Audubon Ski

Last weekend I headed out to do some spring skiing with  a fellow Avid4 instructor Aaron Inouye. Who, as it turn's out is as psyched to get up early ( 3am ) as myself to go ski some great corn snow in the alpine..Although we didn't get a total over night freeze of the snow pack it still turned out to be a great morning and a nice ski descent..We skied the Crooked Couloir off of the South East side of Mount Audubon 13,223 about a 1,600 ft. ski descent down to Blue lake.

                                                            Crooked Couloir in red

                                          Aaron on the approach, some interesting lighting..

The toothpick couloir, the thin line on the left side of the photo..Ive been eye-ing this line since last year when Chris, Aaron Miller, and myself attempted to ski it...If I had to guess I'd say the entrance is around 55+ degrees..This line is located to the skiers left as your approaching Mt Toll on the backside/North side of Shoshone Peak..

                                                  Good view of Mt. Toll 12,979 from Audubon.

                                                        Climbing down low in the couloir...

                                                 Aaron, nearing the top of Crooked Couloir..

                                                                          Time to ski!!

                                             Aaron carving some of that sweet corn snow..

                                                        Great shot!.. Taken by Aaron Inouye

Although the road had been opened to Brainard lake we still decided to ride in..Riding your bike back to the car after an awesome day skiing in the mountains always feels good..

Peace,
Jason

Apache Peak Via Queens way..

I Had Wednesday off this week so Aaron and myself went out to ski Queens Way, a large spring ski descent off of Apache Peak 13,441 the second highest of all the Indian Peaks. Located high above the Isabelle glacier Ive always enjoyed shooting pics in this cirque..so here are a few of the best from our adventure..

                                                               Queens Way line in red...

    The approach took up about 4 hours from car to summit...This is just one of the large snowfields we traversed..

                                                    Aaron climbing the lower half of QW..

                  Nearing the top of the route...Great views down to Shoshone peak in the background..

                                              Hands down, my favorite pic of the morning..

                                           Big lines off  big peaks makes for lots of fun!!

             This is what a corn snow addict looks like..Is this how you want to live your life?? YES!

                                     We were able to ski all the way back down to Isabelle lake and admire our line from a distance..

Back at the trailhead by 11am for a cool refreshment..Nice green truck in the background...Watch out for those snow worms!!

                        Back to the car by noon thanks to the handy bicycle approach, my favorite...Ive shared many great ski descents with close friends over the past 3-4 years and I can say that I will miss skiing with ya Aaron..You've been a solid partner and I hope that in the future we can still make plans to get together and go on some more awesome adventures..Be safe up there in Washington and have fun, Ill come visit ya for sure.. Peace Dude!

Jason

Ptarmigan ski video

Short slideshow of our Ptarmigan ski..
Enjoy...

Peace,
Jason

Corn!! Finally

Richie Morgan and myself ventured up to Rocky Mountain National Park this morning to ski the Notchtop Couloir, which has been on my list of must-do ski descents. Just last week another friend of ours Aaron Miller went back to ski the Notchtop and ended up wading through 8+ inches of fresh snow only to turn around close to the top due to deteriorating conditions and  exhaustion..Awesome effort considering Aaron was going solo..
      The Notchtop couloir is a pretty sweet line, averaging around 35-45degrees, it makes for a pretty fun ski descent if you can hit in the prime conditions...On a day like today that prime time was between 9-10am...Rich and I got to the base of the couloir after a 3 hour approach at around 10:20am..A little late and kinda my fault! I totally spaced a  switchback lower down on the approach trail and due to the fact that most of the trail signs are still buried from all the late season snow that has been falling we lost about 30-40 min due to back tracking..."I have no idea whats going on" ( inside Joke ). Although our original plan was shot due to the fact that the snow in the couloir was getting way too soft for my liking, I still had a backup plan to keep hiking up to the Ptarmigan bowls and possibly ski one of the bowls that faces north and doesn't have a school bus sized cornice hanging from it..
      Turned out to be a good plan..The snow had stayed pretty firm back in the north facing bowls that I was able to front point with just my boots and no crampons up to the top of the bowl..Probably 5-600feet of climbing, and it was good! Turned out to be an awesome day and now I must go back to ski the ever reclusive Notchtop couloir...Logistics:  Departed Boulder 5:45am,  at the trailhead ready to rock 7am, Skiing the Ptarmigan bowls 11am, Back to the car 1pm... Enjoy the pics..

Here are some of the skiable lines in the Ptarmigan cirque and around Notchtop Mt. Red arrow - North Face of Notchtop, pretty gnarly line...Green Line- Notchtop Couloir.. Purple Line- Ptarmigan bowl..

