After a long day of traveling to from Crested Butte to Pemberton, I was glad to meet up with Frank who had left 6 days earlier, traveling by car with the snowmobile. We were both ready for the goods. A long (and annoyingly bumpy) snowmobile ride lead us to a sweet zone.
Frank’s day 2 in Pemberton featured a return to a peak I skied the last time I visited the area, but thankfully it’s a great mountain that even got some time in MSP’s movie Yearbook. Both Jon and Susan were able to join me, with their young baby watched over by Grandma, plus their friend Jim who crushed the snowmobile approach through the woods in over a meter of new snow. After that, it was nothing but pure gluttony- 6 laps on a roughly 2,000′ face with less than 20′ of climbing per lap. Just step off the snowmobile and go…
The face:
A few photos of Jon:
Nice spot to park a snowmobile:
Jon and Susan, psyched to be skiing together:
We skied in the same area the following day and I took this photo of our tracks on the O face. Yeah, it was good. Notice the figure 8′s thrown in by Jon and Jim just for kicks.
The video contains all 6 runs, with the bottom flat turns edited out. It also has one of the snowmobile tandems up, which were almost as much fun as the skiing on the way down. It’s a little long for a POV for some people, but it was also some spectacular skiing and I hope you enjoy it as it’s some of the best footage I’ve gotten (and getting photos on this face was next to impossible anyway)
O Face 2-20-11 from 14erskiers on Vimeo.
More Road Trip 2011 Posts:
Stevens Pass
No Sleep Spines
O Face
Pemby BC
Luna Creek
Trandem Trees
Whistler/Vancouver
Down Days and thoughts on snomo skiing
Dope Creek 1
Dope Creek 2
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As much as I love the skiing in Crested Butte, sometimes you just gotta get out of town and ski some different terrain. I’ll be spending the next 2-3 weeks up here in Pemberton, BC, but I needed to make a quick stop in Leavenworth, WA to visit my friend Stone Parker along the way. Stone makes amazing rings, and since Brittany and I are in the market for a couple of rings, I crashed at his house to talk shop and get guided around his home area of Stevens Pass while I was at it. First I had to check out the faux Bavarian village of Leavenworth. Nobody told me I was going to run into “Der Radhaus”, as the local ski shop is called, but everything in this town is named in some kind of “Germerican”, as I will choose to call this relative of “Spanglish”. Sort of cool and cheesy at the same time…
In any case, the skiing at Stevens didn’t disappoint. I’d long heard great things about the mountain, and as long as it isn’t raining, as it often does here in WA, Stevens sits solidly in my top ten list for North American Ski Areas. It never hurts to have an awesome guide like Stone, either. Some sampling of the terrain:
One of Stone’s friends:
Self-portrait somewhere in the vicinity:
It was hard enough chasing Stone around without stopping to take photos, so POV will have to suffice. Most of the video was a short hike from the area, although there is plenty of in-bounds terrain that is just as good. They’re just so spoiled here that the thought of skiing something with more than one track is nearly unthinkable.
Stevens Pass 2-17-11 from 14erskiers on Vimeo.
