3 avalanche fatalities in SW Montana

Yowzer, yesterday was not a good day for the backcountry in southwest Montana. According to the Gallatin NF Avalanche Center there were three avalanche fatalities. There has been a lot of bad things happening out there, you can check out this season's accidents over at the Avalanche.org website (http://www.avalanche.org/av-reports/index.html). I believe with these recent deaths, the tallies are: USA Fatalities: 16, Canada Fatalities: 13; Total Fatalities: 29.

Here's the write up from the Gallatin AC site:

Yesterday there were three avalanche fatalities in southwest Montana, two outside the advisory area and one within. One avalanche fatality occurred in the mountains north of Cooke City near Daisy Pass. This was a massive avalanche, and we have few details. Doug and I will be going to Cooke City today for an investigation and will have more details in tomorrow’s advisory.

Another avalanche occurred near Mt Jefferson in the Centennial Range. The victim was wearing a beacon, but was buried under 8 ft of snow and it took 30 minutes to extricate him. More details can be found at: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_id_avalanche_death.html

A third avalanche fatality occurred in the Gravelly Range near Black Butte. This avalanche was 200 ft wide and ran 75 vertical feet. It occurred on an east facing slope at 9000ft. A group of 14 riders met in a meadow and noticed someone from the group was missing. They searched for him and found his sled in avalanche debris at the base of a small slope. Everyone was carrying rescue gear and began a beacon search. They immediately detected a signal from the victim’s beacon and found him under 2 feet of snow. Once they got him out of the debris they performed CPR. The victim was buried for approximately 15 minutes. This was an experienced group of riders well equipped with rescue gear and aware of current avalanche conditions with no intentions of climbing steep slopes.

Photos of this avalanche are posted at: http://www.mtavalanche.com/photos/photos.php

A video clip can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFMi1gtaH-o

Meanwhile, over in Western Montana the snowpack seems to be stabilizing. The Friday report from the Missoula Avalanche Center rated LOW on most slopes and at all elevations. Moderate rating on some terrain features such as wind loaded slopes steeper than 35° or areas where the snowpack is shallow with rock outcroppings where it would be easier to collapse through to the weaker facets near the ground.

A few friends and I toured out behind Snowbowl on Friday and found their reports to be accurate. We dug a pit on a S aspect at 8100ft and found a RB6. In general the snow was consistently bonded, but faceted near the ground. We found evidence of some large slides on similar aspects that looked to have occurred sometime last week. These slides ran to the ground, with crowns of 18" to 30" and widths of ~150 yards. Riding conditions were good where the sun had warmed up the snow. Here's a few pics of the fun.


Be safe out there. My sincere condolences to the families and friends of these recent tragedies.

Remember to set your din?

Friendly reminder to check your din settings on your bindings.

A New Years Eve present

Rode the 'Bowl yesterday on the eve of 2009 and had a great day that ended with a bang. Although only one inch was reported at the morning phone call but the storm looked to be coming in hard that morning. I lucked into first chair and enjoyed some perfect storm riding all day long. After lunch the wind began to pick up, I noticed on a few lift rides that it was actually snowing at a 45degree upward angle.

I heard some patrollers talking about some large trees falling in the bowls and in Far East. The next ride up the chair lift, me and buddy were casually talking. Next thing we hear a loud cracking noise coming from the nearby trees. Oh shit is all I could think.

Then we see a 50ft tree breaking off at the stump and falling towards the downhill chair cable. It landed right next to the chair in front of us, exploding needles and branches went everywhere, nearly missing the lady on the chair. The tree then hung on the cable as the lift continued to spin, it bounced a few times and fell to the ground. As a result the chairs on that side were bouncing wildly and swinging to horizontal. I grabbed the chair like a little girl and at the same time contemplated jumping. I thought for sure the chair was going to derail. Turns out we made it to the top, where I promptly informed the top shack. The chair was shut down for the rest of the day.

Never a dull moment at the Bowl. Below is a "re-enactment" of the situation. Thanks to Jesse K for the pic (taken today).

The new extreme sport: Roadtripping with infant twins

Having just returned from a 2000 mile roundtrip roadtrip to California with the twins, I think I might have found a new extreme sport: Roadtripping with infant twins. We survived, it wasn't pretty but we made it work. All told, we spent roughly 36 hours in the car with our two 14 month old twin girls.

