095 | No Name Peak . Berthoud Pass

► The Highlights:

This past weekend, me and a crew of new (Luke, Pete, and JJ) and old (Bernardo, Nick, and Kim) backcountry partners set out for a hike up towards Russell Peak which sits at 12,240 feet. Knowing full well that it hasn't snowed in a week and with strong winds scouring most of the snow above treeline, our expectations were pretty low.

It's quite the lovely situation when reality is the complete opposite of expectation, and you end up having an absolutely amazing day. Absolutely amazing in the sense that even hours after finishing the fourth and final lap of No Name on Saturday, I had a certain glow about me as if I had sex with half of South America.



Exhibit #1-4 of myself standing atop No Name with a few turns below:


(photo by Bernardo Fanti)









And now the all-important POV video with the Redanka remix of "Right Here Right Now" by Fatboy Slim providing the musical backdrop:


No Name at Berthoud Pass (2009.01.17-18) from Thomas Armento on Vimeo.



► The rest of the story:

The night before Saturday's trip to Berthoud ended sometime around midnight with the new day beginning promptly at half past four. Yes. I was forced to awaken my ass at 4:30 AM to satisfy Bernardo's quest for twilight photo-taking. Below is the outcome of such sleep deprivation:







On an extremely early start, we decided to hike up towards Russell to examine the potential while a few others would join us a little later in the morning. The winds were calm, the sun was shining, and the skies were as clear and blue as ever. In sum, it was going to be a perfect day:





As we reached the top, we met up with JJ and Pete whom Bernardo has skied with previously. We took a quick look inside the north chute of Russell, and to our surprise, we found it devoid of enough snow barely worth for a pair of tracks to ski down. After a quick glance to the south towards No Name, we quickly realized the goal at hand:





Snow was super creamy and very playful. A couple inches more would have been great, but honestly, conditions were perfect. Water content was super low and even as the day progressed, snow quality remained constant without becoming wet or heavy. Face shots were fairly consistent if you found the right patches, and snowpack stability felt solid.



Here's Bernardo finding something to jump off of:





And again, but with mixed results:















Pete soon follows, but doesn't fair much better:























We did manage a few turns in between the tomahawks.



Nick:




Luke:




Pete:




Bernardo:





The carnage:





To view these photos and over 150 more in larger size, please click here.