The Wasatch

The mountains are ablaze with the colors of fall. Their vibrancy hits me like a blaring siren. Screaming that winter is just around the bend. As the fall’s flashing colors send my head spinning I think back on my summer months….

First there was the “Big Thaw”.  A month long Road trip down HWY 1 in which surf, Redwoods, and the simplicity of beach life helped lay the foundation for a full recovery after a long winter.

Nelson Enjoying the Sunset

Tonka Hits the Beach

Sunset over the Oregon Coast

Truck Life

Then bikes…. The first activity that I was able to get back to. And was I ready to get back!!!

Early Season Ride

Testing out the new Knee

Then there were the Hikes… Such a simple form of getting out in the mountains and so rewarding.

Mom and I atop 10420

Bald Peak

Timp Showing it's colorful side

Summit of King's Peak

And then more bikes… Why? well they are just too damn fun!!!

Jekyll Love

Love those fall rides

While the summer has been a time of rejuvenation for mind, body, and soul.

Sand Waves

The season of anticipation is upon us.

It is a time when we dream big, but often have sleepless nights due to the endless flow of eager energy circulating through our beings.

Enchanted aspens

Will this be another La Nina season of record breaking proportion? Are you gonna be ready when mother nature calls?

Reeping Mother Natures Bounty

Yes the colors blare

and dare us to dream big,

train hard,

and get ready

for that blanket of white freedom!!!!

San Juan

For the past four years I have taken December and January to be a time of not only building my legs, and excitement but also building my understanding of the snow and mountains, where I spend most of my days. This season I chose to take my knowledge and dedication of understanding our snow to the next level.

Jayson & Mike demoing a pit profile

Previously I had taken the level 1 AIARE Avalanche course, the Freeride Avalanche Summit over at snowbird, and countless refreshers, beacon clinics, and snow study discussions and seminars. This season, however I have decided to embark on a path a little more involved, marking the beginning of my long sojourn into the world of backcountry guiding.

Companion Rescue under the Shadow of Mount Crested Butte

There are many ways to approach such a career, but I thought there was no better way to begin this process than by working on becoming a snow science educator. The way I see it, if I am going to make a life out of being in the backcountry I want to make sure that the people I share that environment with are equally in the know of the potential hazards, proper travel and rescue techniques, and have and know how to use their avi rescue gear, because

…well, you never know who might be the one there to save you.

Probing On a line

DIG!!

So, the first step was to take my level II Avalanche course. I chose to go through Crested Butte Mountain Guides as they have some of the most highly experienced and accomplished instructors, not to mention that learning the science of snow in some of the most dangerous and unstable snowpack in the country seemed to be an excellent opportunity to really get my hands dirty.

Weston D. Looking Studious

So on the 16th of December I packed up my truck and headed out with Weston D. for Crested Butte, CO.

Staying warm in the shadows

I am not one of those people who loved school, or even excelled in the classroom environment, so needless to say embarking on this more classroom and science oriented program was more than slightly unnerving. Never-the-less I pushed on, following my desire to become a professional in the outdoors (beyond my career as an athlete).

Breaking Trail

With a new notebook, my BCA snow study kit, beacon probe, shovel, saw and a mind ready to be filled with terms, data, and concepts I headed into the classroom.

Column Test

During the course of our Level 2, C.B. proceeded to get hammered with a southwest flow, locally known as “The Pineapple Express“. We received over 5 ft of snow in our three days and the storm could not have provided a better venue for learning and exploring in depth the bonding, layering, metamorphic process and a slew of other topics and concepts.

The Face Test...Yup tasty!!!

Weston D. Getting a quality education

With a mind full of new dorky data and information based around snow crystal type and temperature gradient, I returned home to Utah just in time for the holiday season to kick into gear. I waded through the onslaught of family and friends all vying for attention, tried to catch a couple pow days in between, and just surrendered to the fact that, until  my AIARE Instructor Training Course in January, my life was gonna be hectic.

Hoodoo Tele Fest

Josh Madsen and Cody Smith Manning the NTN/ Telemark skier Demo Tent

Michelle and Shahib Just a couple of the charicters at the Fest

Jarl Berg all smiles after putting on another successful tele fest!

So on it went, and yes it was quite crazy, even managed to squeeze in a trip to Sister’s Oregon for Hoodoo’s annual Tele Festival. But, like you always do, I managed to make it through.

So here I now sit, having just completed my Instructor Training Course.

The view from Montrose

Being re-inspired by developing a new goal and vision for my future has been a really exciting process, one that started this past summer. However, I have decided that I really have to make sure that this “vision” I have for my future actually feels right in reality. While the Level 2 was the start and a prerequisite for the ITC (Instructor Training Course), it was not indicative of my hoped future career.

