Backcountry Ski Photos

Can It Be? No Love in Whistler.

It’s been a tough year for backcountry skiing just about anywhere in the west. According to avalanche.org, there have already been 22 avalanche fatalities in the US and Canada. Not all of these were backcountry skiers, a couple were rock/ice climbers and almost half were snowmobilers.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, our season was slow to start and we were all complaining about the lack of skiable terrain. Our first ski tour up to Mt Rainier early in the season was beautiful, and the snow up high quite good, but it didn’t require much effort to look around for evidence of low coverage. Saying that conditions have changed since, is an understatement. Crystal Mountain recorded over 100″ of fluff (that’s over 8 feet) from the ten day period between Christmas and yesterday. The rest of the Cascades saw similar amounts. Great right? Not so.

Ski touring has been risky to say the least, and this has presented a huge challenge for someone like myself, who truly loves to ski tour. I miss the adventure, the wilderness experience, the peacefulness of getting out and gliding up the side of the mountain. Needless to say, I was looking forward to a couple days with friends east of the Cascades during the long New Years break. My wife and I woke up Thursday morning, car packed ready to make the drive east when I checked the pass report. All passes were closed! I’m typically a patient guy, but my lack of touring this year (or any skiing for that matter) has been difficult to swallow (especially after living in Whitefish, MT, last winter and knocking off 75+ days of skiing.) Not knowing when the passes would open, and fearing they actually wouldn’t, we opted for plan C (plan A, to head to Revelstoke Mountain in British Columbia, had already been scrapped), to spend some time with the family up at Whistler/Blackcomb.

I love the Whistler area. The backcountry skiing is truly remarkable and pretty much endless. Between the terrain you can access from Whistler or Blackcomb, to the peaks above and beyond Pemberton, you can spend a lifetime ski touring there and never hit it all. But this trip ended up being different too. Why? Because Whistler hasn’t been getting pounded like the rest of the PNW. Whistler/Blackcomb need a lot of snow to cover the fun terrain and they just haven’t been getting it. I don’t need to spend mucho dinero to ski groomers with 24,000+ people. I’ll pass. But that didn’t stop me from gazing up at the surrounding peaks while out skate skiing, waiting, patiently, for the day when I can tour again.

With the holidays over and the madness of trying to get photographs prints out the door for folks, I was looking forward to time in the mountains. Now, unfortunately, it’s pissing rain in the Cascades.

I should point out, that although we didn’t make downhill turns while at Whistler, we did enjoy some exhausting days of skate skiing at the new Olympic Park nordic center just south of the village. Very nice.

7 Jan ’09 by

Not What You Want To Hear

I just received the following email from a friend at the Northwest Avalanche Center. The email was originally sent by the owner of North Cascades Mountain Guides, Larry Goldie. As an avid backcountry skier, this is not what I want to hear.

Hello Skiers,

There is currently a set of circumstances in the backcountry that we
want to make sure folks are well aware of.

The issue is this:
The level of Avalanche danger in the North Cascades right now is
perfectly set to kill…being high, (not Extreme) the snow pack is
releasing natural slides at an inconsistent rate…we are not seeing a
wide spread natural cycle. This being the case, human caused slides
are catching recreationalists off guard both in the ease of triggering
and in the size and severity of the slides. It is our belief that the
avalanche report from NWAC is not making this clear enough, instead
these facts are somewhat hidden in the text of the report. Suffice it
to say that this is a snowpack that has not existed here in at least
the last couple of decades. Slides are releasing on a weak layer at or
near the ground (the entire snowpack is releasing, full depth!) This is
a wide spread weakness that becomes very dangerous above 4,000 to 5,000
feet of elevation on all aspects and especially on lee slopes where
wind loading has occurred. This in combination of lack of snow at some
of our traditionally safe touring areas is pushing people into terrain
that is not manageable given the conditions.

A cavalier attitude about this snowpack will put you in your grave as
it did for twelve snowmobilers throughout the west last Sunday. In the
Methow Valley alone there were four reported near misses between Sunday
and Monday. (not counting the one fatality!) In these instances people
were caught, carried, and/or injured by avalanches…some of these
people were highly educated in snow science and were using practices
usually known to be safe. One such group was not even in avalanche
terrain, they were in flat terrain beyond the runout zone and were
caught by a large slide from far above.

If you or people you know have been out within the last week in
avalanche terrain, you too have dodged a bullet. We recommend
that people stay clear of avalanche terrain (on or above you) or avoid
the backcountry all together until a significant warm up and/or rain
event occurs to sufficiently stabilize the snowpack. We should not be
surprised if more people are killed by avalanches in the coming days or
weeks.
Please consider other forms of recreation until this lethal snowpack
settles out.

Finally please forward this on to other folks who would benefit from
this information.

For anyone heading out into the backcountry, be careful.

31 Dec ’08 by

Backcountry Skiing Photo Of The Day

Winter has officially arrived here in the Pacific NW. Besides a few breaks here and there, it’s pretty much been snowing for the past two weeks. This is great for the snow pack, but unfortunately the backcountry is hard to reach and scary to be in at the moment. We’re not alone. The other day there was an inbounds avalanche at Jackson Hole; yesterday 8 snowmobilers were buried in a separate incident outside of Fernie, BC.

