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Lou Dawson's Backcountry Skiing Weblog
July 25 -- 2005
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Inside the cave,
the kids were wriggling around like they were born to it. Training
for backcountry skiing? Everything helps.
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July 23 -- 2005
Summer Vacation - Local Style
Started the summer vacation yesterday with spectating the NORBA mountain bike nationals up at Snowmass Ski Resort. The downhill was worth watching and fun to photograph, though the chances of being hit by a flying bicycle or rider were pretty good.
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| We watched a couple of heats of the Expert class (one step below Pro). These guys were photogenic. They didn't have quite the gear or technique of the pros, but that made for some exciting action. You could get as close as you dared. One guys bicycle flew about 30 feet after a fall and my son had to dodge it. Cool, an activity where spectating is a risk sport. Perfect for the off season. And yep, bicycles don't cause any environmental damage. |
July 20 -- 2005
Rating Backcountry Skiing Routes with D System
Are you saying "make it stooooop" when it comes to D System development? It continues to get revisions and, I hope, improvements. Check it out. Join the discussion at the Couloir forums or fire me a private email with your comments.
July 19 -- 2005
Summer at Backcountry Skiing Huts
Visited the 10th Mountain Division Margy's Hut yesterday, doing some photography and whatnot for Jaywalker Lodge website (they're using the 10th Huts for their outdoor program). Located just below timberline in Colorado's stupendous Sawatch mountains, Margy's is best known as a backcountry skiing destination, but it is open in the summer and highly recommended. You can drive to within a few hundred feet of the hut and use it as a base camp for mountain biking or wilderness hiking -- or chain the hut with a few others in the system and do a long bicycle or horse trip through the Sawatch.
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Margy's Hut, July in Colorado. |
July 15 -- 2005
Black Diamond and Scarpa to Part Ways
This just in as a press release from Backbone
Media, edited for the blog:
Black Diamond Equipment Ltd., manufacturer and distributor of climbing and backcountry gear, and SCARPA, an international maker and seller of mountain footwear, today announced the termination of their longtime working relationship at the end of 2005. Peter Metcalf, CEO & Co-Founder of Black Diamond explains, "Over the past eighteen years, Black Diamond together with SCARPA have brought innovation to the market and as a result have dramatically evolved the sports we serve. We are immensely proud of that." Metcalf continues, "At the same time, the marketplace is evolving and both BD and SCARPA realize the partnership that led to our past success is not the best path for the future. Thus, we agreed to terminate amicably."
Andrea Parisotto, the new President of SCARPA North America, Inc., comments, "We believe in the North American market and hope to better recognize and serve their specific demands. SCARPA will open SCARPA North America Inc. in Boulder, Colorado effective immediately." Chris Clark has been chosen as Sales and Marketing Manager for SCARPA NA. Clark has extensive experience, including retail work at Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder and field and consulting experience with Black Diamond and Backcountry Access.
Lou's comments: I heard a rumor that BD was going to have their own line of boots made in Europe! If that happens it'll add some interest to a part of the industry that's been a bit ho-hum of late. I can't think of better guy than Chris Clark to be working for Scarpa NA. Chris is an excellent skier and alpinist, and really knows gear. But wonder upon wonder, Chris as 9-to5? I'll have to call him and give him some grief -- and congratulations!
July 14 -- 2005
Summer Backcountry Skiing in Colorado
Yesterday we got up to Castle Peak, a fourteener with a large permanent snowfield known as Montezuma Glacier. The summit ski descent route is out, so we didn't do a summit climb and instead did some backcountry skiing on the snowfield (II D5 R2) and practiced our ice axe self-arrest technique. I used the new Naxo NX21 heavy duty randonnee bindings -- they tested out fine. We didn't do much vertical, but had fun and made our July goal for "turns all year." FYI, the 4x4 approach road to Montezuma is open to within about 1/4 mile of the summer parking, and looks like it will open the rest of the way in a few days after more snowmelt. The road is rough (the way we like it), 4-wheel-drive and good clearance are mandatory.
