Spring Break? But you graduated college many years ago.

My girlfreind and emotional life partner is a high school teacher and had the last week in March off work for spring break. Due to the lucrative vacation time my job offers, I was able to take the week off and spend the week with Jenny.

Pyramid Peak is technically the highest peak within the boundary of the Desolation wilderness. But what makes it so remarkable is viewing the mountain from the Central Valley. The prominence of Pryramid make it look like a striking triangle reaching for the sky when viewed from the central valley. I have wanted to ski the peak since my first winter in California and this record snowfall year has afforded low elevation snow levels and abundant coverage.

The climb up to the Desolation wilderness and Pryamid peak start off highway 50 year lovers leap. The route covers roughly 4,000 vertical feet of elevation.

 

 

Mission peak has to be one of those most popular hikes in the San Francisco Bay area. The reason why this hike is so popular is because of the close proximity to large cities and great views. There is nothing technical about the hike, just follow the herd of people. Most city slickers will make this hike a whole day outing. I generally like to make sure I get the whole thing done in under 2.5 hours.

Sometimes I enjoy skiing at lift serviced ski resorts. And who doesn’t like a free ride to the top of a mountain and overpriced tapped beer? It has been apparent to me through research that ski resorts are not necessarily good for skiing. Most, if not all ski resorts are owned by a large corporation. Vail resorts owns most more than 60% of the major ski resorts in North America and makes most of its revenue not from lift ticket sales, but from real-estate. The large corporations such as Vail Resorts Co. have to show profits to share holders and there bottom line objective is not to have a great ski experience, but sell “experiences”, real-estate, and village stuffs to anyone willing to pay a premium. Given there share price on the stock market, they are efficient at marketing themselves to the sheep known as the American public.

Then there are a couple “mom and pop” resorts left that are far from a major interstate and far from a major metropolis that only care about the ski experience. Brundage mountain in the Payette range in central Idaho is one of those “mom and pop” mountains. I have heard some great things about Brundage and while visiting my special lady friend in Idaho I had the opportunity to have a lift served ski day. The closest town to Brundage is McCall Idaho, which I had heard about when I was a kid while reading snowmobile magazines. I convinced the woman of my life to go ride lifts with me for the day and here’s how it looked:

The drive from the Polouse heading south to central Idaho.

 

For a Saturday, Brundage was sparsely crowded. No lift lines, no problem. Crack a beer.

 

You can ride one lift from the bottom to the top. Roughly 2,000ft of vert.

 

Sometimes skiing isn’t about being selfish. Sometimes you need to ride the terrain that your partner enjoys as well. Beautiful girlfriend, beautiful views. couldn’t ask for more.

 

Fun terrain with great views of the Wallowa’s in the distance.

 

Apres ski Idaho style. Gotta walk on Lake Payette.

 

The McCall winter-fest was going on. Lots of families meandering around town. The winter fest reminded me of my upbringings in the Midwest. Specifically when I would go to Caseville Michigan for the Shanty Day festival. We ended up going out for dinner at a local brewery in McCall that was over capacity. I look forward to going back when the town is a little less crowded.

McCall is in such a great part of Idaho. A great mix of back country ski opportunities a few miles from town. Lots of terrain for the sled neck crowd. The people who live in Boise (nearest major city, if you wanna call it one) are lucky to have the gem of McCall just a couple hours down the road.

It wasn’t until I was in my late teens and early 20’s that I really started to enjoy early 90’s gangster rap. Some of my friends I grew up with would listen to Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, NWA and TooShort throughout high school. But I personally never found rap music to be very entertaining. Then something changed after I graduated high school. Some of the more popular early and mid 90’s rap songs started to appeal to me. But once I started to listen to more of the popular 90’s rap, a very catchy song by Ice Cube called “It was a good day” caught my attention. In the song Ice Cube sings about a day cruising around drinking, smoking, boning, and tells what a good day it was because he didn’t have to use his AK. The lyric in that song that comes to mind for this day of skiing. “And my —- runs deep, so deep, so deep, I put her — to sleep”. That lyric is notable, because all day long we kept saying how deep (so deep)the snow was. The Sierra Nevada mountain range has 200% of normal snow pack for late January. The storms just keep coming and the powder continues to be deep, so deep, puts that ass to sleep.

This trip also was an opportunity to show a new friend what touring is all about. Jame’s has only been split boarding for a year and is pretty naive about what it truly means to tour. I was lucky in that my mentors were some of the top athletes of the discipline and made sure I knew what was up. It was my opportunity to return the favor and teach another noob whats up.

 

The Fairy Meadows hut ran by the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) is a magical place located in the Adamant range of the Selkirk mountains of British Columbia Canada. The hut is so prestigious and sought after that a lottery system has been in effect in order to get a chance to stay at the hut. If you win the lottery, you are given a chance to ski amazing terrain with up to 20 of your closest friends for a 7-day period. The only access to the hut in the winter time is by helicopter. Most groups require 3-4 trips to get all people and gear into the hut. The weather in the Adamant mountains (north Selkirk’s range) can vary greatly in the winter and spring and the possibility of being flown into or out of the hut on time is roughly 75%.