                                                First sight of Notchtop and Ptarmigan cirque...

                                              Close up view of the North face of Notchtop..

                                                                        Staying hydrated..

                          Some school bus sized cornices guarding the North facing Ptarmigan bowls..

         The only Ptarmigan bowl that wasn't threatened by a cornice..So it was the one I climbed and skied..Definitely steeper than I expected..Probably around 40-45 degrees in the entrance...

              Richie cracking a cold one before our walk back to the car..Pretty good start to the spring season!

Peace,

Jason

Lost Lake Recon

So I had a week off between finishing up with the Couriers and starting with Avid4, but of course the weather wasn't the greatest for climbing...The weather however in the mountains called for snow and lots of it..Almost 2 feet fell overnight between the 13th and 14th of April in the Indian Peaks. My original plan was to drive up to the Train Tunnel (East Portal) and ski a line near Radiobeacon Mountain on the Continental Divide...The only problem was I couldn't even make it to the trailhead...The road still had not been plowed as as I tried to drive back with my truck in 4WD I soon realized that my truck was pretty much floating over the snow as I plowed my way through it..Not Cool!
Then I got a little nervous. Due to an intense ground blizzard I had a hard time determining where the road ended and the sky began..Really Not Cool! At that point I made the smart decision to turn around...Very carefully, I did like an 18 point turn so that I wouldn't get stuck in the embankment and be forced to dig out by myself...Luckily I made it back out and gave a call to my friend Cory to tell him my change of plans due to the fact that I was by myself...Plan B...Hessie trailhead near the town of Eldora. I knew it had to of been plowed by now due to the fact its on a school bus route and on a paved road near other homes...Well I made it to the trailhead and put together a little footage of my adventure in hiking to lost lake...Visibility pretty much sucked all day as you can see...But its always great to get out in the mountains, alone, and do a little walking...Enjoy.
Peace,
Jason

So its been awhile...

Ok so I'm slacking again with not keeping up with my blog..Ive been preparing and sending out my resume in search of guide work through the summer, and looking for a new place to move into. After a long couple weeks of searching on Craig's list everyday and doing interviews both for houses, and guide jobs, things have started turning around. I got hired at Avid4 Adventure as an Outdoor Education Instructor in both the Rock climbing and Mountain biking courses. I'll be teaching rock climbing and biking skills to elementary, middle, and high school aged kids. Seasonal employment from April through mid August. Last day at the couriers April 12th!! Although I feel I will miss riding It will be good to switch things up and work in the field at which I have applied myself toward in my AMGA training. As far as my living situation is concerned that's actually a funny story..I'm moving back into the Hamilton hood. This time though Ill be in the house to the left of the Ol' Gooney house. And this house has a bouldering cave in a shed in the backyard. Time to start training for the Diamond...Anyway Ive still been out climbing and skiing..Also made it back up to Loveland ski area with my good friends Cory, Liz, Kestrel, and El- Tedro ( Ted ), for a little in bounds skiing ... Here are some pics..







The crew on top of the divide after exiting lift 9





Cory Fleagle Gettin some wind blown pow turns...

West Side...Sucka!



Kestrel Hansen showing off some nice Tele turns.

Walking the ridge looking for the fattest corince to huck..

Ive also been getting out in the Backcountry with my boy Butters. Found these extra pics from skiing up at Caribou and the secret stash...Lots of good backcountry skiing this year..

The Anchor Mine near Caribou..

Butters seeing if anyone is home..

Caribou Backcountry runs in red..Where Ive found the best skiing over the past 6 years.

Very reactive snowpack...Glad I wasn't skiing anything over 35degrees..

Weather turning crappy..Time to head back to the truck...

On our way out we found this snowmobiler who somehow drove his sled into a tree well..I felt bad for the guy and his girlfriend as they didn't even have a shovel to dig there machine out. As the sun set I took out my avalanche shovel and helped dig this guys machine out and turn it back over..Oh yea when I arrived it was up side down..I looked at it as an opportunity to work on my strategic shoveling skills...Interesting end to a great day of skiing.

Well its finally getting spring like here and I think winter is coming to an end. Still holding out for that one last spring dump...This winter was pretty mild; at least from a couriers perspective...Hopefully some future climbing posts will emerge as the temps rise...

Peace,

Jason





































Backcountry Butters

I shot this short movie of Butters and I skiing the secret stash bowl last weekend...The quality of the video exposure isn't the greatest against the bright white of the snow...Trying to fix that issue with my camera....One of these days I'm going to get that GoPro helmet cam...Then it will be on!!
Hope you enjoy anyway... Its kinda funny watching Butters running next to me on the dsecent...

Peace,
Jason