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Louie on the Montezuma Glacier, Castle Peak summit to left. |
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| The backcountry snow surface on Montezuma varied from somewhat runneled and cupped to quite smooth. We're in the middle of a heat wave, "slurppie" is the best single word description of conditions. Was it worth it? Yep. But then, as Louie says, "a bad day of skiing is better than the best day at school." |
July 11 -- 2005
Uncompahgre Peak, Colorado
On Saturday in Lake City, Colorado it appeared the San Juan mid-summer monsoons had begun, as we heard thunder at 10:00 in the morning. So we opted to not make the long drive around to Wilson Peak where we'd planned a time consuming ridge scramble that would expose us to lightning hazard. Instead we wheeled the short (4 mile) jeep trail to the Nellie Creek Trailhead and climbed fourteener Uncompahgre Peak. After a night in a beautiful camp spot near the trailhead, we enjoyed a wildflower hike in the huge basin leading up to Uncompahgre's summit cap and scrambled the last few hundred feet of steep scree to another sublime San Juan summit. The trail was improved in 1997 and is holding up well. In the early days there was no defined trail up the loose rock of the summit cap. That's changed, and a well defined (though still somewhat loose) trail now cuts up the west side of the summit cap, intersects the south ridge again just below the summit, and follows the ridge to the top. (Incidentally, we were wrong about the monsoons and it turned out to be a bluebird day during which you could have climbed all afternoon.)
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| In the alpine, nearing Uncompahgre's summit block. The trail goes around the far left end of the block, then climbs steep scree on the west face. |
While hiking the stunning alpine bowls below Uncompahgre, I was amazed to to see how much of the tundra has healed from hiker abuse. More, it was hard to imagine that a jeep trail once ran through areas where a clean single-track cuts through pristine tundra. Green mythology holds that alpine tundra takes hundreds of years to heal, but given correct conditions, it appears that's frequently not the case. Another enviro-lie bites the dust.
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| Oodles of wildflowers such as Parrys Primrose and Marsh Marigold abound in the alpine basins of the Nellie Creek headwater. This pristine alpine area maintains its character while being visited by thousands of people every summer. It's amazingly durable and resilient. But if you want virtually no people and an even more edenic environment, hike one ridge over to the north and most days you'll be totally by yourself in more of that "crowded and over-used Colorado backcountry" that certain individuals and political groups like to whine about. |
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| The Charmoz is incredibly waterproof by virtue of a Gortex layer. That probably makes the boot a bit less breathable than straight leather or mesh, but is incredibly nice for snow climbing or hiking in long-lasting rain storms. |
Boot report: The Charmoz GTX was a good boot for this sort of alpine hiking.
The light weight is a joy, and the flexible uppers were very comfortable even though I'd only worn the boot one other time for a short walk.
Downside was the black rubber rand heated up much in the sun my toes actually stung. That could be problematic for me, as many treks I do (such as our Wind River, Wyoming backpack trips), involve hours on scorching access trails.
I've not found any other boot that combines the fit of the Charmoz with its sweet sole flex and feather weight, so suffering through a bit of heat is probably worth it. More, having that much rubber over your toe allows the Charmoz to be lightweight and still durable, adds water resistance for snow climbing, and helps if you use the boot for moderate rock climbing (during peak scrambles and such).
Other gear on this trip: For car camping we enjoyed our Big Agnes Crystal sleeping bags. For the climb Lisa tried out an Alpine Vapor lightweight climbing pack by Granite Gear. All nice stuff we were happy with. One of the best items we've been hauling for car camping is a small gas powered chain saw I picked up at Wal-Mart a few years ago. It's just a little el-cheapo, but saves a huge amount of time getting firewood, and makes short work of clearing the occasional log that's fallen across a jeep trail or campsite access spur. Thanks to poor management, our Colorado forests are so choked with deadwood you owe it to the environment to at least clean them up a little when you go camping. If nature was allowed to run its course this would be taken care of by forest fires. Now most forest fires are quickly extinguished, we have few controlled burns, and even selective logging that would help thin the forest is viewed by many people as evil. Result, artificial deadwood choked forests that are getting noticeably worse as the decades march by. Get your own chain saw, enjoy your campfire, and do your part to help the forest!
July 8 -- 2005
Back to the San Juans
We're headed back down to Colorado's San Juan mountains this weekend. Planning on climbing a route on fourteener Wilson Peak to research private property issues. Turns out Wilson is another mountain with a bunch of private land crossed by some of its more popular climbing routes. We'll see how it looks and report back.
I needed a new pair of summer mountain boots so we've got some new gear to test. Scarpa sent me a pair of Charmoz GTX, an incredibly lightweight and comfortable boot that appears perfect for rough backpacking and peak scrambling (not to mention spring backcountry ski approaches). Look for a report on Monday. If they work well will give them an extended test backpacking trip in a few weeks.
