Archive | Trip Reports

I spent last week in the North Cascades at the Yurt operated by North Cascade Heli-Ski (NCHS). A quick flight from their base in Mazama, WA, the Yurt, a well appointed, 30-foot diamater structure, offers out-the-door ski touring in the North Cascades bordering the Pasayten Wilderness. The Yurt has been part of the NCHS operation for many years, but has… Read More

Larry Goldie from North Cascades Mountain Guides and I just spent a day out touring on the new Voile Charger (134-110-123) and Dynafit Stoke (129-105-119) skis. Both skis are light, touring minded boards with rockered tips. The snow was excellent with north aspects holding the goods. The skis lived up to their names proving that fat, rockered skis don’t have… Read More

While visiting the Wallowas back in January, I had the opportunity to hook up for a ski tour with Keith Stebbings, the director and lead forecaster of the newly minted Wallowa Avalanche Center. Keith posts condition summaries online each Friday at www.wallowaavalanchecenter.org. Keith’s reports give a detailed synopsis of the current snowpack along with snow profiles and photographs illustrating layers… Read More

Telemon and his crew of freeheel skiers are up to their usual pursuits in Vermont’s NE Kingdom this winter. The crew recently sent us some shots of life in the NE Kingdom. According to the e-mail note, "…it has been a low snow year, but we are making the best of it. Been skiing our collective asses off, taking whatever… Read More

In early February we spent three nights in the new Three Sisters Backcountry yurts at the base of Tam-McArthur Rim on the edge of the Three Sisters Wilderness. Given the El Nino weather pattern influencing our winter weather, we knew good skiing would require high elevation and north-facing aspects. With the yurts situated at 6600’, the Rim pointing almost due… Read More

We heard from Tannis up at Sorcerer Lodge near Golden, BC last week.  Here is what she had to say about the conditions in January… My week in Jan at Sorcerer was excellent! We had better than average stability, excellent skiing and sunshine! What more could you hope for! The following week, however, was a bit more of a challenge…. Read More

Four years ago, I travelled to the Altai Mountains in northern China to help Nils Larsen document the remnant use of primitive skis as travel and hunting tools. We spent six weeks in the area exploring and connecting with the local, semi-nomadic people of the Altai Mountains. Our trip exposed us to a very small slice of a ski culture… Read More

The Burnie Glacier Chalet, B.C.’s most northwesterly backcountry ski lodge, recently hosted a CAA Level I Avalanche Course. Last week’s weather was horrible for skiing, but in combination with an uncommon widespread buried surface hoar layer, the weather made for ideal avalanche course conditions. When can you observe size 2.5’s running before your popping eyes (from a safe distance, of… Read More

Connelly Brown (CB) from Wallowa Alpine Huts just sent us a field report from a recent Guides Skills Course held up in their Norway Basin camp. Like much of the Northwest, the Wallowas has seen below normal snowfall numbers thus far this season. That said, the Norway Basin Camp is, once again, proving to be one of the snowiest places… Read More

The slideshow function is my new favorite tool for the blog. Here is a short slide show from a couple of days in the North Cascades. We enjoyed some North Cascades skiing with a little heli-assisted ski touring up in the North Cascades with North Cascade Heli and North Cascades Mountain Guides. I know heli-assisted touring sounds like an oxymoron to… Read More

I managed to slip out of town and into British Columbia last week for a little backcountry skiing trip to Sol Mountain Lodge in the southern Monashee Range. I have been up to Sol Mountain numerous times in mid to late December over the years. As usual, Sol delivered the goods. We were greeted by temps hovering around zero degrees… Read More

I got a call a couple weekends back to join some buddies on a jaunt in search of turns. Unfortunately, I was otherwise obligated. Fortunately for Jason and Andy, they did not need me to get after it. Jason put togther a great report on their adventure. A Mid-Summer Night’s Scheme By scheme, I’m referring to the cockamamie variety. And… Read More

Wy’East Nordic‘s annual Mt Hood Summer Telemark Ski Camp just wrapped up on Sunday. The weather held for three great days of freeheel skiing on Mt Hood’s Palmer Glacier. Shelley Hakenson runs a great camp. This year marks the event’s 26th year, which should tell you something about its quality. Skiers come from all over the country to attend the… Read More

Summer is here in the Northwest and the snowpack is holding up well. A quick tour on Mt. Hood this week proved the skiing is still in fine shape. Long days make for some fine summer outings in these parts, and it is a great time to take advantage of the conditions. We were on the casual tour program and… Read More