High Contrast

My camera situation right now is not the best....as i sport a $70 cannon with a lost battery.
I am forced to photoshop and mindlessly hit the full color saturation button...

Ahhh...the holiday break

with a bit of free time, I was blessed with a wonderful sabbatical through kansas, montana, wyoming, colorado and utah....and idaho...nice.

Thanks to all my friends along the trail (you know who you are)

awesome quotes from the trip:

"Chinese food $1.75/scoop"  -sign in Moab, UT

"Exploration is the physical expression of intellectual passion" -Early 20th century polar explorer           Cherry Apsley-Garrard

"I'm the man that walks the hillside, in the sweet summer sun" -Mick Jagger

Happy Holidays....

I am extra stoked to hear that there is a possibility of more snow in the future! The super experts over at GNFAC predicted some LA NINA today!!!

my last turns (Dec 21st?) were extra deep, i wanted to get over to Cooke, but that will have to waits til '12....

So the most consistent ski zone (near Bozeman) the last few weeks has been....history rock?

http://vimeo.com/34276878

I skied down the meadow the other day with Mike and Trevor ...they were going laughably slow with their old, broke off skinny skis :-) You traditionalists make me sick, and i will stick with my shiny new gear.



happy holidays to all my real friends and family...I am off to the front range to see Ween for nye. Kind of wish I was going to see this band in that year, but I have been a ween fan for the last 3 decades. sigh


-ty

McClusky Mountain Crag

Exploring the climbing potential in the Butte Boulder Batholith

Mclusky mountain is up there, with a handful of splitter lines. December 15th proved to be to cold and dark to actually enjoy the climbing, but the stone is highly weathered and solid!

The horrible approach made for some funny complaining and ensured I would not be ready for the next day's ski traverse of Sheep Creek.

Trevor "Dr. Send" Bowman, DFA. (doctor of first ascents)

Nice corner that requires some wide gear...a couple 5's and an old 4?

Scrappy exploring in Sheep Creek, Madison Range...

Sage Peak and Redstreak Peak.

Alex on the outrun.

Steep stuff of Sheep Mountain.

Nice looking 1000 foot ridge studded with buttresses like this. Looked to be gneiss? 

 This couloir looked...

Good to Go!

With the semester of mind bending science behind me, I am able to explore more. Nice looking ski terrain here!

The snowpack is still 100% facets/hoar...making for interesting exits and bruised bodies and skis.

Early Bird Turns!

Early Bird Turns near West Yellowstone, MT....Heads up snowpack this year. Wind+transportable snow= avalanches. Nick Stayner is pictured intentionally initiating a collapse (expected). The 2000+ foot runs visible near Hegben lake may have to wait a while.

Facet Schuss by Alex and Georgia Brown

Interesting crystal formation in calm and protected areas, making for a wintery feel..... The small amount of snow that blankets our mountains is slowly dying via sublimation and faceting morphology. Makes for consistent density, each and every turn. Heres to a great winter. Pray to the La Nina goddess!

Scrap-tastic approach complete with luge-esque exit has been the norm in the mountains around Bozeman. We need a little snow.

Late Summer Adventures

Lte summer/early fall has been the adventure of a lifetime. In late september i stood on Elephant peak and saw the sunset on every mountain range in the northern yellowstone ecosystem, and then rode out on the bike.... I have been using skis and a mountain bike to get around in the mountains, and here are a few videos:

http://vimeo.com/30329286

http://vimeo.com/29914315