G Routine

This last weekend I rode a ski resort that wasn't my home mountain. I found myself wishing Crystal was open still in the morning, then being thankful at the end of the day that I had the Alpental experience. Such an amazing little hill so close to Seattle. Great steeps slopes, a family resort personality, and great backcountry access make Alpental a gem in Seattle skier pockets.

I only have to state one slight oddity. I thought the pricing structure they have is somewhat stupid. Look at the image of the rates. An adult starts out at 13? If I were a kid, I'd buy an adult lift ticket and then hit the bar and demand a beer. The silly pricing parameters continue with a 'Super Senior' ticket for those over 70 and 'Child' tickets for 6 and under. Is it just me or are they kind of ridiculous?

My friends from Norway were passing through again. The snow turned to crap in Alaska and after having such a good time in the city they decided to come back. Lucky for them the powder was here. It snowed a little in the city and there was an article in the local paper which inspired the locals. I figured most folks would be over skiing. I was wrong.

I met the crew at the W hotel around 8:30 and we were at the hill by a little after 9. All the parking lots were full. Are you kidding me? It's the third week of April and there isn't a parking spot. We drive over to Summit West and get shuttled back to Alpental. Today turns out to be a record breaker for the season. I stood in the longest lift lines of the season, if not the past few years.

But that's were the backcountry comes into play. Every run we hiked, side stepped, or traversed into the back glades, bowls, and trees. One run I followed my friend Bryce, as he rides Alpental all the time, I figured we'd get a great tour. Turns out he's looking for a new line right next to the run called Shot 8. So we descend just skiers left of Shot 8, with the large cliff to our right. Once we get to the choke, most of the snow has slid out leaving twigs, ice, and 55 degrees. Others are hiking out. Bryce and one of the Norwegians give it a go and yell back it's sketchy. We then hike back out and ski down Shot 8. Not the best tour. I became a sweaty mess with fogged up goggles. Not what I had in mind. You can see Shot 8 in the image below, it's the open face at the top.

What a fun day. Not a whole lot of runs, but definitely quality. Makes me remember how much fun spring skiing can be. I seem to remember more fun events at resorts during the spring. Bands playing out on decks and the local hard core skiers and snowboarders loitering longer enjoying the warmer weather and telling their seasons stories. Have we lost some of the spring time skiing magic. Maybe. Or maybe I'm just older and am seeing it differently. Regardless, today reminded me how special skiing at seasons end can be.

Also always fun to snap a few pictures. Endre brought his camera and I was lucky enough to play ski model for a few runs. Sorry Endre, you can only do so much with what you have for talent. Next time I'll step it up some more. Thanks for the photos.

Posted by Gary at 10:04 PM | Permalink

I almost didn't make it. I sprained my ankle, I'm tight on cash, my roommate just told me he's moving, I have a ton to do for my main client Nimbus Independent and the kids who rent out the basement of my house partied until four in the morning. They were making so much noise that I used earplugs in hopes of catching a few hours rest. What I forgot to do was turn the volume up on my alarm. Somewhere in the back of my conscious, somebody is talking, should I be getting up for something? I shoot upright in bed and look at the clock, it's quarter past five and my flight departs at seven. I take a record breaking short shower, grab my bags and put the pedal down in my Subaru.

I pull into the Park-N-Fly to find no attendants on duty. I wait anxiously, trying to decide whether or not to change to another park and ride but this is my pre-flight routine. I stay put and 20 minutes later the shuttle arrives, only to drop me off at the wrong terminal. I run with my two ski bags rolling arduously behind me with a pack on my back to the check-in counter, check my luggage, pay the over weight fee, and run to my gate. Just as I arrive the last of the customers have boarded. I've made it. I fall back in my seat and slip into a deep sleep before the wheels leave the runway.

I arrive in Anchorage, pick up my bags, walk outside the baggage terminal and watch as a rented Yellowstone RV pulls up with a band of characters whom I plan to share an Alaskan adventure. The crew consists of Matt Harvey and Luke Blaser, the Editor and Account Executive (sales guy) for Freeskier Magazine. It's Freeskier thats invited me on this journey. Joining them are industry icon, Jimbo Morgan, who was featured in Greg Stumps film Groove Requiem for his speedskiing endeavors, a medalist in the Olympics and who helped start Skullcandy and Electric Eyewear. Along with Jimbo, is Gabe Glosband, the Marketing Director for Scott USA and funny man. With my bags in the RV, we first stop and stock up on supplies at the grocery store, then hit Glenn Hwy with Captain Blaser guiding the ship towards our final destination, H2O Heli Guides in Valdez.

