Category: Backcountry Skiing

A Little Bit of Backcountry

Posted by Brittany – February 2, 2012

Scary is just one of the words I’ve used to describe Colorado’s snowpack this year. With recent snowfall on top of thick unstable facet layers, this year is turning out to be the kind that makes you really think about your backcountry choices. Frank and I hazard to even venture to some of our winter standards. That being said, this weekend we decided to take a walk outside the gates for a bit of mellow terrain on Loveland Pass. We weren’t out for long, but we still took the time to get just a few pictures.

The sky was beautiful in the late afternoon.
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Hagar and Citadel in the distance.
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Kim.
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Frank.
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This backcountry experience had me hyper-alert compared to most others, simply due to the snow pack. While I love the backcountry and what it has to offer, Frank and I wish to stay safe and will be backing off from it for a while – likely until we head to Alaska in just a little over two weeks. Until then, enjoy the reviews and other food for thought we offer!

Video: Float Airbag in Action, Summit County 1.25.12

Posted by Frank – January 29, 2012

Check out this video of a slide near Montezuma just a few days ago. Apparently this was a run in a “friendly, winner-take-all” competition. Plenty to talk about regarding backcountry competitions in questionable terrain with the sketchy CO snowpack this year, but we’ll leave it up to commenters. Thankfully the BCA Float Airbag worked well…

Wonder if they sell the most important piece of backcountry gear here:

Kudos if you know what it is. Stay safe out there folks.

TR: Blue skies and and warm highs

Posted by Brittany – January 20, 2012

A week ago we were in the middle of a high pressure following a snow storm that dumped the first significant amount of snow we’d seen in over a month. Unfortunately, that same snow storm left us with wind that scoured our peaks. I headed out with my friends Mike, Rachel, and Grete, sticking to terrain below treeline, hoping to find decent snow in the sheltered trees.

As we skinned up, the windscouring was evident everywhere. And even though temperatures were forecasted in 20′s, it felt much warmer, as we all stripped down to our thermal layers.
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Mike dropped in first.
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Though the snow was certainly wind-affected, we did find some good turns. However, our turns were most abruptly interrupted when we hit old frozen tracks beneath the new snow.

Grete.
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Rachel.
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Mike.
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Though I enjoy blue skies, it’s certainly good to have the white clouds this week. With snow falling every day since Saturday, this season is finally starting to turn :)

State of the Snowpack 1-19-12

Posted by Frank – January 20, 2012

Things are bad in Colorado, Utah, and many other areas of the Western US right now. Everyone knows it. The snowpack right now comes right from an evil mad scientist’s worst dreams- almost exclusively rotten facets and dense windslabs. So it goes without saying that we’re toning it down here at 14erskiers, and hopefully everyone else will do likewise. The snowpack hasn’t looked like this in about 10 years- 2001/02 was a rough one, but I was luckily spending that winter in Whistler/Pemberton, enjoying a banner year there. We’ve enjoyed a string of relatively excellent years in Crested Butte, and we’ve been able to enjoy some fairly aggressive skiing in the backcountry as a result. In all likelihood, the backcountry this season has no chance of a full recovery- it will be dicey, possibly even in the spring.

The rime (or was it rain?) layer in the Anthracites yesterday:
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Skiing 7th bowl through the rime crust was interesting- Zach’s skis made the most fascinating sound skiing through it, and at first I thought it was his carbon DPS skis. But no, it was just a weird snowpack.
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So, we’ll be spending more time than usual at the resort. Heck, I’ve been spending most of my time on my tele gear. The bummer in this case is that the resort needs a ton more snow to get the steep stuff open, and once we do get snow all the steep terrain will likely slide right back down to the ground. There hasn’t even been enough snow this season for the bootpackers to stomp the sugar down in much terrain other than the Headwall and Teocalli bowl. So we’ll need some really big and prolonged storm systems to get much of the steeps open, and even then it’s doubtful that all of our terrain will open this season (i.e. 3rd bowl and the frontside and possibly even Phoenix/Spellbound).

Yes, I realize I’m being pessimistic, but the reality is that it is late January and Crested Butte Mountain Resort has recorded 40-some inches for the whole year. So we’re finalizing plans to get the heck out of here. Girdwood Alaska looks like our first stop in late February. I hope to find myself in BC at some point in March. April will hopefully find us in the Tetons and/or the Wind Rivers, and if all goes well, we’ll finish out the season on Rainier and other peaks in the Cascades. Suddenly, I’m looking forward to this winter again.

Gear Review: Black Diamond Shiva Boots with Intuition Liners

Posted by Brittany – January 12, 2012

Last winter, my beloved Scarpa Diva boots began to fall apart on me. I knew it was time to keep my eye out for a new pair of AT boots. The selection of women’s AT boots has grown significantly since I last purchased my Divas in 2008. Back then, I basically had two choices for “stiff” women’s AT boots: the Garmont Xena and the Scarpa Diva. Now, the choices are exponentially more plentiful.

