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Lowell Skoog, Northwest ski mountaineer and dedicated ski historian, has just published the first chapter in his ongoing Northwest skiing history project, Written in the Snows, on-line. Here is what he has to say about the project:

"The chapter is called The Ski Climbers. It will ultimately be Chapter 4 (or so) in the finished story.  It describes an iconic period in Northwest skiing, the years between 1928 and 1948 when pioneering ski ascents and descents were made on Mount Baker, Mount Shuksan, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Hood.

The Ski Climbers shows the sort of coverage I hope to provide for the 100-year history of backcountry skiing in Washington.  Publishing on-line will enable me to include more stories, more pictures, and more diverse media than a traditional book could do.  The Ski Climbers contains movies, and future chapters may include other multi-media material."

The Ski Climbers is an impressive piece of an even more impressive project. The detail, imagery and historical information included in this chapter alone reflect Skoog's incredible dedication and passion for the sport of ski mountaineering. I highly recommend taking the time to explore this first installment. If it is any indication of what is to come, the Northwest ski community is in for a real treat. 

The upcoming October issue of Off-Piste has a full article on Lowell Skoog and his work on Written in the Snows.

As predicted earlier this summer, La Nina appears to be taking shape. In fact, according to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center,

Nearly all models predict La Niña to continue at least through early 2011 (Fig. 6). However, the models continue to disagree on the eventual strength of La Niña. Based on current observations and model guidance, we expect the SST anomalies in the Niño-3.4 region to either persist near the present strength, or to strengthen into the winter as is consistent with the historical evolution of La Niña. Thus, it is likely that the peak strength of this event will be at least moderate (3-month average between –1^oC to –1.4^oC in Niño-3.4) to strong (3-month average of –1.5^oC or less in Niño-3.4).

Expected La Niña impacts during September-November 2010 include suppressed convection over the central tropical Pacific Ocean, and enhanced convection over Indonesia. The transition into the Northern Hemisphere Fall means that La Niña will begin to exert an increasing influence on the weather and climate of the United States. These impacts include an enhanced chance of above-average precipitation in the Pacific Northwest, and below-average precipitation in the Southwest and in portions of the middle and lower Mississippi Valley and Tennessee Valley. Also, La Niña can contribute to increased Atlantic hurricane activity by decreasing the vertical wind shear over the Caribbean Sea and tropical Atlantic Ocean (see the August 5th update of the NOAA Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Outlook), and to suppressed hurricane activity across the central and eastern tropical North Pacific.

Northwest meteorologist Mark Nelson recently posted his take on winter on his weather blog. Nelson's reseacrh shows that we have not had a moderate to strong La Nina event since 1988-89. More recent events have all been light to moderate.

Read more about what La Nina may have in store for your area here.

A self-professed coffee snob and addict, I am always looking for a way to get a fix in the backcountry or on the road. I recently started using the Jetboil Java Kit on road trips and in the field. The Jetboil Java Kit mates a one-piece cooking vessel/French press and proprietary heat baffle with a small, easily packable canister stove. The entire apparatus weighs less than a pound and packs into the cooking vessel making for a compact, portable unit.

Functionally, it boils about 16 ounces of water in under three minutes. Depending on how long you steep your coffee, you are drinking fresh coffee in mere minutes from starting the process. The system is slick. It is also functional for more than making coffee, provided you can do it with approximately 16 ounces or less of water. Jetboil recommends only filling  the cook pot to the 16oz mark, but with a watchful eye, I have been able to boil closer to a liter (the cook pot's full capacity). A cool aspect to the system is that the stove and cook-pot actually connect together, making the set-up more stable than traditional systems. Adding even more stability is the three-legged base that clips to the fuel cannister. The base is a great little tool that folds up and fits into the cookpot with all of the other components.

The Java Kit is not necessarily a replacement for a full cook stove system (Jetboil makes more full service kits, too). I see it as a cool road trip tool and go-lite sytem for the minimalist. Heck, it is small and light enough, that I would consider taking it on a day trip to melt snow for drinking or to brew up hot drinks on the go. Details

Anthony Bonello and the self described "collective of vibrant characters" known as b4apres media have recently released the teaser to their new film, AZADI: Freedom. The film is a cultural documentary, seen through the eyes of skiers in the disputed Kashmir region of northern India. Whilst exploring the mountains surrounding the world's highest skiable gondola, the crew meet vibrant local characters, ski picturesque forests and thin alpine air. The screener arrived in the office this week and is on deck for the weekend. If the teaser is any indication, this is not your run-of-the-mill ski porn. Check out the teaser here and look for full details in the October issue of the mag.

"AZADI: Freedom" Official Trailer from b4apres media on Vimeo.

Subsscribe or renew your subscription to Off-Piste Mag before September 30, 2010 and you'll get a FREE "heli ski strap" from Brooks Range Mountaineering. Quantities are limited, so subscribe now and support the best in grassroots ski media.

We just got word of a cool new book due out in November, Fifty Classic Ski Descents. We should have a copy in time to get a full review in the December issue of the mag. In the meantime, here is the general beta:

www.wolverinepublishing.com $60

The book is a large-format compilation of iconic and aesthetic ski descents from Alaska to Mount Washington. Created by ski mountaineers Chris Davenport, Art Burrows and Penn Newhard, Fifty Classic Ski Descents taps into the local knowledge of contributors such as Andrew McLean, Glen Plake, Lowell Skoog, Chic Scott and Ptor Spricenieks with first person descriptions of their favorite ski descents and insightful perspectives on ski mountaineering past, present and future. The book features 208 pages of gorgeous action and mountain images from many of North America¹s top photographers. Whether you are planning an expedition to Baffin Island¹s Polar Star Couloir or heading out for dawn patrol on Mount Superior, Fifty Classic Ski Descents is a visual and inspirational feast of ski mountaineering in North America.

The foreword is penned by Andrew McLean. Please see the attached pdf and image of the book as well as quotes regarding the title from Bill Briggs, Ski Pioneer and Chris Keyes, Editor Outside magazine.

Books will be distributed by Wolverine Publishing beginning November 10, 2010 and available to pre-order at a 10% discount ($55) until November 1, 2010.

A special limited edition of 200 books will be available directly from the publisher. Each Limited Edition book will be hand numbered and signed by the authors, and come in a hard bound case for collectors. If you wish to order a Limited Edition contact Chris Davenport: chris@steepskiing.com

The book brings in many local/accomplished skiers including Hilaree O¹Neill, Lou Dawson, Jimmy Chin, Chic Scott, Pete Patterson, Kristoffer Erickson, Lowell Skoog, Mark Synnott, Greg Hill, Kevin Quinn, Eric Pehota and others.

Photographers include Christian Pondella, Will Wissman, Brad Washburn, Chris Figenshau, Keoki Flagg, Ruedi Homberger, Whit Richardson and Jonathan Selkowitz to name a few. Check out the Fifty Classic Ski Descents press release pdf here

There are more ski movie teasers coming our way. Of course, there are the usual big name ski flims, but we have had a couple more interesting titles come our way. A new documentary on Ruedi Beglinger (guide and owner of Selkirk Mountain Experience), Life Ascending, profiles Beglinger and touches on the tragic day  in 2003 when an avalanche took the lives of seven of his clients.

A second film that looks like it has potential is Chris Davenport's latest project, Australis: An Antarctic Ski Odyssey. The trailer is packed with quality footage. Take a peek below.

Australis: An Antarctic Ski Odyssey from Granite Films Jim Surette on Vimeo.