We pull into the parking lot of the Mountain Sky Hotel, where we're going to call home the next 7 days. We're running a little late but still manage to get our briefing, sign our paperwork, get our packs, shovels, probe polls, and beacons. Due to their somewhat tight heli baskets, we have to use their packs. We proceed to do our beacon searches and then organize ourselves for the day to come.

The following morning we awoke to partially clear skies. I woke up too early as I must have been anxious. I had weird dreams of obtaining Jedi like superpowers. I went to have breakfast, see who our guide would be and our departure time. It's the first day and we're going to fly. I've been to Alaska for heli skiing before and I mostly drank beer, ate, watched movies and got fat more than I skied. Coming into this trip, I came prepared with books to read, movies on my hard drive and a long list of things to accomplish for my business. This was not going to be like my previous Alaskan heli adventures, this was going to involve the most epic skiing of my life.

Another guy named Gabe was our guide on day one. Cool guy who started us off on some good manageable terrain. Unfortunately, just as I was starting to feel slightly comfortable, the weather got milky. By our third run, we could barely see the slope and the guides tracks. We felt our way down the last run, which was still awesome deep snow on a great pitch, but then called it a day.

The following morning we were met by the legendary pioneer of Alaskan big mountain skiing, Dean Cummings. He was to be our guide for the next three days. Dean has been a constant presence of the Alaskan heli frontier for years and is the owner of H2O Guides. He was personally going to show us his playground.

This day also started out a partially cloudy but turned foggy and cloudy by the end of our second run. We ended up on the glacier without a ride. Time to push and poll our way out through the crevasses, following closely in Dean's tracks. I have to admit it was really fun to trudge out in the fog. It reminded me of something out of Empire Strikes Back and the beginning scenes from the film on the frozen planet. This could be because Luke kept making Chewbacca sounds throughout the trip.

Our crew was in Alaska for eight days, of which we had five days alloted for heli skiing. Since on our second day, we only got two runs, they didn't count toward our total. To count as a day of riding, groups must get in at least three runs out of a possible six. So we actually got six days of flying and skiing. Upon checking out, we were told we actually made 29 runs at approximately 95,000+ vertical feet. No wonder my body is sore.

The third day we awoke to completely clear skies which we would experience for the remainder of our trip. Not a cloud in the sky and a beautiful glow on the mountain peaks surrounding Valdez. We drove to the airport, where we loaded into the helicopter and flew out to a new zone. Our pilot was better at flying a helicopter than I am driving my Subaru. Karl is the man!!! I've flown at a number of heli operations but none of them could come close to Karl's skills. Point to a peak, a knife edged ridge or a tight landing zone and he would land like a mother setting her newborn down in its crib. Okay, more badass than that... Like the pilot Stringfellow Hawke who flew the supersonic military helicopter on the television series Airwolf.

The next two days of Dean guiding us around could be the best two days of skiing in my life. We experienced a little bit of everything, super long chutes, butt gripping steeps, long powder runs, amazing bowls, rolling glaciers, blower pow, slough on top of super firm, some wind blown crust and possibly a first descent. I'm not totally sure on the first decent though, maybe I'm jaded, but it just seems too good to be true. I want to believe but the marketing guy inside me keeps saying they tell a lot of their clients that. If it is true, then we named a run in the Chugach Brohan (bro-han).

By the sixth and final day I was getting tired. Both mentally and physically. The long runs made my quads burn. My left ankle was swelling in the evening from my previous weeks sprain. My right knee was starting to feel weak and the back that I broke a couple years ago was starting to tell me to take it easy. I was also feeling mentally tired of being nervous for the next run, drop off, and unknown slope. During the helicopter rides up I would strain to see the run we were about to ski. My muscles, particularly my legs, would flex and I'd have to take a deep breathe and remind myself to relax.

The whole crew was feeling it too. The last day we all took a deep breath, relaxed, and had a more mellow day. It started out with our main inspiration, Jimbo, being out with a hurt knee from the prior day. The group just lacked some energy without Jimbo firing us up. Then our all-star pilot was taking the day off and we had what seemed like a total rookie. I'm sure he wasn't, but compared to Karl he just didn't fly nearly the same. We weren't in the same helicopter, we changed seating order, and things weren't in the same synch as they'd been previously. All of this added up to our crew telling our new guide, a snowboarder who rode with poles, that we were beat and looking to ride chill slopes and deep powder. I do have to point out that he too was an awesome guide.