Red Mountain Pass

The real test was heading to Silverton, CO for my ITC. I headed out there alone, with the only familiarity being the Triangle Motel where I had stayed last year with the Trew Crew, and was staying again. It is interesting, when you come out of a period of feeling a bit lost and fragmented, those pieces tend to realign themselves, offering such clarity. And that was the space I was in heading out to Silverton last Sunday. I headed out with the only expectation of experiencing something new and by the end of the course feeling out weather my supposed path was holding up to reality.

Silverton

The course could not have been more inspirational, educational, and valuable. Tom Murphy, Tim Brown, and Ben Pritchett came to the table with years of invaluable experience, clear teaching techniques, and a free flowing concept of a continued development framework that highlighted AIARE’s dedication to the continual growth a progression of Avalanche awareness and education.

Pulling into town

It was an intensive 3 day course with each student teaching one mock level 1 section and an overall frame work of learning the Level 1 curriculum, Teaching techniques and skills, and then furthering our professional development on all aspects.

Ben Prichett leading classroom discussion

Tom Murphy leading Day two in the field

Josh, cleaning the walls

With only three days it is hard to imagine that so much could be accomplished. I was quite fortunate to be in a group and a class filled with seasoned guides, educators, and rescue workers all who had previously been in professional leadership roles dealing with backcountry safety. Now, at another point in my life (or even two weeks ago) I would have felt completely in adequate and self conscious. However, with my newly re-acquired perspective I was able to feel only inspired and look up to each of my classmates as mentors. With their experience they were able to ask insightful questions, add phenomenal first hand accounts that were applicable to the topics, and provide analytical commentary.

Murphy giddy with his EXTREME Saw

Tilt Test

The course came and went and I felt like a sponge trying to soak up each morsel of information. I am not sure anyone could absorb, in entirety, the multitude of ideas and concepts of the three days. However, I do know that I have been inspired!

Pre Trip Meeting

Green team gathering at the trail head for our final day tour

Tim Brown guiding us through a Level one "perfect tour"

On the March

It is now the middle of January and I am finally feeling the flow. I have completed the first major step on this new journey and am hungry to start practicing my new skills and see where this all will lead.

Up Track

Behind The Scenes Of HP&M: Shaun Raskin

Yet another system lines up to hit the Wasatch with even more late Spring snow

So like I do every year, I booked my flight and made my annual migration to NY to spend some time with my family. However, this season as I hit the skies heading east I could not see that close behind me an endless storm cycle of snow was going to blanket over 50inches of the fresh white stuff over Utah. The weather in Utah has definitely caught most off guard, with many of my friends itching to ride bikes, but still feeling the need to buckle up their boots and get after the fresh because…well… “this might be the last storm of the season”.

Riverside Bike path overlooking the Hudson River

While it is quite tempting to jump in a plane and head back west to join my friends in the April and May powder crazed emotion, I realize that as a professional skier in the winters and a full time guide in the summer times, these short couple months between seasons are some of the only time I get to see family and childhood friends.

Reuniting with some High School friends

So I stick to the plan, spending a week at my childhood home northwest of Manhattan, watching my mom walk down the isle with the man of her dreams, spending time with my grand parents who taught me how to ski way before I can remember, and kicking back with my cousins aunts and uncles.

Rita and Phil, The Matriarch and the Patriarch of the Family and the ones who introduced me to skiing

Rolling on the Subway with one of my bestfriends Rachel

After soaking up the family love I head into my sanctuary outside of the rugged world of jagged peaks and swooping valleys, New York City has been a place of inspiration and comfort for me since the time I can remember. Whether it’s the rhythm of the subway cars vibrating beneath the busy city streets, or the collective energy of 1.5 million people living within 22miles of one another, the city has always spoken volumes to me. So I use it to revive my cultural and spiritual being, as well as to catch up with some great friends from my past, before heading south to Miami to catch up with my father.

Luch time in Manhattan's Financial District

Welcome to Miami

Miami is a strange place to find yourself when you still have a goggle tan, a stark white body, and an alternative sense life. None the less, the bleach blond hair, fake boobs, and overly tanned bodies can be something to appreciate and like any community, there are misfits, hippies, and punks in Miami, you just might need to look a bit harder to find them. One of those who has always beaten to his own drum of life is my father, and while his New Yorker heart still flutters irregularly with out the city’s bustle keeping him on beat, he is still staying true to himself in the city of plastic. Getting to spend time with him is always special.

Sunset with Downtown Miami in the background

Papa Bear!!

So with my soul, now filled by family and friends, I am in the airport heading back to Salt Lake City, where yet another storm cycle is expected to hit and I will return to the mountains to join my friends and industries in excitement over this fluke endless winter!