We had many people question our sanity prior to our departure. And as our launch neared, I won't lie I too was having second thoughts. Should we have bought those plane tickets? Too late buddy you are locked in. So we prepared and then we prepared. The packing process alone was a major logistical production. You would have thought we were driving to Tierra del Fuego or some shit. No conveniences were spared and the list was checked twice. You can never have too many snacks or distractions for 14 month old kids. A dvd was plugged in center stage in the back seat. Bags of toys overflowed on the floorboards. Sunshades dressed the windows. And we even had a emergency bottle of Benedryl if the shit really got out of hand.

We shot out of Missoula like a rocket across Western Montana. The roads proved to be in good condition once we got to Butte. Hitting the gas heavy, we entered Idaho over Monida pass and decended on upon the wastelands of southern Idaho. Runs of 2 to 3 hours were common before having to pull over to fuel up and change diapers. This is where extreme baby roadtripping really hit home. Not wanting to risk a run in with a grizzly trucker mama at the Truck stops we opted to do our dirty work in the Highlander. Diapers were changed in the vehicle. It went something like this: Pull in to the gas pump, I get out and drop the fossil fuel in the tank. Meanwhile T tries to pacify the babies as they freak out. Once fueled, we park and began the process. She removes one infant from the carseat and changes her in the front seat. I go inside and replentish the hotwater in the thermos for the bottles and grab a few RedBulls. As I get back into the car T passes one of the babies to me. The baby then gets some mock driving lessons at the wheel. T grabs the second twin and changes her diaper. After completed, twin #2 gets some drive time at the wheel. Followed by some general tomfoolery in the front seats as they turn on every light and switch in the car. Hasty bottles of whole milk are made up and the babies are strapped back in.

As we rolled down the highway, T was often required to perform extreme acrobatic manuevers to quiet the babies. Frequent reaches to the backseat to shove snacks into their face, pick up dropped/huck toys, change the DVD from Care Bears to Baby Einstein and delivering more Cheerios (which usually ended up in a pile near the carseat). As T did this I often practiced my Zen-blockouteverything attitude. Screams of terror rolled off my back like water off a duck. Okay, maybe I had to turn up the XM a few times to drown out the magnified shrills of delight.

Once we landed in California things settled down and we had a great time with the family. We chilled by the fire and watched our 4 kids (all under the age of 3) run amuck. We had a great day at Sugar Bowl, enjoying 14" of some cold Cali blower snow.

On the return trip, things didn't go as smoothly road condition wise. Halfway across Nevada we ran into snow and continued to drive in blizzard like conditions for the next 5 hours. The forementioned "screams of delight" did not help matters as I tried to navigate the skating rink of a road. Upon reaching Elko, NV at 10 pm, snow was coming down heavy. Little P had been crying off and on for the last hour. A debate ensued between the driver and navigator about stopping there. The driver argued that he felt fresh and if we could just quiet the wee one in the back we could push on for a few more hour and get in front of the storm, eliminating a few more hours from tomorrow's drive. A steamy bottle was delivered and all was quiet.

It was gambling time, I checked road conditions and hotel vacancies in Jackpot, NV, it was a go. I had a 50/50 chance of winning this hand. If I lost it meant listening to a screaming baby or possibly 2 for the next 2 hours as we delicately drove at 50 in a snowstorm. We gingerly pulled out of Elko and headed out on Hwy. 93. At the end of the night I won this major hand and cashed out with a good nights rest at Cacus Petes casino in Jackpot.

The final day: We awoke to huge flakes falling and 4 new inches out on the road. Like roadie veterans we loaded and went. A few gas station lattes and we were off toward Idaho. Snow quickly turned to sleet as we pulled into Twin Falls. A greasy breakfast at Perkins meant some break time for the twins. Food was thrown about and we hit the interstate. This is when things got interesting. Soon we were entering a full on ground blizzard. Drifting snow encroached on the highway like an advancing desert. Sustained winds of 40-50 mph pushed snow across the road and slowed our travel to 10 mph and visiblity to 50 feet. Luckily that only lasted for about an hour. But during that time we saw at least 30 cars and trucks off the road. Many of them had rolled and gone into the median. All the while, the Highlander with its new beefy snowtires did not slip once.

The last leg of the journey went well and we were relieved as we pulled into Missoula. We even busted out the emergency lollipops that we had forgot about.

***DISCLAIMER: Some of this is embelished and exagerated, but not all of it. It was a great trip but I might wait a few months before I'd do it again.

Hunting season 2008

Freezer's are full with lots of good meat. Here are a few pics from some of the animals that buddies scored this year. If you want to the whole album, click here for the Gallery. Until next year, now we can focus on the white stuff.