I tried to roll out of Steven’s with plenty of time to make it through the border crossing and arrive in Pemberton at a reasonable hour. Sometimes the border is a piece of cake, sometimes it’s a pain in the butt. Sadly, on this trip I got the latter, with a full search of the truck and accusations that I was moving to Canada. I tried to tell them I would have been taking a lot more skis and my bike as well if I was, but they weren’t buying it. Meanwhile, a storm was brewing in North Vancouver that continued all the way through Whistler. A couple of one-hour delays on the highway and a crazy game of “weave through the stuck cars” eventually got me to Pemberton around 3am- a 12 hour drive that usually takes half that. I snapped one photo during a good part of the drive- I’d have to call this drive one of the worst I’ve ever done:
In the end it was worth it, and we got to ski the beer spines (names will be withheld and made-up on this trip) the next day, but more on that later…
More Road Trip 2011 Posts:
Stevens Pass
No Sleep Spines
O Face
Pemby BC
Luna Creek
Trandem Trees
Whistler/Vancouver
Down Days and thoughts on snomo skiing
Dope Creek 1
Dope Creek 2
After last Saturday’s storm, we received quite a bit of wind here in the Crested Butte area, making for some tricky avalanche conditions which are starting to improve with our sunny weather, and of course finding the right aspects to ski has been a challenge as well. The heavily treed Pillow Palace seemed like a good sheltered choice, and we actually found some good skiing up higher as well. The Pillow Palace is an interesting ski, as you constantly traverse one way or the other looking for fun pillows to play on, skiing short pitches along the way. I know some people are over the POV thing, but it’s really the best way to document this kind of treed terrain. The few photos I did get are in a slideshow at the start of the POV. Hope you like it!
Pillow Palace 1-27-11 from 14erskiers on Vimeo.
Between our trip to Jackson and too much time spent skiing pow at the area, this TR is a little late, but still worthwhile. Axtel is probably my favorite mountain locally, with so many options including steep tree skiing that we can actually do in the winter in powder here in Colorado. 1st and 2nd bowls are tough to get good pictures of, so the POV is probably a better representation of the skiing we do there. It was deep (find Tom’s helmet):
Zach:
Adrian:
Zach:
Tom:
Zach:
Tom:
And my pillowy, sloughy POV (note to self: treat the sloughs with more respect up in Canada in a couple of weeks):
Axtel 1-14-11 from 14erskiers on Vimeo.
Today, I received an email from Bill Kerig. Many of you may know him for his book and film The Edge of Never, documenting Kai Peterson’s coming of age story in Chamonix. Anyone who has read Kerig’s book knows that he initially looked to friends and ski fans to raise money for his amazing documentary. Now, Kerig has a new muse- a documentary called Ready to Fly. This film tells the story of Lindsay Van and her ski jumping career, which is stifled by the fact that women’s ski jumping is not allowed in the Olympics for “medical reasons”. Ski jumping is the only sport in the Olympics that does not have a female competition. Kerig’s movie documents the efforts of female athletes at the forefront of women’s ski jumping who are trying their best to make it an official Olympic sport. As is the case with these admirable athletes, Kerig also is asking for support.
Hello,
Bill Kerig from The Edge of Never here. I’m writing to ask for your help on a new endeavor: www.GetReadyToFlyFilm.com
A year ago, I showed The Edge of Never to people in small theaters from Seattle to Vermont. In Rockport, Massachusetts, a sold-out theater laughed, cried, and kept me answering questions for hours. In Madison, Wisconsin, a Dad told me that he was headed straight home to hug his son. The film inspired some to embrace their friends, others to go skiing with their moms — many to live just a little bit more. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
After the tour, I started looking for another story that could inspire me (and hopefully, you) I found it in the story in Lindsey Van, who set out to conquer the world, only to have it line up against her. I found it in the story of Peter Jerome who saved his daughter’s ski jumping team, taking on a multi-billion-dollar foe, armed with only a Non-Profits For Dummies paperback. I found it in the story of women’s ski jumping, the only Olympic discipline that allows men to compete but not women. And I found it in the eyes of my own young daughter who is not a ski jumper, but hopefully will never be denied the chance to pursue any of her dreams, merely because she’s a girl.
I figured that this story that spoke so loudly to me would be a slam-dunk with sponsors and investors, studios and broadcasters. Six months later the constant door slams have put a hundred exclamation points on just how little I know.
This is a story of underdog outsiders who risk everything to upset and change the arcane, outdated ways of an unthinking establishment. And yet I was asking the establishment to support the message – repeatedly. I may be dumb, but I’m dogged.
Now, I’m trying something riskier than anything I’ve ever done: I’m asking all my friends for a little help.
