Wang Chung Handrail 5-12-11 from 14erskiers on Vimeo.

Those of you who actually watch the POV may notice that I stop at a tree at around :40 and quickly get slammed with my slough seconds later. Let me start by saying I was roughly 99% sure that the snow would slough off as I dropped in. Let me also say that I clearly failed at slough management on this run, since getting hit by slough, even right above a tree, isn’t the name of the game. But while some skiers would say that my decision to ski this line was “reckless” or something similar, I think it should be noted that moving snow is simply part of the game on steep lines. Colorado skiers don’t get to experience this very often, but skiers in places like Alaska and British Columbia do it on a daily basis. For some, that will never be acceptable. For others, the additional considerations of moving snow can make a line that much more interesting and enjoyable. The very best at slough management pretty much have their phd ski degree from Harvard or MIT.

Why even discuss this? Well, online discussions at The Aspen Times, Powder Magazine, and Wildsnow regarding Nick Devore’s recent accident which resulted in a broken femur spurred me to say something. The first thing to say is that 14erskiers wishes Nick the best in his recovery. We know too many people who have had the same injury but thankfully they’ve all bounced back strong.

While Nick was clearly hurt in a slab avalanche, not a slough, a look at the photos in the Powder magazine interview show a pretty short slope, one which a good skier like Nick could easily ski in less than a half dozen turns. Even with conditions that made a slide likely, Nick is just one of many strong skiers who could ski a mini-golf line like that well out in front of any moving snow. The problem, of course, is that any small misjudgement or error when combined with moving snow can quickly lead to disaster, as it did for Nick. Personally, I would consider my error in the video above to be a skiing error, not an avalanche awareness one. Same would go for Nick’s accident. I’m sure many would disagree.

This is a case where I wish the comments on 14erskiers reached the levels that they do on Wildsnow- if you have an opinion, please present it here.

Photo Alan Hammersmith/ Courtesy Ben White

Tell us about your ski background.
I have been skiing my whole life. I went out to Utah when I was 11 for a family ski vacation, and that got me totally hooked. We spent a lot of time not skiing on the trails, which was something we could rarely do in the east. After that, I knew I wanted to get a lot better, and fast, so I started racing at Attitash in NH. I did that for 4 years, and was an assistant coach for a 5th. Racing got boring and too much of a commitment for me to enjoy after that 4th year.

When did you start skiing the 4kers, and when did you finish?
I wanted to ski all the 4000 footers in NH in one year. I started November 26th, 2010, and finished April 24th.

What prompted or inspired you to pursue this goal?
I don’t know.

Is this a popular goal for Eastern skiers/ has anyone done it?
No, eastern hiking trails are not fun to ski down. 3 others have done it, but I am the first to do it in one year.
Sunrise on the Presidential Range traverse. Photo Alan Hammersmith/ Courtesy Ben White

Lou Dawson skied Colorado’s 14ers from the summit, often trying many times to achieve that standard. All the other 14er finishers have tried to do the same. Are you trying to match that standard?
Yup, I did. Except for Tecumseh, where there was no snow on the true summit, we dropped probably 20′ vert (I really have no idea) to the top of Waterville Valley ski area. It wouldn’t have been much of a ski anyways, it was flat. Some peaks just didn’t have any snow on top of the very highest point, they were exposed rock, so I didn’t do that, because I didn’t want to buy new skis.

Which peak was your favorite?
I’m not sure, I’ve thought long and hard about that. Hale had the best skiing, but it was pretty basic tree skiing in fresh snow, nothing too difficult. North Twin had a bulletproof slide that was about 45º+ sustained pitch which was really fun to ski down, it was a good challenge. Adams was the most epic, it was on my presidential traverse (7 peaks in a day. 20 mile tour, 9k of vertical gain, lots of rime ice crap skiing)
Mt. Madison. Photo Alan Hammersmith/ Courtesy Ben White

Which peak was the hardest?
Wildcat D the first time was hard to ski down. Wildcat ski area is on that one, and it hadn’t opened yet. They were blowing snow, and on the way down, it was a very rapid change between rocks, grass, drifted powder, solid ice and chicken heads. Most of the time, you couldn’t tell the difference between them, because the rocks and grass were just barely covered up, but there was a pow drift in a water bar right next to it, etc.

You will be attending the University of Utah next year. Any thoughts of skiing Utah’s highest 50 or some other goal while you’re there?
That could be cool. I didn’t really think about the 50 highest, I only just looked at the 12,000 footers. Maybe take 2 years to do it, there are 112 of them.