This was my 2nd trip to the Fairy Meadows hut and the opportunity only presented itself because of a “throwback Thursday” Instagram posting from late August 2016. The picture was of my skis and poles on top of Enterprise peak. The description of the photo read: “TBT to that time in last year in Canada”. Charlie Lane, a ripping skier from Seattle who was on the trip with me in March of 2016 and responded to the Instagram post with “Yo- I’m going back this Christmas. Still spots left. Just saying”. I responded immediately and told Charlie to reserve a spot for me on the trip. The decision to go was simple, it also helps to be selfish. I knew relatives would be mad at me for not going back to the Midwest to visit for the Christmas Holiday, but a trip to Fairy Meadows is a rare instance that when the opportunity arises, you take it.

(The picture from Instagram that started it all)

Day 1: The fly in.

The first day was mostly spent getting ready and flying into the hut. Part of the process of flying people and gear on a helicopter is to get an accurate weight of all people and belongings. Helicopters have critical weight capacities that must not be exceeded and the weigh process ensures gear and people are proportioned accordingly on each flight. The previous Fairy Meadow trip I was on the first day was spent getting drunk at the heliport. There was a low cloud ceiling and it was drizzling that day. The pilots were delaying the flight in and then someone had the idea to head 20 minutes into Golden and buy a case of beer. Once the beer was flowing the party was getting started and a yoga headstand competition ensued. We did end up flying out the following day (most people with hangovers) and were scolded by a helicopter pilot that it was unacceptable to be drinking around any aircraft. With that lesson in the memory bank, there was nothing stronger than coffee drank on the morning of the flight.

Day 2: Tree skiing and pillows.

Due to moderate avalanche conditions and a cloud ceiling that was uncertain if it would hold to low elevations, a decision by the group to ski 2nd and 3rd ridge zone was made.

     

Day 2: Friendship Col.

Woke up to another cold day with light cloud cover. The decision by the group was to head to mid elevations towards Friendship Col. The reading on the thermometer at the hut read 4 degrees Fahrenheit. There was some conflicting route decisions among the group, which had the main group breaking up near Friendship Col. The skiing down from the col the great boot top pow. As the day progressed the cloud ceiling lowered and by nightfall fresh snow was falling.

     

Day 3: Outpost Trees

Outpost trees was a zone that I skied with friends the previous winter. Last year the Outpost Tree zone was characterized by steep smooth lines with a few pillows. This year because of the time of year (December vs March) the snow pack hasn’t had the time to build to the snow levels I experienced last year. Therefore only one word could describe the Outpost Trees zone: Pillows. The whole area that Fairy Meadows is located in is very rocky and features many large shed-house sized boulders that create super fun pillow lines. The alpine is known for classic granite climbing. Personally, skiing pillows has never been a focal point to my skiing, but in the last decade the phenomenon of skiing pillows has been romanticized by many popular ski movies and the outrageous fun that you can have when they are coated in a blanket of powder. I grown to enjoy skiing pillows and day 3 at the Fairy Meadows hut came through with a plethora of pillow lines to choose from.

 

 

Day 4: Half day skiing 2nd ridge.

Day 5: The discovery of “Twink Alley”.

From urban dictionary; “Twink: An attractive, boyish-looking, young gay man. The stereotypical twink is 18-22, slender with little or no body hair, often blonde, dresses in club wear even at 10:00 AM, and is not particularly intelligent. A twink is the gay answer to the blonde bimbo cheerleader.”

The name of twink alley came about after stumbling upon an un-skied zone that let those who skied it feel true perfection. After skiing and climbing back up for (3) laps on the route, we brainstormed what to call the area. First we thought of typical ski names like “field of dreams” but couldn’t come up with anything clever. And that is when on the skin out and up the glacial moraine that the D-Ho (Aaron) said we should call it “Twink Alley”.  After minor debate, the group decided the name was catchy and fitting for a zone that was so much fun. And telling the rest of the crew we skied “Twink Alley” only brought about further intrigue as to how good the line really was. The ski line was in perfect condition. There was a fresh 12-24 inch fresh layer of light fresh storm snow that yielded knee deep penetration. The route description goes as follows: A broad apron leads to a slender choke and then fans out to another broad face all while maintaining a perfect slope angle. We were the first to ride Twink Alley and it was one of the most memorable days of the trip.

Day 6: Light alpine discovery on 2nd and 3rd ridges.

