i started off looking for corn, but it became apparent early on that there was only a light crust in the north facing trees and it would likely get burned off in the afternoon temps. plans were changed to a little couloir i had been eyeing for a while now. previous attempt found it had been beaten down by east winds to a rain layer. now it was a thick crust on one side, and unconsolidated pow on the other. there was also plenty of not pow. in fact, had i not got off the beaten path, it would have been just as much fun. still, it’s fun to get the pucker on. gotta remember to close my vents for the down, since it almost became a bigger problem.

and the pictures
heading up
are these aspen??? they’re huge, and they’re widely scattered among other trees rather than in the thicker strands we’re accustomed to

things that make you go hmmmmm

today’s new plan. go up until you’re uncomfortable, or you have to go to work

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played eighteen holes today at the carson country club. our threesome included myself, ottime, and FranklezZ. the typical cursing and swearing normally associated with the sport of fuck was replaced with hoots, hollers, and giggles, despite the fact the entire day was spent in the sand trap. on to the match.

hole 1 (tele only)
ottime with his first freeheel air

after FranklezZ tumblezZ, it looks like ottime took the first skin. however, i forced a carryover with a successful tele pow soulplow

hole 2 (another tele only hole)
this features FranklezZ’ bd ascension clipfix vs ottime’s G3s. which is the skin to win? (hint:it’s another carryover, despite that both competitors must add 2 strokes for pant leg in the boot)

hole 3
a long uphill. (you guessed it another carryover)

hole 4
ottime takes the first 4 holes with this oversharpened grab

hole 5
ottime wins another on this short par 3

hole 6
FranklezZ gets on the leaderboard by launching this air while simultaneously maintaining radio contact with the mothership

hole 7
ottime tees off

hole 8
powdork gets on the board with this unique shot

FranklezZ tries to emulate, but double ejects upon reentry

Hole 9
clearly, ottime has been working on his swing form.

hole 10
a dogleg right plays right into the sweet spot for ottime’s heaven wood

hole 11
ottime breaks out the driver for this par 5.

powdork sticks it tight with a solid approach

not so much into competition, FranklezZ is all about the rainbows and unicorns

hole 12
FranklezZ SparklezZ!!! this shot captures the stoke of the day for me.

hole 13
sand trap or white room? you decide.

either way, ottime split the fairway.

hole 14

hole 15
FranklezZ drains this short par three as the gallery looks on

hole 16
powdork cuts off a little fairway here as the winds pick up

hole 17
loads of elevation change on this short par 3

hole 18
teh video-my nuts is in the middle.

Locales
Thursday-Kirkwood

Friday-Ebbets Pass
Saturday-Kirkwood

Playing in the Snow
Thursday-Powdork
Friday-Powdork and Ottime
Saturday-Powdork and Ottime

The Missions
Thursday-Recon and Recovery
Friday-Stay Warm, Safe and Levitate
Saturday-Redemption

the video (updated 12/22/10-re-rendered with updated editor removed all the herky jerky stuff). i think it tells the story well, especially the cirque entrance towards the end. No skis were harmed (much) during the video process. Also includes tips on how to prep a chute for skiing.
http://www.vimeo.com/12667192

Thursday – Recon and Recovery
I headed out to Kirkwood with a late start. It didn’t matter though since my day didn’t even have to include skiing, and certainly not good skiing. My goal was to do a little recon for some weekend skiing and look for my ContourHD that I lost in March. The late start also didn’t matter since as I was skinning up chair 2 at 9:45 it was still frozen solid. Plan was to drop into Vista and spend as much time as necessary to find the camera. Changed the plans and went up to the top of 99 steps so things could soften up and I could hit a sunny face first. A peek into the top of the cirque for the recon. Can’t tell if it goes.

Of course it does

The recovery part of the mission can be found here
Lost and Found: the POV – Teton Gravity Research Forums

Friday – Stay Warm, Safe and Levitate
The plan for Friday was to meet Ottime at Ebbetts Pass between 7 and 7:30. Due to construction issues on Luther Pass I arrived at 8:05. He was nowhere to be found. It was butt cold outside, and since it was June, it was snowing as well.

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with the recent TRs about north peak, a day off from work and the kids, and much desire to go ski something, we decided to hit up saddlebag lake and the most excellent terrain in the area. An early start was called for, so we rolled into camp at 10:15 and booked the 11:00 taxi.

without crampons or ice axe, we were nervous that we might back out upon reaching the north peak couloirs. As we walked along the ridge above the kook chutes we eyed the Y couloir on conness. that definitely looked doable and still worthy of the long drive and hike. now we just needed to keep dry. You can see the Y behind trash here

i believe it was this exact step that crushed the display of my cell phone.

cornice couloir(?) goes, but it is shitstained

headin up

and up

tahoetrash tops out

and goin down. me

tahoetrash

looking back up at the line

and then me heading back down to conness lakes

trash follows. the snow varied from good smooth corn to suncuppy hell at the bottom

this line on the se side of north peak should be called the italy chute or the boot chute or something

bag in the saddle again

goin big back at the trail

the fishing sucked that night, but the views were ok.

thursday the fishing was good, but the views sucked

took a little detour to check out the lundy lake area. beaver dam and lundy falls.

we also saw this, which appears to be near virginia lakes. does it has a name?