Low Profile Chassis (the base plate stands 26mm above the ski) and 80mm width to improve power transmission on modern fat skis. A DIN range of 7–16 accommodates a range of skiers. Plus, it boasts the ability to switch from ride to hike mode without stepping out…...
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Gear
Quick Tip: How to Dress for Skinning
Quick Tip: How to Dress for Skinning
Pete Swenson, a race promoter for the Colorado Ski Mountaineering Cup (COSMIC) and a decorated ski mountaineer, shares his tips on how to dress for skinning to ensure a comfortable ascent. —Sydney Fox / Edited by Ashley Prill...
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BikeTesting Bikes—So You Don’t Have To
Testing Bikes—So You Don’t Have To
The Mountain Swami and a select group of his gear minions just got back from testing fat tire bikes in the mountains of Tucson. Actually the venue and logistics were handled by our friends at Outside magazine. (Thanks to Aaron Gulley for inviting us.) We just showed up to ride, fill out test cards, and drink bourbon. And ride we did. Coming from the heart of ski season in Colorado, we suddenly found ourselves cranking out five to six hours a day on rough and rocky track in saguaro and cholla desert. It was a perfect locale to put…...
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EnvironmentLow Snowfall Uncovers Natural Wonders
Low Snowfall Uncovers Natural Wonders
Unusually low snowfall meant unique opportunities on public lands this early wionter. In California’s Yosemite National Park, January is traditionally a time when snow piles up, blanketing the wilderness and creating obstacles for those in search of casual outdoor recreation (read: non-skiers). But Nancy Upham, public affairs officer for Inyo National Forest on the border of Yosemite, says there’s been a trend towards backcountry—ice skating. As of last weekend, lakes that are typically buried under several feet of snow were frozen and clear. Around the Lower 48, mountain biking and camping remained popular well past their normal seasons. Bizarre natural…...
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CultureLiving in the Danger Zone
Living in the Danger Zone
Growing mountain communities are building on every available inch, even if that land lies in an avalanche path. As the Mountain West grows, developers are slapping up homes and entire neighborhoods in avalanche paths. Here’s what you need to know if you don’t want to be sleeping with an avalanche beacon on. By Kate Siber | Photographs by Mark Rikkers One morning last March, at the end of a freakishly snowy winter, Steven Siig, a Lake Tahoe cinematographer and ski guide, woke up to fresh snow piled against the windows and the faint sound of a bomb going off…...
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ResortsRacing the Ridge
Racing the Ridge
A look at the technical terrain of the Crested Butte ski mountaineering venue. Photo by Crested Butte Mountain GuidesThe craggy spine of Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s Guide’s Ridge is an intimidating ascent in the balmy days of summer, but in the winter? “It’s only been done a handful of times in the last 20 years,” says Bryan Wickenhauser, a local ski mountaineer. That’s about to change: On January 28–29, Crested Butte hosts the North American Ski Mountaineering Championships, an event sanctioned by the International Ski Mountaineering Federation. Ski mountaineering races are common in Europe, where liability isn’t as…...
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CultureBy the Numbers
By the Numbers
Photo by Tommy Chandler/Backcountry.comResolutions fly thick and fast in January. In the early days of 2010, ski mountaineer Greg Hill embarked on a mission to climb and ski two million vertical feet in one calendar year. It was a daunting goal, one that took the full 365 days to achieve. Here are the milestones he reached along the way. Let them serve as inspiration for following through on your 2012 resolutions. 1999 The year Hill started planning his two million foot project. “I dreamt about it because the year 2000 was coming up and the numbers 2,000 and 2,000,000 kind…...
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CultureThe New Canadian Haute Route
The New Canadian Haute Route
Erica Laidlaw, Jeremy Benson, and Jeff Annetts topping out at the Lyell Hut. Heli-assisted backcountry skiing in the BC Interior. By Frederick Reimers | Photographs by Doug Marshall Descending from Diamond Glacier in the Canadian Rockies, I’m following our guide’s ski tracks because the air is so thick with falling snow they’re the only things visible. We’re 25 inches into a storm that’ll eventually deliver 80. Powder billows over my gloves as I slice downhill, but otherwise all I see is white. Suddenly, the tracks end. I stop, squint, and make out what appears to be a cliff. A muffled…...
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CultureSoloing Denali—in January
Soloing Denali—in January
Lonnie Dupre on Denali, January 2011. Courtesy photo What’s Denali like in January? Think negative 50 degrees—or colder—and winds at 100 miles per hour. But there’s a bright side: six whole hours of daylight. Most people would pass, but not Lonnie Dupre. “I’ve never cared for the heat or summer,” says the polar explorer. On December 21, he’ll embark on a climb via the West Buttress and attempt to become the first to notch a solo summit of the 20,320-foot peak in January. “It’s a personal challenge,” Dupre says, “and also a way to bring attention to the world’s…...
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