The final day of riding was really nice being more relaxed about the terrain, skiing powder on a blue sky day, and also having Freeskier staff photographer Jeff Cricco in our group, who was at H2O to learn about guiding and taking photos. I think I got the money shot that will work for next year's X-mas card.

I also have to point out we did more than just ski while in Valdez. In the evenings we sampled the local eating and drinking establishments while meeting the friendly locals. One day some of the other heli clients jumped into the sound, then we went into the Club Bar. Here we learned about the fishing trade, how to fling dollar bills to the ceiling, and I listened to an individual explain why George W. Bush is the best president we've ever had. We ate at Fu Kung a few nights, upon which I ate so much it was hard to breath. We played shuffle puck, danced, and Harvey played guitar at the Pipeline Bar while testing the waters with local Tundra Wookies. Of course we sent it on the last evening, providing for a nice headache for the drive back to Anchorage.

On the drive home, we stopped off and picked up some fireworks which we shot out of the RV along the way. We stopped at a pull out to fire off the remaining Roman Candles and Bottle Rockets. I then was dropped off at a friends house in Anchorage and was treated to a home cooked meal, good conversation, and some wine. The next morning they cooked me breakfast and took me out to the airport. The trip was coming to an end.

Throughout my life I have skied, watched tons of ski movies, and dreamed of the ultimate Alaskan helicopter skiing adventure. It's weird once you realize a dream has come true. I just finished one of the best ski trips of my life. It may never get any better than what I just experienced. There will always be more turns, more chutes and more powder but maybe not in Alaska. I am truly fortunate to realize my dreams.

I will post a an entire slideshow in my photo gallery as soon as I've collected all the images from our crew. Check it out in a week or so.

Posted by Gary at 10:22 AM | Permalink

You never know until it snows. That's my mantra to the question people ask, "do you think it's going to be a good winter?" Well it has started off slowly, but now the storms are backed up and ready to roll through one after the next.

Although the snow has been slow to fall, I've has a pretty good time going up and making happy fun turns. The weekend before last, I went up with Adam and Nicole. Saw the Crystal Mountain crew of Katie, Nancy, and Scotty. As the day carried on, new terrain opened and by the end of the day, we had skied runs open for the first time this season.

It was a beautiful clear day which pretty much turned into a fun little photo shoot. I would ski backwards on the cat track and shoot photos of the crew behind me.

Let it snow.

Posted by Gary at 10:30 AM | Permalink

There are certain things I like to do every year, one of which is making it up skiing at my home mountain for opening day. This last Saturday, Crystal Mountain fired up it's chairlifts and people came to get the goods.

In comparison to 'opening days' in the past, their wasn't as much terrain open. But they did open Powder Bowl off of chair 6. That pretty much made the day, as my ski buddy Adam and I got 2-3 runs of boot deep powder. The rest of the day was pretty mellow cruising the groomers of the Forest Queen Express. Happy fun turns.

Crap I'm outta shape this year. Much more so then in years past. I have to start working out, doing pilates, yoga, and skiing as much as possible. I've found as I get further up in age, to avoid injury I need to be in good shape.

The other fun part of opening day is sharing it with like minded mountain folk. I saw some of the Crystal Mountain posse. We shared a couple runs with Scotty and Nancy. I saw a Charlie from K2 and Keith of Sturtevants. Shared a few stories with other people and made new friends on the chair.

The most common element of the day was smiles. Lots of smiling faces all around. Particularly in the morning with the blue sky. I didn't see much smiling once the winter storm rolled in. Hopefully the 17" they got that night is enough to get us through the high temps and massive amounts of rain the last two days. I'm scared to look at the web cam and see all the snow melted away.

Regardless, the 2007-2008 winter season has begun. Day one is in the bag, the first quad burn and soreness barely lingers. My muscle memory for my favorite activity is back. Just like riding a bike. There is no other place I'd rather be than skiing at Crystal. I have the most fun skiing there, for so many reasons...

So get your ski gear out, tune the skis, put the winter tires on, and I'll see you at Crystal.

Posted by Gary at 03:18 PM | Permalink

Okay, so the main thing I'm trying here is embedding a media player in my blog. No big deal, just wanted to get it going. My old friend Shawn 'Smiley' Nesbitt landed himself a real job at a action sports digital asset management company called Rip.Tv. Here he is making first turns of the season at Blackcomb. Really cheesy segment. If you are playing beer drinking games, drink every time he says, "I won the golden ticket". Happy the man found work, but I have to say he needs improvement with his in front of the camera hosting skills. I believe in you buddy!!!