This day started with low expectations. My personal objective was to have a chill ski day. This was the last day of skiing and everyone has been safe up to this point. The started with touchy avy conditions due to the recent storm snow. We knew big alpine faces could have a potential to slide to the recent shooting cracks and clean shears on pillow lines we skied over the past couple of days. The day was also cold and the upper alpine had howling winds that looked like massive streamers shooting off the ridge lines. Everything was going well until we skied back into the trees on the 3rd ridge and party skied un-touched tree run that ended up at a cliff band. Charlie (Chaz Daddy) chose to ski slightly lower and try to find a route through the cliffs. He was within shouting distance and based on his findings we chose to turn around and create a skin track up the route we skied down. Charlie gave a demonstration of expert skinning on no fall zone terrain. He later admitted that he was gripped in most places on his skin back up to the group. His skinning abilities, and route finding skills were very impressive all week. Charlie broke trail most days. It was either his leadership, familiarity with the terrain from previous trips, his experience or all the above that we were able to ski so many untouched ski lines.

 

 

Day 7: The fly out.

Leaving Fairy Meadows brought many conflicting emotions. Part of me was relieved to get back to civilization and have the opportunity to see my babe-hammer (girlfriend Jenny), the other part of me wanted to continue to ski and get the opportunity to go higher in the alpine. Given the time of year, going high in the alpine in December generally isn’t an option due to the instability of early season snow pack, short days, cold temperatures, and howling winds due to the storm patterns. I will remember this trip as being successful. A great group of people that shared many laughs and great conversation.

 

 

My main ski partner Michael and I carpooled to the Mt Rose highway summit. The sign says the road is the highest mountain road open year round in the Sierra. At a base elevation of roughly 8,800ft the snowpack was the deepest of any area in the Lake Tahoe basin. There was a general plan to head north of the highway and search for good snow. Once we were 2 miles in, I realized I forgot my avalanche beacon. Instead of skiing back to the car, I flagged down a lone snowmobiler and asked for a ride to the truck to get my left gear. The snowmobiler was kind enough to let me stand on a foot board while we snowmobiled back to the highway. This style of snowmobiling is much more enjoyable than riding “Ace and Gary” style, especially on a trail full of moguls.

Relay peak area.

View looking northwest toward Truckee and Northstar ski area.

View to Lake Tahoe from Relay Peak.

Michael skinning back up for another lap of untouched powder on Tamarack-Relay peak saddle.

When the day was all said and done, we ended up covering 10 miles and 4,000ft of vert. This day on Mt Rose highway was characterized by long ridge traverses and a long skin in and out. This was only my 5th trip to the area and I keep discovering new ski lines. Snowmobiles are allowed in the are, but it is easy to get away from the crowds. And seeing views of Lake Tahoe and the Carson Valley is spectacular.

We all come from somewhere. And I came from the suburbs of Detroit. I grew up exactly 11 miles from the core of downtown Detroit and spent my childhood in a neighborhood of mainly closely packed, small Midwestern bungalows. I was raised as an only child even though I had a sister who was 18 years older, but by the time I was born she had already moved out of home and was on her own. For a few years I played hockey and baseball when I was young but was mainly a lost child.

It wasn’t until I entered middle school that I found my first real passion. Punk Rock. There was a healthy punk scene in the Detroit area during the late 90’s and early 2000’s and many free shows/concerts on the weekends for a young angst ridden teenager to attend. Lots of unique characters to influence me as well. There were many record stores to buy punk and metal records and most extra money earned was spent paying to get into concerts and purchasing vinyl. I really got amped up on the heavier and faster punk of the likes of Discharge, early Metallica, early Slayer, and Black Sabbath. I still listen to punk and thrash metal and I always get the same internal tinge from the heavy hitting guitars and pissed off lyrics.

By the time I entered my early 20’s I had started focusing on a career as a welder and welding engineer in the aerospace industry. A job opportunity in Seattle brought about the desire and hope to learn how to climb. At the time I had no idea what climbing was. I only knew that it including an ascent of some mountainous feature. I was fortunate because that first year in Seattle I had met a few people that would become climbing and skiing mentors. I did my first outdoor rock climb at the Frenchman Coulee and I spent my first back country ski trip on Mt Adams with a pair of rental AT skis from Marmot Mountain Works. I was hooked. From those first couple years in Seattle I learned not only how to have fun in the mountains, but do it safely and to always have a positive attitude.

Now that I am living in San Jose California and in my early 30’s, I feel like life is passing me by while I stand still. I have decided to step out of my comfort zone and do something that I have always wanted to do. Write a blog. I have spent many years romanticizing how I should document my life and trips. I always thought, who in the hell cares about what I do. Nothing I have ever done in life would be categorized as spectacular and any climbing, back country skiing, or hiking trip would fall into that category of being un-spectacular. Maybe I never started down the path of writing a blog because of fear. Maybe I was shy. It wasn’t until the fall of 2016 that I met someone who motivated and challenged me to step out of my comfort zone. The timing felt right. Now is the time that I get out of the way of my own self and let the writing begin. I plan to post trip reports, gear reviews, or anything that I feel is a worthwhile adventure. One thing that will be missing is anything related to politics. Time to crank up some Danzig and reflect on those past adventures.