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Scarpa Charmoz GTX |
July 7 -- 2005
Youngest Extreme Skiers in Colorado?
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Christian Kloser
in Holy Cross Couloir. |
On July 1st, the Kloser family of Vail made a high camp below Mount of the Holy Cross, a Colorado 14er known for its easterly cross shaped feature consisting of a couloir and horizontal snowfield.
The next day, Mike Kloser and his progeny, Heidi, age 12, and Christian, age 11, climbed and backcountry skied the Cross couloir, one of Colorado's most well known extreme ski routes (IV D11 R3). Even at their early age, Mike's well prepared team had years of practice under their boots. They'd previously climbed numerous 14ers, were well versed in snow climbing techniques such as self-arrest, and as ski-town residents have the requisite downhill skills for just about any descent. While skiing such terrain is not for everyone (or every family), it's gratifying to see the practice and preparation that led up to the Kloser's descent. I've always advocated taking a careful and serious approach to our Colorado 14ers, nice to see the Klosers doing the same -- and reaping the rewards!
Mike Kloser is one of Colorado's most gifted athletes, he's known for his success in endurance sports and is a member of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.
According to Kloser's wife Emily, who was also along on the trip (but didn't ski):
On Friday evening July 1st, we hiked in
and camped at
tree line just below Bowl of Tears. Heidi, age 12, and Christian,
age 11,
carried all their own equipment in on the sometimes tedious and mosquito
ridden climb. We set out at 6 am July 2nd for the Cross. Two teams
were ahead of us but Mike picked a great route and we were now leading
the groups. At 7:42 we arrived at the bottom of the Cross Couloir.
Mike rigged some safety ropes across the couloir. Two climbers set
out at 7:55, then Mike, Heidi and Christian and two other climbers
began the ascent at 8:05. The kids, with their skis on their backs,
crampons on boots and ice axes in hand, passed the climbers ahead
and climbed out of the couloir right at 9:00am. I waited at the ski
out since I recently had ACL surgery (and was relieved that I had
an excuse not to ski the Cross.)
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Heidi and Christian Kloser
skiing Cross Couloir. |
With the snow condition as close to perfect as they get for this time of year, the three clicked in to their bindings and began the ski. After stopping several times so dad could get more photos, they were back down to my location in the couloir. The first words from Heidi were, "Let's go do it again!"
On a serious note: This was not a whim. Mike had carefully planned this for years. The kids have practiced their "self-arrest" skills on steep snow fields for years. They have climbed 30 of the 14eers. They know how to move quickly and efficiently on talus and steep slopes. They are both very solid and accomplished skiers. And most importantly, it was something they wanted to do.
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| Mount of the Holy Cross, Cross Couloir is the vertical slot, lower cliff portion is not usually skied though it fills in during some years. Image from Dawson's Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners. |
July 6 -- 2005
Castle Peak Backcountry Skiing -- Guest Blog
Mike Marolt sent this in a few days ago:
Hi Lou: Wow, on a last minute whim, Steve and I decided to get up early on the 4th to check out the skiing. We skied from the summit of Castle Peak down the north face couloir. The first third was a bit rough, but the rest was awesome! After skiing the main north face we hiked a bit up the east ridge just to see the couloir off the east shoulder of Castle. The snow was very hard and smooth. So after getting shut out last month, we finally got that. And it was worth the wait. With the summer melt, it was steep especially over a couple of bulges, and fairly narrow. It is a great shot with the rock walls towering over on both sides, much like the north face of La Plata but totally straight and a bit steeper. But the snow was great, and it gave us close to 2,000 feet of backcountry skiing to the valley below. Then we had a 15 minute hike back to the truck at the top of the switch backs above the Mace Hut.
It use to be a family tradition to backcountry ski 4th of July Bowl (Independence Pass) on the 4th, but for the past 15 or 20 years the snow has just not been around this time of year. So Castle summit to (almost) bumper, with quality like those two couloirs, was unbelievable. The Elks still have a ton of snow and I believe there will be quality skiing until it starts to snow again in a month or two.
July 5 -- 2005
Randonnee Racer Heather Paul Dies in Climbing Accident
We just got sad news that alpinist and randonnee racer Heather Paul died this past Friday (July 1) in a climbing accident in the Tetons. She was descending Cloudveil Dome with her friend Susie Schenk. Heather was an active backcountry skier and the North American randonnee racing overall winner in 2003. (Note that another well known backcountry skier is known by the same name. The other Heather is known for her telemark skiing, and was not involved in this accident.) We offer heartfelt condolences to Heather's family and friends.