Anything else you’d like to add?
I had never done any backcountry skiing before this year, except for an annual trip into Tuckerman’s with my dad since I was 9. My ski house is a camp that has an outhouse and is the best place in the world.

I also raise awareness for YES Kids (Youth Enrichment Services). They are a local charity (based in Boston) that gets inner city and under privileged youth skiing and other outdoors activities.

I’d also like to thank my sponsors:
Ramp Sports
Lowe Alpine (Backpacks)
Flylow Gear (Clothing, specifically made for backcountry skiing)
Erin Baker’s (Wholesome baked goods, very tasty on the trail)
Green Wax (Environmentally friendly ski wax. None of the regular chemicals in it, and it smells really, really good too)

A lot of people who really loved the things they do and lived life to the fullest have left this world lately. Sometimes I feel like I went through a long stretch of dodging bullets in terms of not losing anyone I really knew to these sports, whether it’s ski mountaineering, kiteboarding, mountain biking, climbing, hang gliding, or something else. These sports can be dangerous, and it’s really no wonder I’m starting to develop a long list of friends and acquaintances that have passed away. For a long time everyone I knew was just out there having a good time, up until a few years ago, but now it seems as though at least a couple people I know pass away every year. So I’m going to take a minute and think about my friends: Tobias Lee, Scott Murray, Captain Jack Carey, Billy Poole, and especially Jack Hannan. Not a single day has gone by that I haven’t thought of Jack- miss you buddy.

Sometimes I wonder if it’s time to take a big step back and chill out, and quit doing the sports I love. But the thing is, I just wouldn’t be “me” anymore if I tried to tie myself to a desk and do nothing more dangerous than the commute to work. That doesn’t leave a lot of options- be happy and be who I am, or play it safe and live a life I might not be that happy with. I guess I’ll keep playing, and try to stay safe the best I can. And remember my buddies that aren’t with me anymore.

Brittany and I first met Jarrett Luttrell on a trip to Chicago Basin, when we successfully skied and boarded Sunlight, Windom, and Eolus. Jordan and Brittany quickly headed back to the Front Range after we departed the train, while Jarrett and I headed to a Mexican joint to get some food and a well-deserved margarita. With only Harvard left before my fourteener quest would be complete, I suppose I was already contemplating what it would mean for me once that goal was complete. Naturally, our conversation turned towards Jarrett’s goal to snowboard all the fourteeners, and what that would mean to him.

What struck me most about that conversation was Jarrett’s genuine desire not just to be the first to ride the fourteeners, but to also “do it right”. “Doing it right” meant a lot of things for Jarrett, but certainly included sticking to the same standards as the skiers. I think he even said something to the effect of “I hope whoever snowboards them all first doesn’t cut any corners, and make snowboarders look bad.” Don’t worry Jarrett, your accomplishment stands tall, snowboarders and Crested Buttians are all proud of you. Congrats!

The following are some questions 14erskiers asked Jarrett after his final descent, Long’s Peak, on 5-16-10.

1)When did you start?
July 1998 was my first 14,000 ft peak. I took a trip to Lake City to look at the San Juans with a Rodger Edrin book. I got chased off the summit by a storm, waited at camp, and then watched the sunset from Uncompahgre later the same day.

January of 2000 was the first one on a board. Quandary of course! But I didn’t get it from the Summit. Halbakken and I also climbed Elbert that week. We made it to the summit at sunset, but we only rode a little bit of Elbert’s NE ridge, and walked out in the dark. I went back later for both of those. I had a couple other marginal successes that year too. Halbakken and I rode the Bell Cord that year, but not from Maroon’s summit.

I guess Handies, and La PLata later that spring were the first ones from the very very tipy top. I think the standards for this project are higher than most people realize initially, there’s always a bit of a learning curve there. I’m still not satisfied with my status on Sneffels. Then again, a lot of people consider the Snake Couloir a summit descent for Sneffels. I guess I won’t argue with their claim. It holds a pitch for twice the vert, and is undeniably the big line.

2) What was your favorite, if you have one?
The Bells over all. For wilderness, and snowboarding: Snowmass. You can make it a great vacation, and take the time to smell the mold. It also has a quick pitch at the top that snagged my base like a carrot peeler. Chicago Basin was also a fun trip. Taking the train and meeting a great crew. Mt Sherman has a great view of Mt Massive across the upper Arkansas Valley. Great place for a sunset.