So onto brighter things, literally. This photo was shot on a beautiful sunny day in the Kettle Range in eastern Washington. For a limited time, this photo can be purchased as a 16×24 fine art print for only $75. Mounted on canvas for only $145! Free shipping anywhere in the US.

Stay tuned for more backcountry skiing photo specials!

29 Dec ’08 by

Cross Country Skiing in Seattle

I never thought I would be skate skiing to breakfast…in Seattle!

Ok, so it’s not exactly an epic backcountry ski tour. But when you consider having to be aware of what’s coming around that next blind corner, it’s almost like exploring a new mountain.

And more snow is on the way!

23 Dec ’08 by

Skiing Pic Of The Day: Kettle Range, WA

Snow is finally starting to fall here in the Pacific Northwest and soon enough we should all be enjoying some backcountry ski tours. For now I’ll take what I can get, even if it’s a couple ski photos from past trips.

This shot was snapped on a three-day ski tour to the Snow Peak hut in eastern Washington. Accessed from Sherman Pass in the Kettle Range, the terrain is relatively mellow but offers great runs and dry snow. Sometimes you get lucky and this was one of those days.

More to come…

14 Dec ’08 by

How Bad Is It? Bad Enough to Run Up Mt Si

It’s that bad. Dec 7th, 2008, and still no snow in the Washington Cascades. So what’s a backcountry skier to do? How about go for a trail run up Mt Si? Sounds like fun right? We’re getting desperate, but at least the 4,000 ft climb up Mount Si was under clear blue skies and afforded beautiful views of the snowless peaks.

But wait…it’s raining in Seattle and it’s cold out. There’s more…an arctic front is rolling in from the north and freezing levels are going to drop! Could it be happening?!?!?

9 Dec ’08 by

Think Outside the Box: Beautiful & Inspiring Winter Landscape & Skiing Photos For the Holidays!

Time is running out on holiday shopping. Which is kind of scary, because with Christmas only a couple weeks away, there still is barely any snow in them hills! I woke up this morning, as I do every day, looked out the window and the Olympic Mountains are bare bare bare. It will come they say.

In the meantime, browse our growing selection of backcountry skiing photos (many of which do not contain skiers at all but beautiful landscapes encountered during our ski tours as well.)

Photography prints are available in many sizes, including true fine art prints mounted on canvas.

4 Dec ’08 by

Mt Rainier Backcountry Ski Tour

There a lot of folks here in the PNW who actually ski year-round. I’m not one of them. But I do love backcountry skiing and there really is nothing like that first ski tour of the year. Despite a pretty abysmal start to the winter, we were lucky to hit Mt Rainier on a very good day considering.

I always have the problem of trying to keep up with the group while fumbling with my camera in an attempt snap photographs. This day was no exception, but it didn’t matter. “The Mountain” was beautiful (as it always is, good visibility or not.)

I love winter. I love backcountry skiing. Now, where the hell is the snow!

28 Nov ’08 by

Did someone say SNOW?

It wasn’t so long ago that I was actually looking forward to the onset of spring. An epic winter in Whitefish, Montana, left me secretly yearning for sunny days and warm temps. Let me rephrase that, I just wanted the temps to rise above freezing so I could start training for what would be an epic 7-day mountain bike stage race, the BC Bike Race. Oh how times have changed.

It’s the third week of November in the Pacific Northwest and oh how little snow there is in those there mountains. But finally, finally I woke up this morning, looked out the window and saw this…

First snow of the year…Olympic National Park

It’s not much, but it’s snow. Which means only one thing…it’s time to go skiing. After mulling over some telemetry data, our group has decided the first ski tour of the year will be enjoyed on the flanks of Mt Rainier. Which of course meant something else…time to organize the backcountry gear. Yikes.

Do I have everything? The backcountry pack.

I recommend everyone heading out for their first backcountry ski day, to dump all their gear on the floor and really look at it. That’s a lot of crap we have to carry for just a day on the mountain.

But if only it were that easy. By dumping everything on the floor, I was able to slowly add missing gear as the night wore on. Headlight, sun screen, first aid, new batteries for the avalanche tranceiver…I think it’s all there.

23 Nov ’08 by

Are You A Hoar?

One of the many benefits to backcountry skiing in the Pacific Northwest (besides tons of snow and huge amounts of terrain) is we don’t have to worry AS MUCH about hoar frost. Which is why, while living in Whitefish, Montana, last winter, I was always a bit nervous ski touring. Although I wouldn’t say Whitefish (and nearby Glacier National Park) is a true continental snowpack, much of the snow that falls contains less moisture than here. Furthermore, calm, clear and bitterly cold nights are far more common, which in turn leads to the formation of hoar frost. This of course means super sketchy backcountry skiing. Case in point…

Nasty nasty hoar frost

We encountered this layer of hoar frost during a ski tour just outside Glacier National Park. Fortunately we uncovered this while traversing a pretty mellow slope. Regardless, our goal for the day was quickly modified and we stuck to some safer slopes.

It should be noted though that this layer was very localized. Matter of fact, it was present for only about 50 vertical yards, right below a small cornice on an area of the slope that didn’t get hammered by the wind.

It’s safe to say if you’re into ski touring, you’ve heard of hoar frost. It’s one of the main factors in avalanches and one of many reasons to keep on eye on conditions throughout the year in your area. Go to our Avalanche website page to find a link to your local avalanche center.

19 Nov ’08 by