Funny thing is Whistler/Blackcomb also did an edit on the same trip. Much better with less commentary and more action. Yeah it's tough to put something together cruising groomers, but just check out the difference. I guess it also goes to show you, whoever owns the video footage, can create the best edit.

Dropped my new skis off at Pro Ski today to be mounted. I'm hoping to be skiing in the next week. A few turns would make me very thankful on Thanksgiving. Hope to see you at Crystal or Baker in the next couple weeks.

Posted by Gary at 09:46 PM | Permalink

Wow what an amazing ski season I've had. I couldn't have picked a better winter to be "semi-retired". It just keeps on snowing in the Northwest when the rest of the world isn't getting much. My 30th day of the season was particularly special because I got to share it with my Dad. Yep, that's my old man ripping a turn through the forrest of Left Angle at Crystal Mountain.

How many 65 year olds do you know that still have that kind of form huh? I do okay on the twin sticks myself but owe it to my folks for getting me started. Skiing is by far my favorite thing to do, period. Nothing gives me a feeling of satisfaction like skiing, especially on a powder day. It's the people, it's the community, it's the atmosphere, and it's the activity itself that's makes it so special.

It took us a while to get up there on Saturday, slow traffic, people chaining up, and a blizzard starting just as you hit the two-lane road made for a mellow drive. There were a lot of people, as we had to park near the back of the lower lot.

In the morning we were a little stuck in the masses of people but it didn't matter. It was snowing so hard I knew most people would soon be heading for the lodge. My Pop and I started out with the traditional runs, Lucky Shot, Green Valley, Snorting Elk, and Ice Berg. Then I took my Dad down Right Angle. He traverses the hill and needs the trees to be spread out a little more than most. Must be because he used to be a downhill racer. So I kept the tour to more wide open spaces.

After a few runs on the edge of North Backcountry, we then did a few laps on the Frontside. So good!!! Then we put some fuel back in the tanks with lunch at the top lodge. Can't get enough of that chili and fresh cookies.

Post lunch we did a couple easy runs to process our new energy. Then moved over to High Campbell for something more challenging. Unfortunately as the Ski Patrol was blasting away, trying to get South Backcountry open, many people were hanging out on Chair 6, making the lift line too long for me to bare. So we dropped into an epic run down Powder Bowl. I checked the clock and it was 2 pm. I decided to let my Dad take a few fun runs by himself and I went to knock off a few T to B's. Hit Frontside right under the chair a few times, hit Orgasm Meadows, Upper to Lower Exterminator, Right Angle again, cruised back over and did Powder Bowl again, then finished up the day with Left Angle.

The storms are once again stacked up ready to dump copious amounts of snow in the Cascades. Too bad I'm busy with interviews and getting a new job. I would be up at Crystal the whole week if I could. If you can, get up there. Only a month and a half left. Go 'give-er'!!!

Check out a couple more ripping pow shots of my Dad, Jay. Look at how hard it was snowing in the shot of my Dad traversing out of North. I love a good blizzard.

Posted by Gary at 07:50 PM | Permalink

The forecast was for 6 feet of new snow up at Crystal. I traded my friend Tom Maks a new pair of skis for lodging at his cabin in Greenwater. This was going to be the best weekend of the year.

Got up early on Saturday and had another great day of skiing. Untracked down the Frontside in the morning, then caught Chair 6 just as it opened for another four-five untracked runs, then back over to the front where we timed it just as the North Backcountry opened. We were timing it perfectly.

That night we watched the Seahawks game in the Bullwheel and porked out on hot wings and nachos. What a game. How did the Seahawks come away with a win?

Then down to Tom's cabin. Took awhile to find the key as I forgot a flashlight, but we got inside, made a fire, watched a little TV and went to bed. Next morning it was pouring down rain, windy, and warm. We called the report and the upper chairs were on wind hold and it was raining at the base. Hmm, we decided to call it a weekend and roll back to Seattle.

On the way back we decided to stop and have breakfast at Charlie's Cafe. I hadn't been there in years. It was so good and has a great atmosphere. Why do so many people go to fast food places when you can go to a good family restaurant?

The next time you go up to Crystal, get up a little extra early and stop off at Charlie's for one of the best breakfasts you'll have in a long time. Time has stood still here, and you see why it is important to support family owned businesses. Mom will come wait on you while the daughter and her friends cook and drop off the meal. You can check out the family photo's on the wall as well as Coca-Cola memorabilia. Check out the images I took and tell me you don't want to stop off.