Well BELOW ZERO in Missoula

Just as forecasted, the Arctic beast rolled into western Montana Friday night. Saturday morning I peeked out the window to find white stuff in the front yard and its about time. It came in quick & dumped most of the snow (in the valley anyway) in the wee hours of the night. I think we probably got 3-4 inches here at the house, but with a ton of wind.

Snowbowl announced on Saturday that they were shooting for a nooner opening with 10 new inches up top. Reports varied from good to too damn cold. At any rate the base sounds like its building up top, with only Lavelle running. But the good news is apparently Paradise is passable. No skiing for me yesterday, I was stuck at work.

The top of Point Six is posting up some brutally cold numbers and when I say brutal I mean it. This stuff makes me shiver. From the Point Six weather station it shows that it has got down to 28 BELOW Zero sometime last night around 1030pm.

Currently its sitting at -25F with an average of 35 mph. If you are wondering just how cold that might feel to your precious little skin take a look at this Wind Chill chart. With that current wind and temp you would feeling like it was MINUS 65F. That means bare skin would have frostbite 5 minutes.

The snow should be sticking around for awhile. Temps are looking at -12 tonight, 0F on Monday, 8F on Tuesday and 10F on Wednesday. Wooot. Woot. We'll definitely have to remember this storm in the backcountry for a while as I'm sure the slabs and loading are setting up something fierce.

Ladys and gentlemen, I bring you the 9 month update

I know you all have been holding your breath for this moment, hmmm yeah. Rest assured your ACL recovery update has come. Rehab is coming along about as good I as I could expect. Would I like it to be better? Yes. But realistically I am doing well. Here’s the basics of where I’m at:

- Range of motion = full
- No pain or swelling since probably month 4
- Hitting the weights at the gym regularly 3 times a week
- MTB’d a bunch late summer, felt great
- Have not been doing any jump type exercises for a few months now, probably should be
- Can run with no pain, 4 miles is about as far as I’ve gone
- Packed part of my elk out at ~70lb down a steep and slippery slope = solid
- Fell down many times in many contorted ways this hunting season = solid
- Leg workout, some numbers for comparison sake: Smith Machine squats 3 sets of 16 (185, 225 and 255lbs), 60 lunges with 30lb dumbbells, Seated leg press 270 3 sets of 18, Single leg press 140….lots of other stuff, but this is stuff I want to track.

All in all the biggest thing that I feel that I have improved is my confidence. Although I still have a ways to go before I’ll feel bomber on the skis, it’s a good start. I know that I can fall and its not going to blow out on me. I still have a noticeable muscle deficit in the leg that was operated on. I would guess that % wise its maybe 90% of the size of the normal leg. Thanks again to everyone that had encouraging words.

Today was the last day of deer and elk season (at least for the areas that didn't get the 3 week extension). My lazy ass couldn't muster the motivation to get out of bed this morning. However, in my dreams this is how it could have gone down. Maybe next year?

Eric Pollard

LINE Eric Pollard 08 Self Edit from Line Skis on Vimeo.


Some great shots and edits from Eric Pollard that turned out to be well worth watching. From my armchair view I never had taken EP that seriously. Always seeming too new school for a semi-old schooler like myself. However the stuff in this is super smooth and not too jerky on the ole' eyes. If you don't have patience, at least check out :40, :50, 1:50, 3:00 and 5:08

* self edit of his 07-08 season with his Nimbus Independent crew.

Snowbowl pass pick up

Lack of snow continues to be the general weather theme lately. We seemed to have a few shots that got everyone thinking the beginning of the white was near, but alas it has waned. The ebb and flow on the snowline has been painful. I'm ready for it to drop to the valley floor and settle in for the winter. Looks like we might be waiting a bit according to NWS:

LONG RANGE FORECAST MODELS ARE PROJECTING A CHANGE IN THE OVERALL WEATHER PATTERN DURING THE EARLY TO MIDDLE PORTION OF NEXT WEEK. ...................EFFECTIVELY OPEN UP NORTHWESTERLY FLOW OVER MONTANA AND IDAHO...RESULTING IN AN INCREASING CHANCE FOR SNOW DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF DECEMBER.

On the other hand good news for pass holders. Here's the message from the Snowbowl website: IF WE DO NOT OPEN ON THE WEEKEND AFTER THANKSGIVING (NOV 28-30) we will be at these shops to distribute passes and take photos.

