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small world, big mountains
Year’s Summary
Apr 18th
Best year of my life? I think so. I will start in May of 2007, and work my way to the present.
Mid-May, nine days in the Wind Rivers with Tyler Sterling and Davide De Masi. Tyler looking at the north couloir of Mt. Helen.
A long (three month) summer followed. September finally arrived and it was time for the flight to Santiago, Chile. Again with Davide. We roamed for five weeks climbing mountains. We were limited in scope only by the need to have a discoteque nearby.
High and dry near Mendoza, Argentina. Davide.
Low and soggy-wet near Termas de Chillan, Chile.
Decompression. Airing out our skiboot feet near Valparaíso, Chile.
Got home to Utah and it was snowing. Oct. 21 in the Wasatch with David “Gramps” Shiembob.
But snow melted and things got desperate. Skiing runs like this fueled thoughts of global warming.
And not long after that, it was time to spend the winter on the road. The Eastern Sierra, near Mammoth, CA.
A couple days at home and it was off to Krasnaya Polyana, Russia, for vodka and backflips.
Home to Utah. Time for a quick weekend in Capitol Reef with some friends. Nothing like a national park to yourself.
And good snow conditions for a memorable run down the East Ridge of Mighty Mt. Timpanogos.
But enough sitting around, back on the airplane. This time to France. Heli-accessed big mountain freeride competition on this, the north face of Le Buet? A good way to separate the men from the boys. I unfortunately fell into the latter category.
Southern France, St. Christof, a tiny village near La Grave.
The high life, lived in Tignes, France. Part of the Espace Killy, which also includes Val D’isere. Argentinians Oscar Sosa and Estanislao “Tato” Vasiuk. I may be visiting them in their home town of San Martin de los Andes, near Bariloche, this coming September.
Looking down the competition face in Tignes. See the finish?
Then to the party spot: Verbier. Verbier Xtreme! Trying to be a rockstar.
I was accompanied by my lovely girlfriend Mia in Verbier, and from there we train-hopped our way south into Italy and to the Cinque Terre for some notskiing. It is beautiful down there.
I grew tired of all the notskiing, so returned to Chamonix. Mia went home, and I was then joined again by my associate Davide. We dabbled in deep powder skiing. (See full story on this below.)
And also in some ski mountaineering in the Argentiere Basin.
Home again. This time for a week. But what’s that? Oh right, must go to Alyeska, Alaska. The road from Anchorage to Girdwood.
Alyeska is beeeyoootiful!
Miles traveled: 2,000,0000,000,000,00
Overall ranking on the Freeride World Tour: 4th place
Highlights: 2nd place Russian Freeride Comp, 2nd place Verbier Extreme
Our friend John Nicoletta passed away on April 11th during the World Freeskiing Championships. Rest in peace, John. http://www.shinelineproductions.com/nicoletta.html
Mullet Sacrifice Results in Chamonix Powder Bounty
Apr 3rd
I had been in Europe for a month. Being away from home for so long, a man begins to forget who he is. I looked in the mirror and I barely recognized myself.
Who was this person looking back at me? To be in Chamonix-Mont Blanc, and have hair that rivaled the beauty of the mountains was surely an affront to mother nature herself. There was only one thing to do. I reached for my Opinel with one hand, grabbed a handful with my other hand, and CHOP!
It was done. And as I suspected, mother nature in her respect for my sacrifice dropped chest deep snow on the peaks of Chamonix. My doctor from Seattle, Davide Pietro De Masi and I rode the lifts in the Brevent area and this is what we found:
It was as they say, “stupid deep.” Over the next few days we skied increasingly stable lift-accessed snow before deciding to go big. We snagged two ~10,000 ft. descents in the Argentiere basin that I will report back on soon.