Category Archives: Snow and Weather

A Chamonix Vacation

Way back in January during the OR show BCA’s European sales manager, Craig Widdecombe, regaled us with tales of an epic Chamonix winter.  In my powder starved state I somewhat impulsively purchased tickets for my girlfriend, Steffie, and I to spend two weeks in Chamonix during the first weeks of April. The trip exceeded all expectations with great snow, stability, and just enough blue sky to head up high a few days. It was hard to whittle down two weeks of pictures, but below are some of my favorite. A big thank you to all our new Chamonix friends. Thanks for showing us the ropes.
 
We stayed with local legend Gary Bigham a few days.… Read more

Reflections from an AMGA Ski Guide Course

Below is a guest blog from Norie Kizaki, a Colorado Mountain School (CMS) guide who won our AMGA Ski Guide Course scholarship and just took her course:
My name is Norie Kizaki and I am a mountain guide for Colorado Mountain School in Boulder, Colorado and a ski guide for Hokkaido Powder Guides in Hokkaido, Japan. I received the 2012 BCA scholarship for the AMGA Ski Guide Course. My Ski Guide course took place in Aspen, Colorado from March 12th to March 23rd. There were ten course participants (including me) from across the US (and the world), along with our instructors, Amos Whiting and Peter Leh. I have been preparing… Read more

Microburst in RMNP

Rocky Mountain National Park had been getting some decent snowfall for a change, so I planned to check it out with a fellow Avy Level 1 classmate, Julie Harris. We pulled into the Glacier Gorge trailhead on an early Sunday morning of March 3rd to find a very desolate parking lot and wicked wind. It wasn’t hard to figure out what was keeping away the crowds.
The plan was for a 10 mile round trip tour that would hit Green Lake. The map showed good skiing in the area, but we were aware of the high avy danger reported from CAIC. The area had received 8-16” of new snow in… Read more

Gathering Observations to Manage Hazards & Ride Powder

Matt Wade, of Peak Mountain Guides, wrote up this nice piece after teaching a recent avalanche course. To learn more about Peak Mountain Guides, visit here

Tap, tap, tap. . . . Matt’s pencil rapped against the table and his brow furrowed. “Wait, wait, say that again – surface hoar forms when the relative humidity is high at the snow surface?” It was the beginning of a Level 2 Avalanche Course with Peak Mountain Guides and we were beginning a quest to become good observers of all things avalanche: weather, snow, and avalanche activity. It would be brain bending at times, but most importantly it would help us ride good… Read more

Snow Study Tool Rundown – Part Two

In our second installment of the rundown, Donny takes us through how to use the Digital Thermometer, Crystal Card and the Magnifier Loupe.… Read more

Snow Study Tool Rundown – Part One

We’re back with another video from Donny Roth shot down in Bariloche, Argentina where he takes us through a few of the items found in our Snow Study Kit. Stay tuned for Part Two.… Read more

Rutschblock Test with Donny Roth

Donny Roth takes us through the steps to conduct a proper Rutschblock Test. When not traveling in search of skiing, climbing and cycling destinations, Donny can be found at home in Boulder, CO. He has been entertaining himself in the backcountry for 18 years and is now a guide and runs the website Independent Descents.… Read more

Ringing in the New Year with Powder!

Here’s a sweet video made by Donni Vognild, a Northwest photographer and all-around radical adventure woman. If you live in one of the regions hit by La Nada, this video will have you drooling:

http://web.me.com/donnivogs/http___web.me.com_donnivogs/My_Albums/Pages/NCascades_NY_2012.html… Read more

Where’s all the snow this year? In Europe!

Every season in Europe for the past ten years we have been hearing about record snow falls across the pond. Well now it’s finally our turn! The season started out with a panic as resorts were pushing back opening dates and it was looking like a similar winter to last year. How wrong were we! It’s January now and the snow keeps falling. We have now received more snow in the last few weeks than the whole of last season combined. So now it’s time to dust off those fat skis and break out the snorkel because finally the snow is here!!

Here’s a movie and some pictures of the… Read more

Skiing the Drought

La Nina has pretty much turned into La Nada recently but a nice little pulse came through WA on Monday so we decided to head out and check on the conditions. We were pretty psyched with the results! Plus, it was an awesome excuse to keep getting the sled dialed in for ski touring access. And, I was able to catch up with two old friends from Colorado, CB and Mickey (formerly of Keystone Patrol and Wilderness Sports). Here’s what it looked like:… Read more