DATE LOCATION HOURS
November 28 , 2008 Friday Gull Ski 1pm-6pm
November 29, 2008, Saturday Bob Wards 1pm-6pm
November 30, 2008, Sunday The Trail Head 1pm-6pm

A few shots from years past just to remember that it will come

BASE Jumping into a cave in China

Shane McConkey, Miles Daisher and Chuck Berry of the Red Bull Air Force recently pioneered their way into the heart of China. Here it is, BASE jumping session at one of China's natural wonders, a giant cave depression. These guys crack me up, everything they do is a joke. Living the dream, but a dangerous dream eh? This puppy runs ~ 9 minutes, so grab a beer.

Whistler Pillow lines

This is some quality pillow action. A few unbelievable lines being absolutely worked over in Whistler. You can find more over at Salomon Freeski. Mark Abma and Mike Douglas ripping it up..............be patient it takes a while to load.

Elk and Antelope hunts 2008

One of my favorite, if not my favorite hunts of the year.....antelope. This year I was able to go, last year I had the ultimate blessing, twins. Our group of five had planned since last October and it showed by the way my truck was absolutely packed to the gills. We weren't able to get on the ranch opening day (1 week prior) as the phone reservation system had proved bullshit. However, it appeared it was blessing in disguise as a foot of snow and muck turned hunting into an impossible affair. Many hunters never got out of their truck opening weekend. Rolling down Hwy 200, we were now looking forward to 55 degrees and sun.

Pulling into our annual camp spot, things looked the same. Same sage and knapweed blowing in the wind, same nothingness. Two wall tents were errected, one large tent to house the 5 cots that we would snore on for the next 4 days. The other tent would be the cook shack and more importantly the debriefing/story/fart/kitchen/beer/lying-tent.

Day 1 - The south end of the 15,000 acre pasture we were hunting only showed 11 animals, none of which we could get close enough to. We all put on about 7 miles that morning and then headed back to the truck. Even though the roads still had some gumbo to them (from the days previous rain) we decided to try one of the ranch roads on the north end.

We were in for a surprise. Just off the highway we ran into straight up grease and gumbo. I put the Tundra into 4Wheel Low and had it revved to get even 5 mph out of it. The steering wheel went from one side all they way to the next to keep it straight. After all was said and done, we had one truck off the road. We only hunted for a half of hour, then black clouds loomed in the distance. We needed to get out of there fast or we might be spending the night out there. Luckily we got out without much issue. But in the mean time I watched the most impressive piece of driving EVER. We had two trucks on the road on a tilted corner. This guy didn't even let off the gas and pitched it sideways, threading the needle, dang. With a busted day we headed into Jordan for some fried chicken at the Hells Creek Bar.

Day 2 - More rain and serious wind came that night, but day 2 morning brought 20 degree temps and frozen ground. We could now get into our area. I hunt to the West, run into them right away but are just on the other side of the fence. This keeps happening all day long, wrong side of the fence. I shoot and miss on a 250 yard doe waiting to cross the fence. I meet up with big Red and check out his doe. Everyone goes back to the trucks for lunch, Wisco Kid gets a nice buck before lunch. I sit on some muddy buttes for 2 hours surveying 5 square miles, only see 3 antelope. On a last hope I walk into the farthest west corner in hopes of something holed up. I see 4 from 1 mile away, sneak across the couleee and drop my pack. Sneak to rock knob, 40 antelope bedded and feeding. Pick the biggest closest buck, guess 250 yds. The first shot is a gut shot, next 3 shots miss, now out of ammo. Run 300 yds back to my pack and grab more bullets. Run back and take the final shot. Dress him out and pack 2 miles back to the truck at the west parking area. Beers.

Day 3 – Three in the party hunt north off the highway. Wisco and I park on a big ridge that has great views. I watch one of our guys pass by some antelope that he can’t see. I walk for 1/3 mile and sneak around a knob, 2 does peak over the rise, one of them falls to the 30-06 - 75 yd clean shot. I check her and continue on to the herd. Now Wisco is in hot pursuit, we plan our sneak over a little knoll. Wisco flanks and comes over the knoll. The herd of 15 now charges the fence and starts to hop it, antelope run in between us. Joel clears me and misses one at 75 feet. I struggle to track the now split herd. One herd that didn’t jump the fence now stops. Clean 225 yard shot that drops a small buck that counts for a doe. Now to quarter up the animals. One more doe antelope falls that day to another hunter in our party.

October 26 2008 Opening day of Elk season

Pulling out the drive at 615 we headed out. After parking we made slow and steady time up the drainage. Forty five minutes later we split up and peeled the eyeballs for day break. Posted up on a saddle we waited and watched. Eventually we wandered about checking the nearby slopes.

