Fast Grass and First Snows

Wednesday’s first snows in VT brought out a few of the valley’s ambitious skiers with rock skis, junk boards and a lot of enthusiasm. The first tracks report from the Northeast is in, courtesy of Peter Wadsworth:

I saw one other set of tracks while going up. Get to the top, and who’s sitting there? Dickie Hall, of course. Fitting since he’s the guy that got me started on this sickness in the first place. We hung out for a bit before making some survival turns on down.

Hope you’re all psyched.

(Carter breaks trail. Photos by Peter Wadsworth.)

(Last of the fall color holding on in the snow.)

(Fast grass, first tracks.)

(Excited for winter. )

PNW Fun Raiser

If you’re a Pacific Northwest backcountry skier, you probably rely quite a bit on the weather and avalanche forecasts of the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center (NWAC) or have heard about the education outreach of the Alpine Safety Awareness Program. Well this weekend offers a great chance to come out and show your appreciation for the fine folks at NWAC and ASAP and all the services that they offer, at their Fun Raiser this Saturday in Bellingham, WA.

What: ASAP & NWAC Fun Raiser
Where: Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro, Bellingham WA
When: Saturday, October 25 from 5:30 to 10:00pm
How Much: $10/person or $30/family (all-ages event)
Why: All money raised helps cover the insurance for ASAP to offer their youth and adult avalanche and safety awareness programs with NWAC.

The Goods: All-you-can-eat fish tacos, ASAP/NWAC Ale, music by Bentgrass, and lots of backcountry skiing raffle/auction items.

Karhu is proud to support NWAC and ASAP in their fundraising efforts this season. Come on out for a good cause, and you’ll have a chance to win some new Karhu skis. If you can’t make it to Saturday’s event in Bellingham, mark your calendar for the Northwest Snow and Avalanche Summit in Seattle on November 8th. More info to follow soon…


(Karhu's Charlie Lozner does some early season powder wallowing last year. Photo by Graham Gephart.)

From Fall into Winter

Surfing around last night, I found a great video of the changing seasons in VT. Filmed around Vermont’s Mount Mansfield, the footage and editing are superb, and it really captures the feeling of fall in Vermont building to the first snows.

Falling into Winter

(Falling into Winter from Nathan S on Vimeo.)

The timing is appropriate, as last night brought snow across the Green Mountains and a flood of emails from friends about the firsts arrival of winter.

Mad River Mountain Work Days

Want to contribute to get some pre-season hiking, earn a free day of skiing, scout out new lines for the winter and contribute to the stellar skiing at a great local mountain? Come out this Saturday, October 25 for the last Mad River Glen Mountain Work Day of the fall.

From Mad River Glen and Treeskier.com
Purpose: The purpose of Mountain Work Days is maintenance of tree skiing. This involves cutting lines as well as setting aside areas for new trees to grow. Everything is done with hand tools. Work days are organized and led by Jay Appleton in consultation with ski area management. Mountain Work Days are a great chance to get out on the mountain, discover sacred ski terrain, and learn about northeastern mountain forests. It is fun and satisfying to see a ski line take shape, and see how trees can grow with some care.Turn Dividends: Each person who works a full day receives a complimentary day pass voucher for each day he or she works. The voucher is good during the upcoming 2008/09 ski season. You can work as long as you like, but plan on working the entire day to get a day pass.

9am, rain or shine at the MRG base area. Bring a hardy work ethic, warm clothes, lunch and some sharp loppers or trimming tools (no power tools, axes or hatchets).


(Riding up the MRG Single Chair in March 2008. Photo by Graham Gephart.)

Lifts are Running in CO

With cold temps and a flurry of snowmaking activity, the race was on to be first ski area in the US to open. Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin and Loveland Pass ski areas both lifted up one lift and one run this morning, marking the start of the lift season. The cover’s thin, the run’s narrow – sometimes earning the nickname the “White Ribbon of Death” – but there’s no complaining about turns in October.

(A-Basin blowing some coverage. Photo from Ski Press World.)

From Ski Press:
Arapahoe Basin ski area will officially open for the 2008-2009 ski season tomorrow, Wednesday, October 15, 2008. For the past two years the ski area has been the first to open in the nation and this year A-Basin continues that trend.

The Exhibition chairlift will open to the public at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday. Skiers and riders can look forward to an 18-inch base on the intermediate High Noon run and some features in the High Divide Terrain Park. There will be no beginner skiing at this time.