This edit highlights what happens when five girls get together and push one another to go beyond their comfort zone and progress the sport that drives us. There were a lot of crashes, but some huge pillow lines and cliff drops that show just how hard women are pushing on Teles!!

Thanks to Paige Brady for putting together this edit.

Alta Patrol hard at work on the Gun tower

This past week has been a little like living in a war zone. It seems that our greatest alia , Mother Nature, has decided to wage war on the state of Utah. With huge storm totals of inconsistent snow densities, followed by ripping winds, and now sunny warm temps, it seems as though she has decided that Utah residents are going to have to learn to use some self control this season, much like our neighbors have to do every season in Colorado.

The week kicked off with an early morning wake up to beat the LLC closure and get early chair with Re Wikstrom, Paige Brady, and Pip Hunt. We were able to stand by while the Alta patrollers waged their war with mother nature. It was an incredible experience, to stand so close while they shot off round after round of chest pounding, ear ringing explosions into the adjacent mountain sides. After getting amped for the day with a little explosive energy boost, we had a great morning of shooting, powder, and as always great laughs.

Re Wikstrom letting her camera do the talking

While the backcountry remains an ominous landscape of usually popular lines that are still laying untouched, the inbounds ski has proven to be quite exceptional and if you can get to the resorts that aren’t hit as hard as others you will be hugely rewarded with tons of powder and fresh lines still awaiting a good slasher turn.

Page Brady (Right) Pip Hunt (left) enjoying the sounds of war

Yesterday, I went to Brighton to shoot with Steve Lloyd. It was the first time I had skied in sun shine since before my journey up to BC about three weeks ago. The skies were crystal clear and Weston Deutchlander, fellow Trew rider, Colter Hinchliffe, and I were out trying to get the shots.

We skied some killer sunny sky powder and Weston and Colter sessioned a sick natural kicker. The day ended with a sweet 35 footer  onto a relatively flat, but deep landing, or shall we say splat/ hot tub zone.

All and all a great week to be back in Utah!

The past two days I have spent waking up well before the sun rise and heading over to Snowbird for the First Annual Freeride Avalanche Summit.

Mineral basin snow profile

The point of the summit was to discuss the many snow safety issues facing todays freeride community. We hit on all the major avi 1 topics, such as beacon search and rescues, snow pits, reading terrain, and mountain travel.

Logan Shows us how the BCA new Arsenal saw shovel can save time and lives!

However, the Summit also pulled on huge resources that the Utah Avalanche Center has. We were able to take a trip over to the Wasatch Powder Birds to discuss Loading Zones for potential emergency evacuations, then the AirMed bird landed just down the hill and we were able to learn a bit about packing a patient and calling for life flight.

Wasatch Powder Birds

AirMed

We also were able to use the Snowbird Avalanche training center and worked on probing, beacon searches, Recco locator detection, and group dynamics when an avalanche hits.

Along with having an incredible amount of activities and local resources put into action, the leaders of the course and discussions were also quite remarkable. We had some incredible big mountain legends such as Jenn Berg, Brant Moles, and Gordy Pfeiffer. Not to mention an alstar staff of avalanche and snow safety specialists such ad Bruce Tremper, Craig Gordan, and Jim Conway.

Weston and Noah Howell getting cozy while learning the extended column test

All and all the past two days were the best put together avalanche discussion and education I have yet to receive. If this is just the first season for the Freeride Avalanche Summit, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the Summit and the potential reduction of Avalanche fatalities in the backcountry.

Sam, Jason, Forest, and Barker get ready for the early morning Tram lap

My day started at 7:30am when my phone started going off with friends eager to share the powder stoke. Thank god for those calls, because I had forgotten to set my alarm and was in bed sleeping the morning away.

I was a little tired from a late night, but the minute I opened my eyes and saw the snow piled over the porch, my lack of sleep was no match for my insane excitement.

I pulled on my clothes, went outside and started digging out of the house.

Whitney pulled up at 8am and we took off heading towards Little Cottonwood. We had survived the sketchy drive down Parley’s and up Little Cottonwood.

It was about 9:30 by the time we pulled up and to my surprise and excitement they weren’t loading the lifts yet. It seemed as though mother nature was trying to see how messed up she could make our snow pack and with a fully upside down pack every rollover was cracking. So we got our rightful place in line for the Wildcat lift and waited till they opened the lift at 11am.

It was well worth the wait! The snow was bottomless and not your typical Utah blower. It was a little firmer, which allowed it to feel as though you were getting a ton of energy out of each turn.

Everyone was popping off little hits, some were biting it. others were stomping everything.

It was a rad day to be on the hill! Can’t wait to do it all over today.

(Sorry for the lack of photos, I lost my camera but will have another one soon to keep the B log interesting)