I walk the ridge up to the peak and look into another drainage for a while, nothing. Changing my mind for some reason, I break off to the east and down to the road. As I come around the knob I see 10 elk contouring on a hillside across the drainage. They are coming out of a clearing just below the slash pile.

I jump down off the road behind a tree, one or two seems to have seen me. The elk eventually bed down and I link up with Wisco to range find them. We are at 420 yds from an open cross canyon shot. We sneak around for 1.5 hours getting to about 250 yards. The shot is into the sun, I can't overcome the sun. Plus, it's the first day. I was ready for weeks of nothing. I decided I was going to get closer.

I sneak back to the saddle and find a game trail, the wind is perfectly in my face. The game trail is quiet and I can't believe how close I'm getting. I can see one of the cows, now standing up at 60 yards, so I duck down and crawl closer. I stand and take a offhand shot at 40 yards, broadside. The herd erupts, there were 10 in there, we could only see 3. I watch as some go across, some go down. I find her laying on a stump, perfectly huge. A lung shot, didn’t go more than 50 yards. Two days hanging to cool and age and its butcher time. Yum, the freezer is full.

Oil and Water Project

While this isn't new news....Some Missoula boys showing how you can do it right, on many levels. What a great project. Not only did they do something great for science and the earth. They also managed to write their own ticket to one badass roadtrip. Nice work!

Oil & Water Project: Two kayakers embark on an Endless Summer-style, 35,000 km road trip from Alaska to Argentina in a retro-outfitted Japanese fire truck without a single drop of petroleum. They converted their regular diesel engine to run on everything from pig lard to palm pulp and they traveled for nine months in pursuit of the best whitewater in the Americas. The pair coordinated with schools, local governments, farmers, agricultural research centers and media to conduct demonstrations advocating for the use of alternative energy all along the way. Winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival.

Batten down the hatches, here comes winter

The season has quickly changed from a nice Indian summer to fall that feels like winter. Two days ago I awoke to sub freezing temps, the first of the season. A hard frost hit the valley, signalling the official end to garden season. I had picked the remainder of our vegatables from the garden (cucumbers, tomatoes and green peppers) the night before in anticipation of the cold front.

Its great when change of season comes on strong. The leaves color change seemed to change a lot faster than last years. Leaves literally changed colors overnight a week or so ago, then dropped rapidly in the cold stiff winds. The tree in the backyard lost all its leaves in one windy day.

In the yearly ritual, I removed the screens and put on the storm windows. The plants in the garden were pulled up and taken to the curb. Leaves raked into a pile and bagged.

Snow is falling today in Missoula. No accumlation here yet, but in the mountains there definitetly is. And just a little further to the east the mountain locations got hammered yesterday. The Tobacco Roots have recieved 60" out of this storm, check out the Albro Lake Snotel. Maybe this is a sign for a good winter, who knows but I like what the Farmers Almanac has to say:

Winter will be much colder and drier than normal, on average, with snowfall above normal in the north and below normal in the south. The coldest temperatures will occur in late December; early, mid-, and late January; and early February. The snowiest periods will be in mid-November, early and mid-December, mid- and late January, and late February.

And lastly, just a screen shot of the Montana Highway cameras. Check out all the snow, huzzah.

Redneck weekend

Last weekend we had to take a step back and have a big laugh at ourselves. We joked that wow, that was a redneck weekend. Aw shucks, we sure had a swell time. I think sooner or later I may have to accept the fact that I am on the road to domestication. Here's a breakdown of the fun:

- T picks some green peppers and cucumbers from our garden. Canning them, she makes some very tasty relish.
- Not to be outdone, I bust out the ground mule deer meet from last year and make some tasty deer jerky. We managed to eat up 2 pounds of the last batch in 2 weeks, NEED MORE MEAT!
- I headed out to the Deep Creek Shooting Range to sight in my rifle for the season. She's dead on boys, look out.
- The icing on the cake?: A friend suggests we have a fire down by the river. We met another couple and their 2 kids at the trailhead and mounted up. Pushing a Chariot full of gear (including an ax, saw, hot water for hot chocolate, pack & play, chairs, fire starter, beer, S'mores makings) we wound through the rustling leaves for 1/2 mile and found a white sandy beach on the Clark Fork. We had a perfect night laughing and enjoying the fire with all the kids.

Enjoy the photos and one little stupid clip of me with the trusty rifle.