Yes that's right, I'm enjoying a cup of hot cocoa with whipped cream on top!!!

Posted by Gary at 09:53 PM | Permalink

My parents are threatening to take my skis away until I get a new job. I"m working on it but it just keeps snowing!!! Went up to Crystal again today with 21" of new the day before and a foot of new last night. On top of that it's a Thursday and nobody was on the hill. Except for the hard core like the folks from EVO. Check out their store in Fremont if you haven't already.

I ran into owner/operator Bryce Phillips, some of his employees like Ben and Peter, and pro photographer Ian Coble as I hopped on the first lift. I thought about making some runs with them, but as we got off the Rainier Express, I counted 7 people in the group, not including me. That's a few too many for me on a powder day.

I did catch up to Bryce and Peter a little later in the day and went for two good runs. One down Right to Left Angle and another down Upper and Lower Exterminator. The day was awesome. Knee deep to waist deep in places. Chair 6 was ridiculous, with multiple runs in waist deep snow.

I also was on a new pair of skis, called the Sir Francis Bacon by LINE. Wow. They have a great sidecut that is so much fun on the groomers. It's also super wide and floats pretty well in the powder. It was a pretty deep and heavy powder day, so the tips did dive a bit, but I should have mounted the bindings a couple mm back from mid sole. Just had to stay a little lighter on my feet than normal.

The hardest thing about days like today is obeying the rules. I've been so spoiled with deep powder that once it gets tracked up, you want to duck the rope. You see the untracked right there on the other side, you see some people who have poached it, but will you? On this particular day I didn't. Most days I don't, as losing my pass would be tragic. I am content with the bounty of fresh inbounds snow today. Looking forward to the 6 feet predicted to fall this weekend.

Posted by Gary at 03:05 PM | Permalink

I think I have been a spoiled skier my whole life. My parents where big skiers in their day. Dad was on the UW downhill race team with my uncle as the coach. My Mom spent her winter quarters in Sun Valley as a waitress hanging in the scene back in the day. She even graced the cover of SKIING magazine which is bigger editorial coverage than I ever achieved.

They started me skiing at a very young age. I don't remember how old I was but I'm guessing 3, 4, or 5. They put me in classes when I was little and I eventually went on to race at Snoqualmie. Never had the patience for racing. Then one of my fathers friends was a K2 rep and we went and skied bumps and I dreamed of being a bumper. That didn't amount to much either. Then I went to MSU to ski some more and get an education. I got to ski 3-4 times a week through a long college career.

All the while I seemed to get hooked up with free or discounted ski gear. The family always went on ski vacations for Spring Break and sometimes for X-Mas. They always made sure I had enough good equipment and keep me going every weekend on a bus of some sort, or when I was old enough to drive, supplied me with enough funds for lift tickets. In college I worked at a ski/snowboard shop which allowed me to continue getting cheap goodies.

Then when I started working in the Wintersports Industry I got spoiled even more. Free equipment from just about any brand I wanted, cat skiing, heli skiing, backcountry on snowmobiles, going to the US Open and the X-Games, and skiing around the world became the norm. What a dream come true.

But never have I been as spoiled as the beginning of this season. I have a seasons pass at my favorite local resort. I'm still getting free equipment from my favorite brands like LINE, K2, HH, POW, and tid-bits from athletes I used to sponsor. But for the first time in my life, I have no school or work to get in the way of riding. Mother Nature decided that at the same time she would supply me with the most snow on record in the Northwest. Only now am I realizing how fortunate I've been. Skiing and snowboarding is not at all a cheap sport, it's truly a very expensive sport.

Today I went up skiing and it was only the second day I haven't ridden at least 4 inches of new snow. There was still new snow from a few days ago, no ice, but it just wasn't powder. For most people, especially those from the East Coast, today would have been epic. For this season, it was below average.

It was a blue sky day and we went in search of powder in the backcountry. Only ended up finding wind blown and hard pack conditions. I had a little scare with my ski buddy as we did a North Backcountry run and I lost him. I'll admit, I like going first all the time and push the pace all day long. I'm glad the people I ski with have patience for my nagging and fast pace. I stopped along the run and waited my usually time frame, but he just didn't show up.

Did he get in front of me some how? He must have... So I keep on down the run and out to the chairlifts. I also skied with my headphones as sometimes I like to ride with music. I learned my lesson and don't think I'll ride the backcountry or with friends and have my music playing. It's just not safe.