July 5 -- 2005
Climbing Colorado Fourteeners
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| Spent the weekend down around Lake City, Colorado. Mr. Guidebook Writer got in some trail research. This is the intersection of the new CFI (Colorado Fourteeners Initiative) Wetterhorn trail with the main Matterhorn Basin trail. I'm logging the GPS data for an update of my southern peaks guidebook. Louie and Cody (a Camp Redcloud staffer) to left. We had an excellent climb on Wetterhorn. Met some friendly fellow climbers on top, and enjoyed excellent weather. The new trail is beautiful up to the SE ridge. Above there it still needs work. Wetterhorn has an interesting 4th class pitch just below the summit. Most people climb this without a rope, but it always surprises me how serious this pitch actually is. If you slipped you'd probably take a long fall and likely be hurt or worse. |
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| On the trail in the morning. Lisa (at back) is trying out a Marmot pack called La Meije. This is a ski pack but it works well for anything -- Lisa claims it's the most comfortable pack she's ever used -- seriously. We'll detail it here in the next few days. |
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| The Marmots of Matterhorn Basin added an element of humor to the day. This guy was splayed on a warm rock, just watching the world go by. I fully expected an eagle to pick him off while I watched, as he didn't seem to want to move for anything. The amount of digging these guys do is phenomenal. Now that CFI has fixed the human damage to Matterhorn Basin, is it time to wonder how much erosion the marmots are causing? From what I saw I'd say they're doing more environmental damage than we pesky climbers. But of course they're "natural" so that doesn't count. Or perhaps CFI should send some professional trappers up to Matterhorn? |
July 1 -- 2005
Happy 4th Weekend!
We wish everyone a terrific 4th of July weekend. We're off to southern Colorado and the San Juan mountains again. Leaving the skis behind and doing some 14er climbs to help with guidebook updates and such. Meanwhile, the D System ski and snowboard backcountry descent rating system continues to improve. If you haven't done so already, please check it out and contribute. Best place for feedback is an ongoing topic over on the Couloir forums (use link in menu bar to left).
June 30 -- 2005
Holy Backcountry Skiing -- and Turns All Year
It's been well reported that the late Pope John Paul II (given name Karol Wojtyla) was a skier, but a recent Skiing Heritage obit, Seth Masia tells the rest of the story. "...In his youth, and into middle age Wotyla had a reputation as an earn-your-turns skier. An indefatigable hiker and kayaker, he scorned lifts and preferred to climb..." In his later years, Masia writes, Wojtyla rode lifts more frequently as injuries and age slowed him down, but he "preferred to ski off-piste, and was quoted as saying 'it's unbecoming of a cardinal to ski badly.'" One can only wonder what the Pope would have said about telemarking: perhaps "it's a turn -- not a religion!"
As for turns all year, here we are coming up to July. With a good skiing June under our belts, we're going to try making a few runs over the next months so we can get TAY for 2005. It's not as easy to do that in Colorado as other places -- but that just makes it more fun. The trick is to get a few summer turns the first days in August up at Montezuma or St. Mary's Glacier, then towards the end of September pray for snowfall that will smooth out the summer snow surface, which by then can become virtually unskiable.
June 29 -- 2005
Sleeping Bags for Backcountry Skiing
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Marmot Fusion |
Time for some gear blogging. As always, the Dawson clan continues their search for useful sleeping bags. We need big comfy car-camp bags; slim mummy bags for lightweight backpacking; cooler bags for hut interiors; huge ones for backcountry skiing camping. Back as a young lad in my formative days as a mountaineer, I briefly worked for a nascent backcountry gear company in Aspen, Colorado. It was the early 1970s, and synthetic insulation (Polarguard) had realized its place in the outdoor equipment toolbox. Synthetic made what were arguably the best sleeping bags and parkas for real-world use because unlike down it still performed in wet conditions. But synthetic was heavy. It still is. Even the best synthetic fill is noticeably heavier than down for a given warmth sleeping bag or garment, and it's still harder to pack.