Webcam footage of the runs here:
A-Basin - http://www.arapahoebasin.com/ABasin/snow-conditions/web-cams.aspx
Loveland - http://www.skiloveland.com/themountain/reports/snowreport.aspx

Elsewhere in snow country, heavy snowfall blanketed the parts of Montana over the weekend. Great report and photos away from the lifts after some early season backcountry over on TelemarkTips

Wildflower Tours

Scattered snow continues to fall across the mountains, and this weekend brought enough in spots for the first couple turns. Tom Carter emailed us over the weekend with a couple photos to jumpstart our imaginations…

First snow, those old Karhu Lookouts come in handy!!

This is Saturday at 7:00 AM. I call them my "wildflower tours", dried flowers and stalks still poking out of the snow. Beautiful, and like I've always said, "That's what's been missing - glide!"

Redefining Tree Skiing – Video

A little humor out of Norway this morning, where some ski pioneers are redefining both tree skiing and ski jumping with their own upstart sport…

Ski Tree Jumping


A successful stick still requires quite the dismount.

Snow Hits the Hills

Yesterday brought 4 inches of snow to a drive over Berthoud Pass in Colorado. Today I’m back in Washington, and the snow level is lowering overnight. From the Seattle NOAA forecast…

A COLDER AIR MASS WILL INVADE THE REGION BEHIND THE COLD FRONT ON TUESDAY. SNOW LEVELS WILL PLUMMET INTO THE 3500 TO 4000 FOOT RANGE BY LATE IN THE DAY. ELEVATIONS ABOVE THE 4000 FOOT LEVEL IN THE CENTRAL CASCADES COULD PICK UP 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW BY THE ENDOF THE DAY TUESDAY. THUS DO NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME SNOW IN STEVENS PASS. ACCUMULATING SNOW APPEARED UNLIKELY IN SNOQUALMIE PASS.

(Charlie and Elizabeth Lozner prepare for last year’s first run, early in the winter before the lifts turned at Hyak. Photo by Graham Gephart.)

Win Storm BCs at Avy Benefit and Tough Guy Film

Reminder to our Alaskan readers that tonight is the Tough Guy Productions’ opening for Harmless and an after-party at Humpy’s to benefit the Friends of the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center. Come on out for some preseason excitement and a chance to win a pair of 177cm Karhu Storm BCs in the raffle.

2008 Karhu Storm BC (128-96-117)

Here are the details from organizer Ira Edwards:

What: Fundraiser for the Friends of the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center and the UAA Phys. Ed. Majors Club.
Where: UAA Wendy Williamson.
Tickets: www.uaatix.com

After the Party: Humpy's has a lot of donated beer, and a portion of any of these 7 beers sold next Thursday, October 2 will be donated to the Friends of the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center. We will also show the TGP movie there after the UAA Wendy Williamson shows. Spread the Word! Thank the Breweries!

Alaskan Brewing IPA

Alaskan Brewing Amber

Alaskan Brewing Summer

Midnight Sun Brewing Sockeye Red IPA

Midnight Sun Brewing Coffee Porter

Moose's Tooth Brewing Fairweather IPA

Moose's Tooth Brewing Pipeline Stout

Tough Guy Productions’ latest film, Harmless

Northwest Mountaineering Journal

Just saw a post over on OffPisteMag.com that the newest issue of the Northwest Mountaineering Journal is out. If you haven’t seen it, the NWMJ is an incredible collection of reports, articles, history and photos from the mountains of the Northwest, all in a clean online layout. In this issue, Summer 2008, editorial team leader Lowell Skoog writes,

“...This issue of the Northwest Mountaineering Journal offers several perspectives on today’s wilderness. Blake Herrington, who worked in Stehekin during summers in high school and college, describes adventurous new climbs in the heart of the “Wilderness Alps of Stehekin.” Articles by Ed Cooper and about the Firey family capture the flavor of Northwest mountaineering from the 1950s through 1970s. Modern tales by Steph Abegg and Pat Gallagher explore seldom-visited corners of the Olympics and North Cascades. And finally, as road and trail washouts haphazardly make the wilderness more remote, Leor Pantilat shows how, with a pair of running shoes and a fresh attitude, it is possible to bring the mountains almost unbelievably closer.”

There are a number of interesting ski endeavors in the Short Reports section, but the most compelling piece is the review of the 0708 season’s deadly toll of avalanches, which struck the outdoor community particularly hard in the Northwest. Author Garth Ferber presents each accident summary with weather and scene reports, as well as great information on the trends of snowpack, issued avalanche warnings, and awareness of avalanche resources in the Northwest like NWAC. It’s a chilling reminder as the ski dreams start of the risk and consequences of our sport and the importance of continued education.