I kept my eye out for sales and finally buckled down at the end-of-season sale at our local mountaineering shop, the Alpineer. I tried on a number of boots and also demoed a few pairs before determining that the Black Diamond Shiva was the right one for me.

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However, after using the boot for a few weeks without working out a few kinks, I developed a foot issue that stuck around for the rest of the spring. I had to return to my Divas to give the foot issue a break. I finally dug the Shivas back out of the closet last month.

Sizing
My feet are small and I typically use a shell size of 2 or 22.5 in an alpine ski boot. I prefer slightly larger boots for touring so I usually settle on a size 23 as most AT boots don’t come in a smaller size. The Scarpas and Garmonts I’ve used in the past have been slightly on the big side for me. However, I’d say BD’s sizing runs a tad small. A size 23 was much smaller than any size 23 I’d ever tried on before. I might have been better off with a size 23.5, but the Alpineer had none in stock at that time. However, I’ve been told that BD’s sizing has changed this year. Whether that’s true or not, I have not yet verified myself. As always, it’s best to try on the boots to determine which size is best for you.

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Whoa, New Snow!? 1.8.12

Posted by Frank – January 11, 2012

It snowed last weekend for the first time in a long, long time. Sure, it was only about 8″, but it felt more like 8′ considering the way we’ve been deprived of snowfall this season in the Crested Butte area. Brittany and I headed out to the Kebler Pass area, where amazingly people are still driving, to check things out. Beautiful light on a beautiful day:
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Brittany shredding it up:
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Given the state of this year’s snowpack, it didn’t take much new snow to increase the avalanche danger. You can see a small slab that broke loose, but didn’t move, in this photo:
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It will take a lot for avalanche conditions to improve this year in Colorado and Utah, so keep it mellow in the backcountry this year, ski the resorts, and travel to places with a better snowpack. Do a little snow dance- it sounds like we might have a better chance at snow in the near future.

New Year on Richmond 1.1.12

Posted by Frank – January 5, 2012

It’s been a long time since I posted anything, mostly because I haven’t been in the mountains much the past month or so. Since the skiing wasn’t very good in December, I took a small job in Denver, and followed that up with family Christmas visits. Surely the skiing would be better by the time I got back around New Year’s, I thought. Sadly, the skiing went from bad to worse as December wore on. Crested Butte, like much of the West from Utah to California, is in the midst of an extremely dry winter. Certainly the worst I’ve seen here since my arrival in 1996. Don’t be surprised when I do a bike trip report- sadly the biking is excellent right now.

In any case, Brittany and I will keep trying our best to keep the faith and have fun with what little snow we have. So rather than party hard on New Year’s eve, we stayed in and were joined by our friends Ben and Jonathan on a tour up Richmond. In addition to the lack of snow, we’ve also had a steady diet of strong winds, so rather than attempt to seek out powder, we were actually hoping for smooth wind buffed snow. We found some, as well as punchy crusts and scree-covered snow. The conditions weren’t all that surprising, but what may have been surprising was how much fun we still had despite it all. On with some photos…

Skinning:
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Front Range Frolicking (Dec 2011)

Posted by Brittany – January 4, 2012

Besides our Berthoud Pass tour, we did a bit more frolicking during our time in the Front Range over the holidays. One day we headed up Herman Gulch for a little tour.
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Our intended line, but strong winds kept us from venturing above treeline.
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TR: Berthoud Pass Flashbacks (28 Dec 2011)

Posted by Brittany – December 29, 2011

There is no doubt that the skiing conditions are uninspiring due to the season’s general lack of snow. But Frank and I are in the Front Range area visiting family for the holidays, and we decided to head to our old stomping ground – Berthoud Pass.
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As we made a quick stop in Downieville, wind blasted ice and gravel in our faces. I won’t deny that I nearly gave up just then. “Maybe we should just turn around and go back now.” But, we were almost there. Why not just stick it out and at least check out the actual conditions on Berthoud Pass? We were pleasantly surprised when we stepped out of the car on top of the pass- the hurricane we’d felt down valley was a mere breeze up high.

Frank and I last skied Berthoud Pass prior to the days of the warming hut. Ah, the memories of changing in the exposed parking lot, with snow and wind blowing all around, trying to buckle icy boots with frozen hands. Today, we decided to reap the benefits of this new shelter.
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So, the flashbacks of our old stomping ground continued as we began skinning.
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The views were beautiful despite the clouds and lack of snow.
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TR: Purple Palace (17 Dec 2011)

Posted by Brittany – December 20, 2011

Last week, a little bit of snow fell to “refresh” our current backcountry conditions. With Frank out of town, I headed out to Purple Palace with friends Sydney and Janae. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the near-foot of new snow that had fallen a couple of days prior.

Skinning.
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Enjoying the views near the top.
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