During my stint as a gear nurd, I conjured up the concept of building sleeping bags and parkas with both down and synthetic, thus combining the best of both worlds. So we built a few "hybrid" items with down on the inside next to body warmth, and a layer of Polarguard synthetic on the outside where it could deal with moisture attacks. The concept worked amazingly well. I still have an expedition parka we made that I'd take to Denali tomorrow -- thirty years after we sewed it up in the basement under the Aspen grocery store.
Enter the millennium -- and Dualmax. It took three decades, but the down/synthetic combo concept is finally in the mainstream gear market, and elegantly executed. It works this way. Overseas manufacturing company Tungsang International developed the process to make Dualmax product using high-tech components such as Primaloft, lightweight partitioning fabric to control the down layer, and more. Companies such as Marmot and Big Agnes have their designs made by Tungsang, using the Dualmax technology.
For summer backpacking we favor the Marmot Fusion, a Dualmax bag that's slim and versatile. At this time we have a Fusion out for testing in the Colorado San Juan mountains, on a backpack trip with a group of teenagers (good test, if you ask me). Praise goes to Marmot for using Dualmax to make a no compromise bag for the core backpacker. We're hoping Marmot comes up with more versions of Dualmax sleeping bags and perhaps some jackets in the near future -- this is a winning combo of design and material that will work well for all backcountry skiing applications.
We've also got a couple of Big Agnes Dualmax bags in play. The Crystal model uses 650 fill down in the Dualmax system (Marmot uses 600) for a bit more puff. Big Agnes sleeping bags are all designed to use your sleeping pad as the bottom insulation (there is no fill material in the bottom side of their bags). The idea is you slip a full-length pad into a slot on the bottom of the bag, and you move inside the bag while tossing and turning, rather than having the bag move with you as one tends to do in a classic mummy bag. The comfort of the Big Agnes system can't be denied, but it takes some getting used if you grew up with narrow mummy bags that cling to your body shape as you toss and turn. We prefer the Crystal's semi-rectangular shape for automobile or pack animal supported camping, but we like a slimmer bag while backpacking, to yield a higher warmth/weight ratio and the option of using a minimal sleeping pad.
Back to ancient history: What amuses me about today's blog is that beyond dual fill technology, that early 1970s gear company I worked for in Aspen back in my "day" also pioneered none other than making sleeping bags with integrated pads in the bottom. The outfit was called Aspen Alpine Equipment. It was started by a hippy named Mountain Rick who arrived in Aspen sometime in the late 1960s. Rick was known around 60s Aspen for his mountain boots, backpack, enjoyment of free love, and tendency to head off into the the wilderness now and then for some lightweight backpacking. Mountain Rick was a thinker and had a lot of good ideas about gear, but like many visionaries his business skills left something to be desired (folks such as myself were not much help in that area either). Nonetheless, I'm sure the gear innovations Rick and others instigated in those days filtered into the collective mind, and resulted in much of what we're seeing these days.
June 27 -- 2005
Naxo Backcountry Skiing Binding Name
Backcountry Access has resolved their search to name their new beefy binding for backcountry skiing. Wonders, they decided to not give it a new name, but to continue calling it the NX21 with no other monikers (it had been provisionally named the NX21 "stomp" till trademark issues ensued). I applaud this decision, as it's always annoying when backcountry skiing products have weird multiple names. Now we can just call the thing the NX21 and be done with it. I hope. Meanwhile, we completed our torque testing of the NX21 a few days ago, results here.
New TAV tires: I achieved something close to samadhi today when I got to go tire shopping. The 03 Tacoma we built into a "TAV" came with stock tires about as thick as a piece of mountain money (otherwise known as toilet paper). To save real money we tried to wear them out before upgrading, but nearly every time we drove a high Colorado jeep trail we'd get a flat from a rock cut. After changing a tire in the rain a few weeks ago we'd had enough. Permission was granted for husband to upgrade tires to something worthy of the male side of the species, if not cromagnon. After looking at 10-ply meats worthy of monster trucks, reason broke through shopping bliss and I went with a set of relatively affordable Toyo 6-ply Open Country all terrain tires, LT rated. They're slightly taller than stock for a tad more ground clearance, and have a nice blocky tread. We'll give the Toyos a good on-road off-road test in the coming months and report back. I expect them to be much better. Interestingly, I didn't notice the Toyos being any more noisy or shaky during highway travel than the stock treads. But perhaps pride of ownership is blinding my senses -- or is it the shopping samadhi?