3) What was the most challenging peak for you?
Capitol. It always stood there waiting at the end of the line. I was lucky enough to get it on-site by going with the only one to go back and ski it again, Jordan. He’s put his time in on that one. On many of the other peaks, the risks were more manageable than I expected. On Capitol, my fears were mostly validated. That thing is pretty nasty for riding. It wasn’t the only nemesis though. I got shut down by the Wilsons several times, and there was never much snow in the Southern Sangres. I failed on Little Bear a few times during the drought years. Quitting for a while. Hard to justify the slog into the Blancas again when there are nice lines right in the backyard.

4) Why did you start snowboarding fourteeners?
It was an attempt to make getting down more fun. I liked applying one skill set to the other. I was probably a better rider then, but I think I have grown in terms of a more objective approach to the mountaineering aspect.

5) What did you enjoy most?
The solitude was nice sometimes, but I really enjoyed meeting the other people out there getting after it.

6) What’s next?
Next is mini-golf!

On Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, a skier on exposed terrain fell and severely injured his leg. Doctors are hoping to save the leg, but he may never be able to ski again. The worst part is that he and his companions are insisting that the fall was caused by the dynafit-compatible “tech fittings” in his boot ripping out and causing the fall. For more information on this, go here and here. It also seems that at least one product tester also experienced a problem with the fittings not staying in the boot.

This isn’t a great photo, which is all I could find on the internet since Salomon doesn’t even have the boots on their website yet, but here it is:

I haven’t gotten a look at these boots in person, but some folks are wondering if there is enough material surrounding the inserts to keep them in place, or if there is a defect within the inserts themselves. One other thing to perhaps take note of is that the injured party weighs 260lbs- that weight, combined with big skis and aggressive skiing, may be more than the dynafit system can handle at either the binding or boot end, in my opinion.

In any case, we certainly wish the best for Dalton and his recovery, and if this is an engineering defect, lets hope it’s fixed before next fall when they will be more widely available. Also, if anyone knows of other failures in this boot, please get in contact with Dalton and leave a comment here, as these are things that need to be known.

EDIT 4/22/10 Lou did a great service by buying a set of sole blocks and quickly and easily blowing them up. That post is here. Really sad someone had to get so severely injured to prove that these things are shoddy. Yeah, they’ll probably be fixed by next season, but I’m not sure I would want to have anything to do with Salomon after seeing the lack of engineering put into these sole blocks. Buyer beware indeed.

In the winter of ’96-’97 I ran into my friend Karl Lavtar in the North Face lift line at Crested Butte. We started talking about the upcoming “extremes”, as the freeskiing comp was then known. He introduced me to his friend Jack, and said “Jack’s going for the win.” I raised my eyebrows a bit, but Jack didn’t disappoint, finishing second to Brant Moles that year. It was only one of many top finishes in Crested Butte and elsewhere for Jack, highlighted by his eventual first place finish in 2003, made all the more impressive coming just a year after ACL surgery.

Impressive always came easily for Jack, not that you’d ever know it, as Jack was as humble as they come. Jack and I were landscaping together in the late 90′s and he took up mountain biking. By the end of the summer, he was already better than me, even though it was a sport I’d been doing for 10 years at the time. He moved into downhilling and started winning those events, too, even though his bike was usually held together by a little JB Weld and duct tape. Tandeming on a snowmobile with Jack was always a treat as well- I’d just hold on while he would carve up a steep face. Jack was such a patient teacher as well, and I wish I could go out with him on my new snowmobile- he could have taught me more in 2 minutes than I’ll be able to learn in the next 20 years.

In 2000, the season in Crested Butte was looking grim indeed. So Jack and his closest friend Jon Johnston drove to Grand Junction, bought a tiny old trailer, and hit the road along with their two huge dogs. Jack never spent another winter in Crested Butte, although it remained his summer home for several more years. Jon and Jack took to the coast range near Whistler and made it their own, putting tracks down seemingly every mountain in this vast range. I spent a winter in Whistler early on, in 2001-2002, although that was the year Jack blew his knee some time after New Year’s. Here the three of us are returning from Fissile, not far from Whistler:

Years later, the two of them really had things figured out- there probably isn’t a valley within 2 hours of Pemberton that they hadn’t explored. My last ski trip there, in 2007, they treated me to some of the bast skiing of my life, on just a handful of their favorite lines accessed by snowmobile in the Coast Range. Here’s a couple of photos of Jack from that trip:

Three years ago, I was lucky enough to build a duplex with Jack- his first lead project. This is the house that Jack built:

I must say we were pretty happy with it- a nice energy-efficient local’s affordable housing unit that came out super tight. That fall was the last time Jack lived in Crested Butte, as he had finally figured out a way to live in Canada full-time. Before he left, we were able to ski the Emerald Couloir on Mount Baldy. It’s a heck of a ski for November in Colorado. Jack:

Jack married Laura Ogden the following summer, an incredible person and perfect match for Jack on so many levels. We’re all thinking of you Laura!

