Good skiing in Utah lately...

A storm arrived around Christmas time and delivered a much needed coat of fresh snow for the mountains of Utah. Things have been filling in nicely ever since. In the last few weeks, I've skied a lot of powder, some of it better than anything I've had in Utah in years. Granted, the last few years have kinda sucked around these parts, so I've been gone a lot. It sure does feel nice to be skiing pow again in our own backyard. Some photos that my brother Neil and I have shot lately.....

^ It got cold for a little while, and deep.

^ we found solitude and untracked deepness in the Uintas

^ Neil doesn't mind grinding out a few thousand feet of Wasatch wiggles

^Trent and his pops. Father and son Wiggles. Bruce laid down an epic figure eight.

^deep, blower pow for Neil

^ Jonny G, the Uinta snow scientist taking pictures of crystals and stuff

^ Aspen trees catching the glow from the first few moments of sunshine. 

^ Mt. Raymond

^Had a great bluebird day with our friend, Nick Russell, hitting lines off Raymond Peak. Huge smiles all day!!!

#filmisdead

^ Watching my brother slash turns between the sharp rock fins of Raymond's east face

^ Nick Russell following my track because he liked how I worked those waves!

^ Even on a down day, I can't help myself from heading into our backyard for some powsurf laps.

"Little Matterhorn"

AKA, Pfeifferhorn, is a nice little shark tooth of a mountain. Easily recognized by its similarity to the famous peak in the Alps, its the 5th highest in the Wasatch. On may 1st, it was not our original objective, but the unexpected sun forced us to bail on a more exposed line down the road. We were equally stoked on the new mission, and the incredible powder it would deliver for the first day of May.



^The northwest couloir was the objective, as seen in this photo from 2010. Typically, a 60 foot cliff chokes out this line halfway, requiring a rappel over the gnar. But in this winter of epic proportions, we were able to shoot right through as if the cliff didn't exist.


^morning light comes though the trees and consumes you with intense heat, than its back to the frigid shadows.


^tried to make quick work of the chilly north woods.


^the south faces of little cottonwood canyon looked tremendous.


^seemed like a pretty mellow spring day down in the valley for most folks.


^eventually we make it to within reasonable distance of the peak. just a quick ridge hop and a skip and we're there.




^ a shot of the lovely timp massif


^ Once at the top, Neil makes his way down the northwest ramp. Considering it's May, it was no suprise that the upper half was intermittent powder and ice. At least we didn't have to stop for the otherwise mandatory rappel. After flashing the choke, the line finished off with some fluffy deep powder turns.


^ a shot of the north face, taken in 2010. A very aesthetic peak indeed.


^ well that was fun. Finished it off with a four thousand foot exit gully. The strong sun had worked the snow down low, turning it from dry crystal powder to wet mank in a hurry. Its that time of the year. Eventually the snow will melt, but with another cold storm on the horizon, the endless winter continues.

Back in Utah...

Well, after spending nearly 60 days in the Interior of British Columbia, it sure feels nice to be home. Ideally, I would spend the rest of my life in some shack in the heart of the Selkirk mountains, but the reality is, I am not quite there in life to make that happen. For now, Utah is my home. Its where I learned everything I know about the mountains. Most importantly, its where my family is.

Im very lucky to have parents that support my dreams and everything I do. Im not sure where I would be in life if not for the opportunities and encouragement from my mom and pop. Eternal thanks to my creators!

Every spring, I like to bring my pop out on the snowmobile for a little taste of what his boys get up to for 8 months of the year. All of the stories and photos we share are great, but nothing is as sweet as getting out there and experiencing the mountains for yourself. He's not entirely comfortable on the snowmobile, so it provides a great oppurtunity to scare the shit out of him for a brief moment!



^This was my pops first time seeing his beloved Uintas under a deep blanket of snow

^Neil and Pop shredding pow together

^ classic view looking west from bald mountain pass

^ typical uinta snow conditions : fast, chalky, windboard powder. With the uintas looking as fat as I have ever seen them, the spring/summer ski mountaineering should be fantastic. Neil and I are starting to line up some sweet objectives in our backyard.

^ The old man preferred to open er up a bit while neil enjoys farming


Like father, like Son!


In the next week or so, after I wade through close to 800 gigabytes of files, I'll do a post from some of the highlights of our trip to British Columbia. Neil and I co-directed a ski movie, skied powder every single day, and were almost consumed by a massive class 4 avalanche. Best time of our lives!

Utah pow season opener....

Just like that, another sure to be classic winter in the Wasatch has begun. And boy did it start off nicely. All it took was one storm cycle to put down a blanket of snow so deep that it allowed us to go wherever we chose. Jim Harris and I chose to ski the north chute off the summit of mount superior for our first run of the 2010/11 season.


^ Like most of my favorite runs in utah, this one began with a steep skin track.


^ the skin track ended on the summit of Mt. Superior. I wasn't anticipating skiing off any big peaks in october, but when nature calls, one must go.


^ The last of the storm makes its way up and out of little cottonwood canyon.


^ Jim happily makes the first turns of the year down this wasatch classic


^ Cardiac Bowl on Oct 27. shhhhwiiiing!


^ nice little playground for the day


^ A skier on High Ivory smokes a fat bowl of wasatch ice

and for some HD video documentation....      http://vimeo.com/16293201

dirty pillows

When we returned to Utah from our road trip in BC, the mountains were in a state of shock. Massive avalanches had, and continued to catastrophically release all across the state. We saw slides in areas that I have never seen slide before. Conditions like this warrant extreme respect for the mountains.

Over the weekend we played around in the rocky crags of the Uinta mountains. We visited some "mini golf" areas that had no deep slab potential. The terrain was fun and the conditions were fantastic. The january light offered amazing back lighting conditions all day long. The pillow lines are real dirty this time of year. There is just barely enough snow to ride them. It makes for some stoney, craggy photos though.....

^our pillow popping playground for the day

^ Clean pillows. I love the texture in this photo

^ We shot this at the end of the day. Neil lined up the chalkstone pillow gap over the ravine just as the last light of the day was sending down a tractor beam in the perfect spot. I took one frame, and the beam of light disappeared. This may be my favorite shot ever.

^ Kind of an abstract action shot if you will

^ Epic backlighting at noon. January is nice like that.

^ a couple wiggles for good measure.

During sketchy times like these, patience is a virtue. Your life depends on it. As much as we want to get into the alpine and hit some big lines, we have to practice abstinence. Its the only way to stay alive in the mountains. Hopefully, we receive more snow and the snowpack can begin the healing process. Until then, we'll be playing it safe in the pillow gardens of utah.