I then decided I had waited at the chair so long, that maybe he thought my impatience lead me to hop on the chair and him to follow. I went up and skied a couple runs on the chair we were sessioning. No ski buddy. I ran into a crew of Crystal Mountain ski buddies who wanted to go take a run, but I was actually getting a little worried. I almost asked them to go back to the run and do a sweep with me, but took off and decided I'd do the sweep myself and then if I came up empty, I'd grab the ski patrol.

Luckily, on that lift ride up I spotted my ski buddy. He had taken a wrong turn and had to ski down to the road and catch a bus back to the resort. Whew, glad the timing worked out and I spotted him under the chair when I did. Lesson learned, always keep track of your ski buddy and don't listen to music in the backcountry.

Hopefully the snow storms will line up and start dumping more powder. I think I enjoy being a spoiled skier.

Posted by Gary at 10:24 PM | Permalink

I'm glad I decided to leave my job at Helly Hansen this summer and stick it out in semi-retirement until the end of December. Why you ask? Because it's been one of the best early ski seasons I can remember. It has to rank in my top 3 for the most deep powder days before January. I've only had one day that hasn't been at least 4 or 5 inches of new and most have been deeper than that.

Of all the early seasons to take off and go skiing, this was it. I got lucky and hit it when Mother Nature decided it was the Northwest's turn to get dumped on. My friend Adam has been counting the number of runs we get in during the day, I have been counting the number of days. Yesterday I hit my 15th day of the season, please don't hate me my fellow ski and snowboard enthusiasts. I've been going 2-3 times a week since Crystal Mountain opened. I guess that means my back is pretty much healed huh?

Yesterday there was 11" of new snow and about 20" or so in the backcountry. Most of the day it was knee deep or deeper. Hardly anybody was up at the mountain, maybe they were too busy returning gifts. Adam and I just hopped right on the chair lift every time. I'm happy to report we got 20 runs in again. Most of which were top to bottom and backcountry.

We spent most of the day ripping up the North Backcountry, more so than we've done in the past. Then at the end of the day, around 3 pm, they opened Chair 6 for the first time in 3 days. We didn't make it over there first, but let's just say when I skied down, there wasn't another track within 30 feet of my left or right.

Another good social day as well. Ran into Mike Porter and his buddy JD, went for a good run down O Meadows. Saw Liz on skis for the first time in years, congratulations on the bun in the oven Liz. Then just happened to run into an old fraternity brother named Jason Anderson on the chair. We took him and his brother-in-law out to do Left Angle but lost them after a couple turns in the trees. I hope they enjoyed the run. Where was everybody else though? Usually there are tons of the Crystal Mountain kids running around.

The storms are still dropping lots of snow in the mountains. I'm going to have to wait until this Saturday to go again. It's time for me to get ready for the new year and a new career.

Here's a couple more images from the day, click on the thumbnails to go bigger. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a good ski model, nor a good photographer, nor do I have the right camera for what I'm trying to capture. The shot at the beginning is the best effort of my friend Adam so far (check me out looking at the camera as I go by). Then there's the shot of Adam getting a turn in, him and I in the blizzard, me being happy below, Adam traversing out on I-5, and a shot I took of the trees trying to use my Photoshop skills. I wanted to take 3 images with the focus being at 3 different depths and then put the images together. Gotta have a tripod and another camera to achieve that one. Until next time, enjoy your turns.

Posted by Gary at 09:57 AM | Permalink

I'm a little tired today. Went up to Crystal Mountain yesterday and had that hard-charging ski day I was looking for. What a good release, good exercise, and so much fun. Got home around 1:30 am from some parties, packed up my ski stuff, and then got up again at 5:45 am. It can be hard getting going in the morning, but so awesome by the time you're done with the first turn.

Got up to Crystal at a good time, just when the lifts started to run. They had from 8-11" of new snow. The lifts were running full speed and there was hardly anybody up at the mountain. Then both the North and South Backcountry opened and it was on.

My ski buddy Adam is into counting the runs we do during the day. If I remember correctly, here's the tally: 21 total runs, of which we did 1 South Backcountry hike, 4 North Backcountry runs, and rode from the top of the mountain to the bottom 9 times. Also did what might have been my first true top to bottom run without stopping. Well almost top to bottom. I rode from the top of the Rainier Express lift down Right Angle, then straight into Left Angle all the way down to the I-90 traverse out. Feels so good to be in shape.

I meant to take more photos from the day but it was so good and we weren't stopping. Just didn't have the patience to set up for photo's. The light wasn't good, but the image above is laying down a powder turn.

