209 | Taylor Mountain, WY | 18 January 2013

After 1st and 2nd dinner along with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd dessert on Thursday night, we had our eyes set on the east face of Taylor Mountain in Wyoming on Friday. And yes, that is not a typo. Breakfast each morning was moderate and lunch was nearly non-existent outside a few "bacon bombs" on the skin uphill (bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with chorizo and goat cheese which has certainly become my signature dish of late). We all thought it would be best to fuel up the night before and fuel up often ... and as if we each had several stomachs to feed.

On Thursday, we tacked on over 4,000 feet of climbing while scoring two laps off Beard Mountain. The tour up Taylor would only gain us 3,000' so how bad could it be, right?

Steep and challenging.

None of us have skied Taylor before and we thought winging it the old Lewis & Clark route would magically net us that highly coveted cowboy card. What that means is we followed a heavily-packed and well-traveled trail towards the southeast ridge, but apparently we missed the turn off to the left and uphill for what I imagine was a gradual ascent. Instead, we continued along the creek towards the basin between Taylor and Mount Glory before eventually finding a skintrack towards the summit. It was clear very early on that this was a local skintrack and one that was nothing short of an elevator shaft up.

Topography map from the trip

Not even 500' above the trailhead from here (little did we know what kind of treat we were in for)

Our reward for following a ridiculously steep skintrack? Unobstructed views to the south which did not disappoint

Soon enough we were well above treeline and got to visually taste why we killed ourselves today

And now a look towards our goal

Our line choice (wanted to tag right down the gut and over the cliffs, but the snow there was completely backed and crusty ... we skied the shaded area on the skier's right side which gave us trenchtown and quality powder given a few days after the last storm)

Photos of our descent

All thumbs up and smiles today

A look back towards the zone and damage control

First of many beers after reaching the bottom (and somehow, I grew an extra left arm)

To keep the stoke alive this day, we were greeted by a very awesome sunset

To view the complete gallery, please visit the link below:
Taylor Mountain, WY | January 18, 2013

208 | Beard Mountain, WY | 17 January 2013

So often we get down on ourselves when things don't quite go the way we want; we like to think everything does happen for a reason, and most certainly, it always does. Recently, a door I thought was safe and secure recently found its way to abruptly shut without warning. However, with that closure came an opening to expand and be left with room to comfortably roam ... and what better place to roam than a week in Driggs, Idaho near what I now consider quite the mecca of backcountry skiing and riding.

Over 5 days, I was joined by my usual partner Andy Fritz and old friend Chris Laing who I haven't seen in quite some time as we tackled 4 peaks (most of which considered classic descents) while scaling over 14,000 feet total.

At all times, we were consistently speechless and struggling to find room to store our visuals into the back of our heads without being overloaded each hundred feet we soared to the summit of each peak with views we've only dreamed of or have seen in a magazine but never experienced in person.

Beard Mountain was a very appropriate start to the trip and one nearly right out the door from Chris' place in Driggs. Following a three-mile sled tow, we scaled the remaining 2,200' while skinning towards the top with jaws that dropped through the ground. I should probably detail our first day of the trip with greater effort, but I'll let the pictures tell our tale.


Sunrise





A view towards our objective from the bottom





Surface hoar





Making our way up





Andy near the top of Beard Mountain with the Grand Teton overlooking





The north face of Beard Mountain which offers many opportunities to join the century club (or those that wish to huck their meat over 100')







The road to glory





Stoked on the summit









Now we ski



















Ride back home









Reward







For more photos, please visit the link below:
Beard Mountain, WY | Jan. 17, 2013

206 | Finding the Whiteroom in Steamboat | 15 December 2012

After a depressing 2011/2012 season that did provide a good amount of personal progress finding ways to make the most out of nothing, most of us in Colorado were still feeling the pain as the 2012/2013 year started off slowly. With a completely dry November, frustration was unbearably setting in leaving us to wonder when the snow gods would finally give in and acknowledge our sacrifice that may very well stem from being spoiled with an absolutely bonker of a season we had two years ago.

Early last week, all that pain, all that anguish, all that doubt subsided as winter unleashed a fury claiming an official start to the season not with a bang, but with a powder explosion ... a powder explosion that I haven't felt in a long while ... a powder explosion where nearly a week later, that excitement still exists.

On December 15th, I joined my buddy Dave along with Mark and Gary on a trip to a backcountry zone just outside of Steamboat Springs. Along the 3-hour drive from Evergreen, we saw areas on Highway 9 that don't normally receive snow and areas where snowbanks along the side of the road were far higher than anticipated. This only fueled our schoolgirl giddiness leaving us to ponder until arriving at the trailhead, "Is it really gonna be THAT good today?"

The short answer is yes. The long answer is yes, and I'll let the photos below tell the tale better than I, for sometimes, words really aren't necessary, and a rare trip like this is no exception. With that said, winter has officially begun so grab your pow sticks and burn that stoke candle away.

(all photos by Dave Bourassa with a few included from his return trip back earlier this week)