Mar 21

Photo of the Week: Happy Spring!

Although Friday was officially the last full day of the winter season in the northern hemisphere, it seems as though spring has been having its way with us for nearly two weeks now here in the northeast: flowers are starting to bloom, we are cutting spinach again from our garden (it wintered over in our cold frames!), and the snow seems to be all but gone from our valley floors… And while snow depths at high elevations are at their near-peak levels for the season, we managed to find a some beautiful lines in a steep, south-facing alpine zone that would have been unskiable had we shown up a day later. This line, for instance – on a mountain in the far northern White Mountains – barely let us through…

Happy spring to everyone! Ski it while you can…

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Mar 20

Skiing on Water

When Vermonter Jason Starr revealed his “surf skis” to the world in 2009, he opened the doors to an entirely new realm of skiing adventure. Throughout 2010, a growing community of passionate skiers with a strong connection to the water are taking Starr’s surf-skis to the rolling waves of our nearby oceans. Some are paddling into these waves with single or double-bladed paddles, while others are tapping into the power of a jetski as they tow into big ocean surf.

California skier and surfer, Chuck Patterson, is on a mission to put Starr’s surf skis to the ultimate test. He’s recently been towing into some good sized waves off the Pacific coast, and he’s skiing lines unlike any of us have skied before. This photo that Chuck captured on March 18 off the coast of northern California puts things into perspective… Chuck gets extra style points, too, for skiing these waves with his ski poles in hand!

(See AdventureSkier post from Dec. 2009 for more surf-skiing)

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(Photo: Chuck Patterson)


Mar 18

Don’t Miss “Off Piste in Iceland” – Thurs 4/1

Don’t miss our next slideshow, Off Piste in Iceland, coming up on Thursday, April 1 at the legendary Inn at Long Trail along Rt. 4 near Killington, VT. Owners Murray and Patty McGrath have hosted a few of our shows in the past, and we are excited to be back there once again this season. Come early or stay late to enjoy some great food and tasty Guinness at McGrath’s Irish Pub (inside the Inn), or simply join us for our latest presentation featuring nearly ten years of backcountry skiing adventure in the Land of Fire and Ice. If you are feeling lucky, we will be raffling off two pairs of Black Diamond “Kilowatt” skis, along with loads of other outdoor gear, at the end of the show. Raffle tickets will be sold at the door for $5, and proceeds will support our ongoing conservation work with organizations in the Arctic, the Andes and here in Vermont, including the GMC and the VNRC. We’d greatly appreciate your help in spreading the word! Thanks!

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(Click on poster to enlarge)

Mar 15

SNOW!

Several mountain areas across the northeast picked up 5-15″+ of fresh snow Sunday night and Monday (3/15). (The higher peaks of New York’s Adirondacks and New Hampshire’s White Mountains made out best.) In the higher ravines of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington area, the avalanche danger has been upgraded to considerable and high, due to persistent E/NE winds loading and cross loading many slopes. And skiers in the Green Mountains enjoyed a nice creamy coating of fresh snow above 3000′ today. (We skied several laps above the mid-station on Mad River Glen’s Single Chair this morning with great! results.)

Sun and springlike temps are in the forecast for much of this week. This will take a toll on our lower elevation snowpack, but cool nights should help to minimize melting in the mountains. Skiers heading for the highest reaches of the northeast will likely enjoy some rather creamy and untracked snow conditions on sheltered aspects in the alpine, some crust where the wind’s been howling, and perhaps a bit of corn snow on the solar aspects. Tree skiers might get lucky with some cream-coated crust cruising in the higher elevation woods during the morning hours, but watch out for rotten snow as the day warms. The spring skiing at ski areas throughout the northeast will be in its prime this week, so get out there and have fun!

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Mar 13

Great Video: Pillow Line

Here’s a very creative and interesting video by British Columbia-based photographer, Kari Medig, who describes his video as follows:

“Here’s a show I put together for the 2010 Coldsmoke photo competition that happens every year here in Nelson BC. It was inspired by an amazing stop motion concept and technique used by Tel Aviv based photographer Eyal Landesman. I took it a step in a different direction that gave me a chance to show the world of skiing in a different way.”

Pillow Line from Kari Medig on Vimeo.