They call it crowd funding, a fancy term for a simple concept: community coming together to create and inspire change — grassroots giving gone high-tech.
With a little bit of your help, I promise to make the best, most inspiring film that I can. And if you give even one dollar, I will list your name in the credits.
What I’m asking is 4 minutes and 13 seconds of your time to watch the pitch reel here: www.GetReadyToFlyFilm.com.
If it speaks to you and you want to help, donate at the site. I will be forever grateful.
If it doesn’t move you, maybe you can send this email on to someone it might touch.
Thank you for your continued support,
Bill Kerig
Director
Ready To Fly
Ready to Fly Trailer:
This film interests me for several reasons. First, I’m a firm believer in equality for everyone- whether it be gender, socioeconomic, or race-related. Second, I can identify with these women who have had to fight harder for something, simply because they lack a Y chromosome. Third, who doesn’t like an inspirational story? Fourth, my favorite quote comes to mind: “The greatest thing in life is doing what people say you cannot
do,” by Walter Bagehot. Fifth, it’s about skiing and female athletes who deserve their showroom for their sport. Though I have not seen Ready to Fly, knowing Kerig, its a genuine story full of laughter, triumph, obstacles, laughter, tears, and a lot of heart. I’m sure it’s destined to be great. Take time to support him and these female athletes if you can 
The Cement Mountain Trail starts from the summit of 12,201′ Cement Mountain. While the trail is difficult to follow at first, once it’s found the trail is quite distinct- almost a doubletrack by the bottom, in fact. I rode this trail for the first time a few years ago and thought it was OK- but for whatever reason I really liked this trail a lot this time around. If nothing else, how many rides start at the summit of a 12,000′ peak? I’ve hike-a-biked to the summit from the highpoint of the Julie Andrews trail as well as the top of the Roaring Judy trail- either way it’s a long hike. This summer may be the last to legally ride this trail, as the new Forest Service Management Plan will “decommission” this trail soon. So if you’re looking for something new, check it out soon!
Pete Sowar:
Views from the top:
And the video:
12,201′ from 14erskiers on Vimeo.
After riding Starvation Creek for the first time on the last day of July, I was pretty stoked not just because the trail was easily one of my new favorites, but also because I knew Starvation Creek would lend itself nicely to some combinations with other rides. Best of all, these combos wouldn’t involve a shuttle like so many Monarch Pass rides do. We choose to start our ride in the town of Sargeants on the West side of Marshall Pass. While I have ridden up the East side of the Pass, this marked my first time up the West side. Being a former railroad grade, Marshall Pass is quite gentle and easy as you slowly gain elevation to the 10,842′ summit.
Mt. Ouray:
I’ve taken to calling this trail XX. Others call it Double Diamond, as that is how the Latitude 40 map has it marked. Geographically, i suppose it could be called Upper Spring Creek. Maybe it just needs a number, a la 401. In any case, this trail can easily replace Flag Creek on the famous Reno-Flag-Bear-Deadman’s ride, making for a longer, but in my opinion better, ride. Brittany’s TR can be found HERE. I finally edited my video, check it out here. Video comes complete with a quality end-o, enjoy!
The Trail That Needs a Name from 14erskiers on Vimeo.
In scanning the internet this week, I came upon a couple of videos that I really liked, as they show the beauty, majesty, and hazard of the mountains. I thought I’d share them with you.
The first was sent to my by my Bulgarian friend, Diana. She writes, “Viysotsky is my favourite Russian poet and singer. The name of this song is Farewell to the montains. He sings: Better mountains can be only mountains where nobody was…”
The second was shows beautiful clips from the BBC Documentary ‘Planet Earth’, Episode ‘Mountains’. The song is by Vangelis, titled “Ask the Mountains”.
If you look closely, you’ll find some scenes from Colorado. Lizard Head in the San Juans is the most distinct. Also, if you watch both videos you’ll notice some clips are shared between the two!