June 25 -- 2005
Non Release Snowboard Bindings Get A Pass
A recent lawsuit was decided in the favor of snowboard binding makers who's contraptions lock you in with no easy egress in the event of an emergency. The story is all too common: vibrant wonderful young person gets upside down in a tree well, head buried in powder, snowboard trapped above them. With tension on the bindings and difficulty reaching the latches while in a contorted position, they struggle and suffocate. More, anecdotal evidence suggests it's a Freddy Kruger nightmare being caught in an avalanche with a snowboard locked to both feet, limiting your ability to fight and dragging you down like cement boots.
Should snowboard bindings be easier to release, especially in the case of a trapped snowboard or backcountry avalanche?
Quite a few riders have told me YES, you should be able to easily activate some sort of mechanism that'll separate you from the big heavy slab tying your feet together. Some snowboarders have home-brewed devices that allow "ejection" in the event of an avalanche or trapped board. It looks like that'll have to continue. In light of the lawsuit being won by the binding makers, I doubt we'll be seeing safer snowboard bindings anytime soon.
June 24 -- 2005
Backcountry Skiing D System Still Improving
Thanks everyone for helping with the D System! Today's improvements include more example routes and some graphics. Check it out.
Lots of comments about yesterday's blog. Hamish checked in with this, "...heads up to anyone living in the west that thinks private property is inviolable." Joel offered this: ...I'm not too sure how I feel about the Supreme Court's ruling. I fear putting trust in government because of many poor decisions of the past. On the other hand, there probably are certain times when the economic health and stability of a community outweigh an individual's economic health and stability. However, most often, I would imagine that the individual's private property should be respected since they have obviously earned and paid for it..." And Dostie chimed in with a heads up on the fact that much of this issue revolves around government need/greed for tax money. Someone also said I shouldn't expect to see more hemp outlets in Boulder anytime soon, but I'm not so sure about that. As for converting Aspen's Hotel Jerome to affordable price controlled "employee" condos, don't be surprised.
June 23 -- 2005
Own Land Near a Ski Area? Look out!
San Juan County, Colorado commissioners recently voted unanimously to condemn property near the controversial Silverton Ski Area. The stated reason for the condemnation, according to a Durango Herald article, is that property owner Jim Jackson made it difficult to perform avalanche control work necessary for public safety on a public road. It's no secret that Jackson was in the habit of whining about skiers trespassing on his property, and locals were getting tired of hearing about it -- especially as it began to appear that the new ski area might be experiencing a modicum of success -- or at least providing something amusing in a town where previous winters harkened to the isolation of places like Barrow, Alaska (only without an airport). Thus, this appears to be a case of Jackson pushing a bit too hard against something that's popular (including his bringing a lawsuit). Why he couldn't be more accommodating is a mystery; perhaps he was hoping for condemnation and the automatic sale at "market value" that would ensue. Indeed, the hodge of steep avalanche terrain and mining claims that comprises Jackson's property didn't appear to have much development potential -- other than skiing.
Adding more interest to the situation, today the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that local governments have broad power to take over private property to make way for private development that is claimed to have some sort of public benefit.
Socialists and trusters of government "wisdom" may applaud all the above, but caution is advised. Much of our country's economic success (which all we "public" benefit from, no matter our political viewpoints) is based on private property rights, and erosion of such is cause for concern. As a recreation advocate I'm of course happy to see government support of Silverton Ski Area's needs, but could my house be condemned because it's in the way of a cool skate park that's being built, or a shopping mall, or a new ski area? Prior to today I would have laughed at this assertion, but now I'm not so sure.
One thing is certain, Colorado's big government mountain towns like Aspen and Boulder will probably celebrate all this in the streets. If they don't like what's going on with some private property, it's easier than ever for them to simply condemn it and take control. Aspen needs more million dollar employee housing units? Condemn the Hotel Jerome and convert it into price controlled condos for "public benefit." Boulder wants more places to shop for hemp clothing? Condemn a few houses and turn them into stores (ahh, I can already smell the patchouli oil). Vail wants a bigger ski area? Grab some property. And on.
June
22 -- 2005
So Many Backcountry Blog Items....
And so little time... Just got of the phone with Brian Litz, well known backcountry skiing publisher, founder of Backcountry Magazine, etc. He's running his own publishing company, and buried in work bringing a new Colorado ice climbing guidebook to publication. In his words: "trial by fire." Brian sent me some previews of the book, and let me just say it blows anything else totally out of the water. Should be out by fall. Budget for new ice tools, you'll need 'em when you see this.