There's a couple storm systems lining up but it's a little on the warm side. Hopefully it stays cold and I'll get another good day in on Tuesday.

Merry Christmas.

Posted by Gary at 11:47 AM | Permalink

Got up at 5:30 am to get the untracked goods up at Crystal Mountain. Since Seattle experienced some of the nastiest weather in it's history, the skiers and snowboarders thought the riding would be 'all time' on Saturday. The upper mountain had been closed all week due to wind so there was supposed to be 25" of fresh waiting for us.

Well, either the wind or maybe some rain had taken much of the snow and made it 'not-so-epic'. Granted it was still good, but more like 5-6 inches of fresh on top of a crusty layer. The power was out or something because the lifts were running on diesel. I had fun all day long, but it wasn't what the website had advertised.

I also got up so damn early and the ride there took 3 hours. Going direct is more like an 1 and 45 minutes. But we got lost picking somebody up, then had breakfast and coffee at Starbucks. The people I skied with complained much of the day about the conditions, being cold, their feet, being hungry, took a long lunch, etc. that it bummed me out a little. Also had to leave early, but whatever.

Attitude is everything.

Everybody was up there. Saw Scotty, Glen, Keith, Ingrid, Kip, Katie, Bryce, dude from the Seahawks game, and should have broken off to make some runs with them. It was a social day at the hill. Would have been fun to hang out with everybody at the Elk afterwards. It was also demo days and all the sales reps and clinic folk were at the hill.

Looking forward to going skiing again on Tuesday to get my groove on. Hopefully the chairlifts will be running at full speed and I can make some TB's and get a little quad burn going. I need to get a good hard day of skiing in. Anyway, I might start to ramble so I'm going to stop. Look for a better ski blog entry on Tuesday night.

Posted by Gary at 03:36 PM | Permalink

It was another beautiful blue sky day up at Crystal Mountain. I think one of the reasons why I love skiing up there is the view. You can almost see the whole Ring of Fire from the top. Views of Mt. Adams, St. Helens, Mt. Baker, and Mt. Rainier are right in your face. The only mountain you can't see is Mt. Hood. The image above is of Glacier and the thumbnails below are of Adams, Helens, and the ski buddies in front of Rainier (Glacier isn't in the Ring of Fire).

Saturday was the first day skiing with just my main ski buddy Adam. I don't know why, but I have the most fun skiing with just one or two other people. If the group gets bigger than that, for some reason the skiing isn't as fun for me.

I've been lucky in my unemployment to have gotten more days in than Adam, but the kid was a trooper. His quads were burning from the first run after lunch yet he stuck with it until until after 3:30. We managed to get 4 backcountry runs in: 2 in the South Backcountry and 2 in the North Backcountry. One of the first full days of skiing where we rode from first chair until after the upper lifts closed. Check out the view of Campbell Basin, with the relatively new lodge at the bottom of the basin, and Adam as he recovers from the hike to the top of the King. Total trooper.

Since Adam is my main ski buddy, he will most likely be the star athlete featured in the 'skiing' section of my routine. Since the Tuesday before Adam blew all of the photos he took of Nicole and I, he agreed to take the camera for all the action shots. He snapped off six shots and none of them turned out too well. Below is one of three shots he actually got me in the frame, decent action, and almost in focus. I know I have become high maintenance working with pro wintersports photographers, but come on. Hopefully he improves because there's only so many scenic shots I can take and post before it gets boring.

Meeting an old friend named Mark that I haven't seen since college up at Crystal on Tuesday. Should be fun.

Posted by Gary at 10:12 PM | Permalink

The beginning of this winter season has been unbelievable. I wasn't planning on going up to Crystal yesterday but my friends Adam and Nicole called the night before and twisted my arm. Adam took the day off from Google and Nicole had the day off from Alpine Hut. They didn't have to twist my arm too much but I'm glad they did.

It was one of those magical days up at Crystal where there's knee deep powder, blue skies, it's really cold, and occasionally it snows lightly. As you can see from the picture of Nicole and Adam on the chair behind me, it's clear, sunny, and snowing. There were also what's called 'sun-dogs' all over.

'Sun-dogs' are kind of like rainbows but applied to snow. The sun hits the snowflakes in the air and create a bright spot. Click on the thumbnail to go bigger.

Since the temperature was in the low teens much of the moisture in the snow had been sucked out. Different people I talked to during the day who weren't from the Northwest kept asking, "is the snow always this light out here?" They also asked repeatedly if it always snowed this much.