On March 31st, Jack boarded a helicopter with three friends to ski Mount Currie, a beautiful peak that towers 7,400′ above their home in Pemberton. After dropping a cornice into the chute they were planning to ski, with no avalanche results, they safely skied their line and were getting ready to do a short traverse/climb to another area of the peak. The highest member of the party then saw an avalanche heading for them- Jack was just slightly lower than the rest of the party and was the only one caught. The class 3 slide most likely occurred naturally due to a cornice failure, and although Jack was found quickly, not even Jack could survive a slide of that magnitude on that rugged of terrain. There is some solace in the cliches that Jack died “doing what he loved”, and that he likely didn’t suffer.

For those of you that would like to help Jack’s wife Laura, while she finishes up nursing school in B.C., we have set an account up for her. Here is the information:
Jack Hannan Memorial
c/o Bank Of The West
P.O. Box 429
Crested Butte, CO 81224

For those of you in the Crested Butte area, please consider attending this event as we celebrate Jack’s life:

The San Joaquin (photo Bill Middlebrook, 14ers.com):

Meanwhile, in Telluride, a woman who was snowboarding with Telluride Helitrax accidentally fell into a creek and drowned. What is really strange about this story is that reports have indicated the guide was unable to free her because her helmet was wedged under a rock. This may be the rare circumstance when a helmet may have contributed to a death, rather than preventing one. More information on this accident can be found at the Telluride Daily Planet and the L.A Times Read the comments in the L.A.Times for an outrageous take on what “gender roles” had to do with this accident.

Some of the dangers of the backcountry are a given, such as avalanches. The thought of a backcountry partner having a heart attack in the backcountry is a tough one, knowing there is nothing that could ever be done in a case like that. Likewise, while creek crossings evoke a healthy dose of respect in the backcountry, who would think that a helmet would create a deadly situation like that.

In the end, these accidents are just that- accidents. Bad things happen, sometimes when crossing the street, sometimes when skinning up a hill to do some skiing. It’s sad, but I’m not sure there is necessarily a lesson in it. Condolences to all the friends and family of those involved…

About ten years ago, when really fat skis started becoming more popular, you’d here the inevitable “What are those, water skis?” jokes. That gave me an idea. I remember telling people that I wanted to ski waves, like a surfer but on skis. After all, snowboarding is just some sport that took surfing to the snow, so why not take skiing to the water? Problem was, I’m made out of oil (i.e. I don’t mix with water). I’m so stoked that someone finally pulled it off, and with style, too. Check it out:

Generations is a short film produced by TGR about something that should concern all skiers: climate change. It’s a really good movie, with a lot of historical footage, climate change information, and even a fair bit of top-notch skiing and snowboarding. The download is free, and can be found here. I tend to prefer ski movies with a little bit of plot or storyline in them, and this film was no exception. The kids near the end are hilarious, too.

Meanwhile, my friend Alison Gannett recently walked from London to Copenhagen to attend the Copenhagen Climate Conference and raise awareness for her Save Our Snow Foundation Climate change awareness is something that Alison has been working hard on for several years, and her efforts are noteworthy. Thanks for being such a leader on this issue, Alison!

Finally, I thought I’d mention how sad it is that so many people continue to dismiss climate change and the role humans play. The evidence is overwhelming, and the only studies discounting it seem to come from scientists funded by the oil industry. Even for people who think the entire global warming scenario is something cooked up by environmental extremists, reducing the use of fossil fuels should be a top priority for us all. Reducing our dependence on foreign oil is just one benefit of moving away from fossil fuels. The last time I was in Salt Lake City, the air was so thick with smog I couldn’t see even one block, and I don’t need any studies to know that my burning eyes and the metallic taste in my mouth was not good for me. Take some action, even if it’s just the small things mentioned at the end of Generations, like unplugging as much as you can every time you leave the house, or changing your light bulbs to the new compact florescents. At least check the movie out, it’s worthwhile as a ski flick alone.

In other news, it’s finally snowing. Time to make some turns…