188 | 2010/2011 Ski Season POV Edit

You've seen the pictures about how amazing this past ski season was, now here's the helmet camera edit while skiing almost exclusively on the 2011/2012 Jaguar Shark from Moment Skis; a detailed review will follow.

187 | 2010/2011 Ski Season in Review

With my last post written three months ago, it's safe to say that I've been long retired from skiing for the summer; it's now time to reflect on the absolute best season I've yet to experience. First, I need to thank my parents, family, and friends for all the support over the past seventeen months that enabled me to dig myself out from the lowest point in life only to reach a ceiling never dreamed so high; it's truly amazing how the worst events end up being the most enriching and enlightening. Second, I want to thank all the wonderful people at Moment Skis, Westcomb, and Hestra for continuing to pump out amazing gear that survived incredible abuse throughout year. Third, it goes without saying that the snow gods deserve a lot of credit for making it puke a nuclear winter nearly non-stop from the beginning of January through the middle of May. And now without much delay, the 2010/2011 ski season in review ...




On October 7th, I had my large intestine removed. On December 24th, I had my first breakthrough of the season while sharing the snow at Loveland with a familiar mountaineering partner, Bernardo Fanti:




My Chris Angel imitation:






A week later on New Year's Eve, I joined longtime backcountry partners Gary Apostolou, Forrest Thorniley, and Ed Carley for my first trip to Berthoud Pass of the season. Temperatures were hovering around a very balmy -10 degrees with the wind chill bringing it closer to -20. Normally, such conditions would make most people cringe, but not when entering... the Mushroom Patch:












A couple of weeks later on January 16th, I regrouped with yet another infamous backcountry co-pilot, Mr. Andy Fritz, for a tour in an area new to us in Rocky Mountain National Park called the Terrain Park. What's special about this particular spot is that it's well-protected from the wind and offers comfortable skiing even during high avalanche danger. On this day, we scored 2-3' of blower snow in a zone that offered numerous cliff drops:








P.S. - this is why we wake up at 4:30 in the morning to go skiing in the middle of winter:






A week later on January 22nd, I took my friend Adam Reiner on his first tour in Rocky Mountain National Park which became my playground for the better part of my year. The powder was just awful:





<




Next came Super Bowl weekend which is usually reserved for imbibing far too much beer and ingesting too many hot dogs, but with more than 30" of snow in the Vail Valley, Matt Jones and I had other plans:






On February 19th, my high-risk tolerance partner in crime, Andy Fritz, and I returned to Rocky Mountain National Park for the grand opening of chuting season with a descent down Dragon's Tooth Couloir. With the weather setting up for a very rare, early tour in the high alpine, we took full advantage and had an amazing day where the wind was absent, the sun was out, the skies clear, and the snow about as good as it gets:






Each season, there's an annual pilgrimage to Monarch, and each time, the snow is far deeper and lighter than predicted; February 26th was no different. There was 3' of fresh snow to slay with Forrest, Tom Huxley, and Eric Branton all wishing they had snorkels:






The next day, I did a solo on Dragon's Tail Couloir in Rocky Mountain National Park. Along the ascent, I was greeted with 16" of new snow only to find 3-4" of fresh on top of ice inside the chute leading to interesting conditions along the descent:






With solar aspects on alpine terrain still providing a certain level of comfort not often witnessed this early on (especially for March 5th), Forrest, Andy, and I did a recon mission near Notchtop in Rocky Mountain National Park that enlarged our hit lists:




Shane's Run:




Exit stage right:







On March 12th, Andy, Adam, and I burst open the Buffalo Mountain flood gates with a very early descent down the North Couloir. Most impressive about the day was being able to climb 3,000' in just over two hours (this same tour took me over 3.5 hours to ascend just three years ago). Hitting a terrific stride, we scored a great day even if the snow was a little firmer than we would have cared for:














Video from the day:







With constant heavy snow hitting the Front Range hard towards the end of March, a break from the backcountry was necessary. As a consolation prize, the skiing at Loveland proved quite spectacular, especially on March 28th and 31st:








Next up was an attempt at the Spire Couloir off Notchtop in Rocky Mountain National Park which I've tried three previous times with no luck. On April 2nd along with Forrest and Barrows Worm de Geldern, we faced great adversity that tested our limits. With winds pushing past 50mph, it was easy to get frustrated and begin to doubt ourselves; the only saving grace was that the air temperature was unseasonably warm. Fortunately, our determination was strikingly high with everyone in the group wanting this line more than ever.










Video from the day:






If there's ever a time when the Front Range is guaranteed a big dump, it's the middle of April. The 15th of this year was no different at Loveland with a 48-hour snowfall total reaching 24":






A week later on April 22nd with winter far from peaking, I tagged along with familiar knuckledraggers Gary and Ed for Le Tour Grande de Berthoud Pass which included descents down the North Chute off Russell, XYZ Chutes, Corner Pocket, and Chimney Chute.








Video from the day:






The next day on the 23rd along with Andy Fritz, we played host to Gary, Thatcher, and YC for what would become their first tour in Rocky Mountain National Park with a descent down a classic: Dragon's Tail Couloir. While the snow could have been better, any day out with your best friends wandering in the mountains can never suck.












Video from the day:






Looking to get slightly more adventurous, YC and I teamed up on April 25th for a first descent in Rocky Mountain National Park as we pioneered a new zone called Mini AK off Knobtop Mountain. It was quite the arduous day requiring a tremendous amount of communication as we went over many options before finding dumb luck.
















With our heads high in the clouds, YC, Andy & I joined forces for a very rare powder descent down the Cristo Couloir off Quandary Peak on May 2nd. Our original goal on the day was the less documented North Couloir, but with a dozen drops into the Cristo on nothing but ice and incredibly firm snow, Andy took charge and switched up our plans. We were never less disappointed.












How you celebrate a May powder day:







Three days later on the 5th, I returned to Quandary with Barrows and unsuspectingly met up with another familiar mountaineer on the summit, Brennan Metzler, who was originally gunning for the Cristo, but we convinced him otherwise.
















Two weeks later on May 16th, I ended my backcountry season with a descent down Chaos Couloir off the south side of Hallett Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park with mountaineering badass, Kyle Davis. Just as the season came in with a bang, it exited the same with far more progression than I could have ever imagined.