This one has been on my “winter list” for a few years now but weather, conditions, laziness and timing have stymied all previous opportunities. This season has been plagued by those same obstacles and although I missed winter by a week, the weather on the approach was far from spring-like.

End of the line. I parked at the turn off to Wildhorse canyon and snowmachined the 10or so miles to the trailhead. This photo really shows my style of riding, always stuck or about to be stuck. It also shows a few of the feeble layers in the snowpack.



Breaking weather. I set up camp in what felt like a safe spot on the lower slopes of the north face. (visibility was only a couple hundred feet) The wind blew a steady 20+ mph but died off as the clouds started to break and then quit completely by midnight. Hyndman peak just visible through the clouds



10 years ago, I trusted the weatherman about as much as an army recruiter but these days forecasting is usually spot on and I wasn’t surprised at all to wake up and see it bluebird.



I got to the summit at 11:00am after a slow and easy 3 hour skin. Zero wind and warm sunshine made it hard pretty to leave the view. This photo shows the true highpoint left on the ridge but there sure as hell aren’t any good ski lines off of it.



I’d hoped to ski down the large gully on the west face but an enormous avalanche had flushed out most of the snow and deposited it in massive pile on the plateau at 9,600’. I checked out a chute on North West face that had a heavy blanket of blown in snow. However, the top 3rd was a rock strewn 55* and the bottom had a definite terrain trap look about it so I settled on eeking my way down the West face through a minefield of boulders in 4” of new snow over hardpack. The turns were effortless even after a long pair of days. Hope that’s not the last powder day of the season!

The Hunt is On! March 2010

So many consecutive 40-ish degree days can only mean Spring is rearing it's ugly head and our days of deep and soft are coming to an end. The powder snob in me has mostly learned to clam up when my non skiing comrades start pissing on about the mud, the new snow, the cold, etc. The hunt is on for those ever dwindling stashes of hold out freshies.
After a relatively wind-free winter, those westerly breezes are saving the day. Here are a few photos of the last 4 days on the Southern tip of the Pioneers.


Monday, conditions were pretty demoralizing on the way up Fly-boy ridge but the stuff blown into Recovery bowl was worth several laps.


We remotely triggered a good portion of the top of this bowl two days earlier and skied through the debris while it was still soft. On the second lap the snow had built up again and we decided to find safer snow. Some time that night it let go again blasted all the way to the bottom. the skiing was still good near the edges on Tuesday


Wednesday, Sticking the landing on Taco

Thursday, Eric Taking a well earned break on lap 7 at the top of Chicken Run. The wind seemed to have no influence on his mood.

Mt. Corruption 5-1-2007

Star trails over Mt. Corruption. (this is an 18 minute exposure)Shot from Ferd's Cabin.














Brad and Brandon descend the ridge back toward camp, The Lost river range dominates the background. Mt. Borah's East ridge climbs the upper left side of the photo.













Camp at 10,400 feet on the South West flank of Corruption.

Corona Arch 10-5-09

Susan and I spent enough time skulking around Moab’s climbing locals to learn a few of their best kept secrets including hidden slot canyons, cool climbs and weird stuff to do when you’re bored. The Corona Arch rappel fit into the last category and although we weren’t bored we couldn’t pass up a chance to see it from the top down.

A short hike over vast terraces of unspoiled sandstone lead to this partially freestanding arch, the opening is 140’ by 105’ and the climb to the top requires an easy but crazily exposed class climb protected by 7 or 8 pitons. We dim-wittedly left our second rope in the truck and I paid the penalty by having to repeat the climb sans cord.


After the rappel, we tied back in and turned the setup into a giant rope swing.

Susan roped up at the top of the class 4 section.

Skiing Hyndman Peak

On January 27, 2008. Steve, Cassie, Eric, Susan and I made the hike into the Pioneer Mountains with the hopes of climbing and Skiing Idaho’s 9th highest peak. An intense winter storm followed us all the way to the trailhead and by the time we got to the yurt, 10” of new snow had fallen, by the next morning more than two feet of new powder put an end to our plans. The avalanche cycle following the storm made travel outside the hut pretty treacherous. We stayed two more nights letting the snow settle and then made our way back out to the truck. On March 18th, we returned and made it to the top on the following day and skied back in weather that once again shut down the mnountains.
Steve and Cassie climbing above the saddle, Old Hyndman Peak in the background.

The Pioneer Yurt at night.