Since we are setting records for snowfall the answer is no. That and I don't want more people to come out and see what a great secret we have out here in the Northwest. I've missed the home mountain.

As you can see I brought my trusty Canon Digital Elph along to capture the action. Hard thing is when it's so good you don't want to stop to get the shots. Here's a shot of Adam enjoying his first day of the winter season.

You'll notice that the only good action shot is of Adam. That's because I blew the shots of Nicole and Adam blew every action photo he took. Nicole and I dropped a little cliff and Adam got us after we landed. I'm going to have to get that kid a photography class for X-mas.

At the end of the day Adam and I got a X-mas present from Crystal. They opened the South Backcountry. Adam and I hiked up to the top of the King. Here's a shot from half way on the hike. The King is my favorite peak in Crystal Mountain's backcountry. From the image I'm sure you can see why.

Before I took that image some guy ripped down the section called Pinball. All I could do was holler. After getting a good sweat going Adam and I arrived at the top of the King. Here's a shot of what it looks like if you were to ski down Pinball from the summit. The other shot is just the view of us gearing up for the run of the year.

So Adam and I dropped down the other side of the King and made glorious turns in super light waist deep powder. The run is fairly open trees with some rollers that turns into a chute about 30 feet wide and then opens back up into a bowl. These were 'all time' turns. What a great way to end a wonderful day. It was so good and we were so excited that the camera stayed in my pocket. But just imagine turns with the powder going up over and off your shoulders, hitting your face every time you weight your skis, floating, effortlessly down the hill. Ahhh.....

I leave you with this shot of Mt. Rainier from the top of the King. What an absolutely gorgeous day!!!

Continue reading "I love skiing" »

Posted by Gary at 12:19 PM | Permalink

Woke up yesterday and it was a blizzard right outside my house. Drove up to Crystal in the snow storm and watched as the poor Northwest drivers struggled. It was slow going as the Department of Transportation was making cars chain up right by the old Warehauser facility. It's amazing how bad the drivers are out here.

I got all my skis tuned up for the season and have to say I've been a little disappointed with the work I've been getting. The bindings weren't set right. Too low a din setting and weren't the right length. I could step right out of them. Plus the wax on the skis must have been for cross country skis as I could have walked up the hill without slipping backwards.

I've had my boards tuned at 3 different shops and all of them haven't done a good job. It's too bad as you've got to wonder how many other consumers out there are getting poor work and not enjoying their day on the hill as much as they would otherwise. Get it together shops of Seattle!!!

Had another amazing day on the hill. It snowed so hard you could barely see 30 feet in front of you. That and the wind kicked up so hard the upper chairlifts had to close. Still got a ton of great runs in with a bunch of different people.

The highlight of the day was in the afternoon when I was adopted by the Backstrom family for a few family ski runs. Steve and Betsy Backstrom have been Crystal Mountain locals since Steve joined the Ski Patrol in 1970. Their daughter Ingrid had come from Tahoe to ski her old resort with her friend Jessica Sobolowski. We did a few laps in Bear Pits and called it good. That's a family of amazing skiers. Ingrid sister was with us and rips too.

Driving home was more of a pain than driving up. But well worth it as I just replayed the amazing runs from the day in my head. If you haven't gotten up to the hills around Seattle yet, I strongly recommend that you do.

Posted by Gary at 12:30 PM | Permalink

With 30" of new snow there was no messing around. Got up this morning at 5:45 and was on the road by 6:00 am. Today was the first time in a long time that I made it up to Crystal early enough for first tracks. There was still traffic and a ton of people already in line when I arrived. The image above is at about 8:20 and the lifts didn't open until 9:00 am.

I had thought I was in pretty good shape but 30" new made me rethink my fitness level. Spent the morning ripping freshies down Frontside, then ran into Jeremy and we skied until 12:30. Almost got first tracks in Campbell Basin, then down Powder Bowl. Couple T-to-B's down Upper and Lower Exterminator and the quads were burning. Jeremy went in for lunch to meet his cousin and I kept on.

Then in the afternoon a totally random dude came up to me asking if I 'knew' the mountain. I told him I felt pretty familar with the hill and gave him a tour. Kids name was Bryce, a snowboarder from Gonzaga. He's studying Sports Marketing and some day wants to work in the Wintersports Industry. I gave him a couple suggestions and then after a couple hours I lost him somewhere. Nice guy, hope he liked the tour.

Below are a couple powder shots of Jeremy and myself. Click on the thumbnail to increase 'pow' factor.

Posted by Gary at 08:04 PM | Permalink