Brian also reported some nice Colorado 14er descents he'd been logging, and I'm still hearing the same from others. How long is this spring going to continue providing great Colorado skiing? Ho hum, off to another world-class ski descent in Colorado -- woops, what's wrong with that credit card? Refused? What, you mean I actually have to work and not ski? Shucks, I used to pray for snow, now I pray it'll melt so I don't go broke!!
D System backcountry skiing rating system continues to evolve. Lots of editing and new example routes. Thanks everyone!
Had a fun conversation yesterday with friend and ski writer Jay Cowan. You might recall his byline from dozens of magazine articles over the years. Jay is a skilled wordsmith with a knack for finding interesting angles. He's been an active backcountry skier for years, with lots of time in the European Alps (see Alps book he wrote) as well as his home mountains of Colorado. Jay just took over as the head Editor at Sojourner Magazine, an Aspen publication that covers goings on about the Roaring Fork Valley (Aspen). With Jay's love of all things skiing, expect to see more about our sport in Sojourner (they have no functional website at this time).
June 20 -- 2005
Colorado Backcountry Skiing Continues, D System Improves
Whew, I thought I'd get a blog breather by now, but it goes on and on. Excellent descents are still happening. This past Friday Pete Sowar and companions had another success on his Castle Peak, Colorado, South Face route (IV D17 R4).
A few days before that, Neal Beidleman and Bob Perlmutter made a surprisingly good late season descent of the Stammberger Route on North Maroon (Elk Mountains, Colorado, IV D15 R3). Neal is an excellent photographer and put together a nice slideshow that celebrates this fine route. His presentation is a large PDF (broadband only).
It's said that Colorado snow conditions are still quite variable, with solid compacted nieve on most aspects, but unconsolidated snow still lurking here and there, with possibility of dangerous wet slabs and large sloughs that may propagate to monster proportions.
I've been amused of late in hearing the term "slough management" in relation to this spring's Colorado backcountry skiing. I guess the idea here is that you're somehow in control of the "slough" you trigger. Perhaps this is so with perfect conditions, or on a steep face of solid maritime snow such as that of the Alaskan Chugach. But you might need a reality check if you're using the term "slough management" for Colorado skiing. If you're getting the snow to move on a Colorado descent, there is a good possibility that it'll break above you (as happened recently to an individual on the Maroon Bells). More, small Colorado "sloughs" have a disturbing tendency to trigger larger slab avalanches that result in severe injury or death if you're involved. A better and more humble term for all this might be "slough guesswork."
Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information and opinion website. Lou's passion for the past 35 years has been alpinism and back country skiing -- and all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about backcountry skiing and snowboarding, and is well known as the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, otherwise known as the famous Fourteeners! Books and free back country information here, as well as tons of Randonnee rando telemark backcountry skiing info. All material on this website is copyrighted. Permission is required for reproduction, electronic or otherwise. That includes publication and display on other websites by whatever means. For more about this, PLEASE SEE OUR COPYRIGHT INFORMATION. Backcountry skiing is a dangerous sport. You may be killed or severely injured if you choose to do all forms of randonnée and randonnée skiing. The information on this website is intended only as general information for a variety of aspects of backcountry skiing and outdoor recreation. While the authors and editors of the information on this website make every effort to present useful information, due to human error the information contained within this website may be inaccurate, false, or out-of-date. By using the information provided on this website, you agree to absolve the owners of WildSnow.com of any liability for injuries or losses incured while using such information.
Always go backcountry skiing with a partner, and learn about avalanche safety before you ski outside of ski and snowboard resorts. The best season for this sport is late winter and spring, when the snowpack compacts and avalanche danger is more predictable. The Colorado wilderness backcountry skiing season reaches its prime in May and June. Maritime snow such as that of the Pacific Northwest may be less avalanche prone than continental snow of that such as Colorado and Wyoming. The California Sierra also provides a relatively reliable snowpack for backcountry skiing, snowboarders, snowmobilers, telemarkers and the like. Backcountry skiing is a wonderful sport, but it can transition in moments from wonder to tragedy. You agree to use any of this website's information, maps, photos, or binding mounting instuctions or templatates at your own risk, and waive Wildsnow.com its owners and contributors of any liability for use of said items. Keywords: Ski Information, Info, Outdoors, Wilderness Skiing, Randonnée and randonnée, Ski Mountaineering, also Ski Alpinismo and Backcountry Skiing. |
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