This past month has been wild. I've been super lucky to be given the opportunities to get out into the mountains everyday, with a whole host of interesting people. A few weeks ago, I was given the chance to hop onto the St. Michael's College's backcountry ski trip. My good friend and ski partner, Taylor "Yeti" Luneau, was organizing the whole thing and encouraged me to tag along. On an early Saturday morning, eight of us, loaded up two vans and booked it North, for a week of touring, none of us could have predicted.
Steve Charest, owner of Petra Cliffs and an AMGA guide, came a long to keep us safe and help us find the deep stuff. Snow pack observations were taken twice, daily and group meetings were held every morning and night, to keep everyone on the same page. Having a knowledgable guide with us really opened my eyes to how complex and dangerous backcountry ski travel can be and how important it is to get educated before stepping out into Mother Nature's playground.
After a morning of avalanche recovery drills, the pow hunt began and lasted through most of the week. Day 2, we totaled close to 4,500ft of vertical as we lapped an amazing south eastern face, that was stockpiled with face shots. The snow was way too good to bring the camera out as we slayed three different aspects of the bowl all day long; but, on Day 3, one of our more challenging days, the sun broke and I got some goods.
SMC Wilderness Program Leader and slayer of snow beasts: Camden Latimer.
The Yeti (Taylor Luneau) doing what Yeti's do...
Day 4, was certainly our longest day, as our approach to the base, totaled about 4 miles, but the sun came out and kept us warm all day.
AJ Clemens is one rad ski racer. We got him on a touring set, flipped his world around and this is what happened…every run!
The boy's going back for more!
Sam Davies was along for the trip, filming as we went. Check out his work!
https://vimeo.com/groups/knowthesnow/videos/90285706
After six days of skiing and the group totaling about 16,000 vertical ft, we arrived home, after a 12 stint in a school van, exhausted. I got one day to rest, then winter decided to stick around VT and we found ourselves back up by the border and on the hunt.
Sam, Ryan and I cruised up to one of our favorite spots in the NEK, explored a new zone and blasted pow all day long.
Sam Chalek sending it early on the first run.
The three of us poked around for a few hours, playing on all of the awesome features, the forest had to offer. We got real lucky with conditions and the stoke was pumping all day!
Ryan Kinner giving his 13/14 Helix a taste of some fresh.
The day ended with a whole lot of stomp. We found a 30 footer on our last skin out, we scoped it real quick and the bombs just started dropping.
And then he flew...
Sam Chalek did too..
These last few weeks of skiing have been the best all season! Big thanks to Taylor, Sam, Dane Steve, Cam, Ryan, the Bolton Valley Staff and the rest of the Canada boys, for keeping the stoke high and being such an integral part of my winter.
Hopefully, we'll be getting in some sick spring skiing, keep an eye out for more photos and the beginning our second season down in Queenstown, NZ. Back to QT in May!
More photos below.
Taylor and Steve, before checking the local report.
Riley chasing moose up in Canada.
Dane Weister flipping out in the sunshine.
Camden Latimer.