Bloated Skiing

February 1, Snoqualmie Mt.

2012-02-01T17:13:00.000-08:00

Ran up Snoqualmie Mt. with Don Hecker and Josh McBride from work. Really nice snow above treeline. A little thick on the phantom slide area. Nice skin track was already put in through the trees. We got the pleasure of laying in the skintrack, above treeline, to the slot entrance, then to the summit. No backside adventures with the poor visibility and wind. However, we enjoyed the frontside turns.

Don makes turns off the summit.

Josh works the new skis.

Alpental

2012-01-30T17:21:00.000-08:00

Just another crappy day at the local ski hill.

Francine, Greg, Mike, Kevin

Bill, Kevin, Francine, Greg, Frank, Rob, Justin

Jan 22, Hyak at night

2012-01-22T18:29:00.000-08:00

Got out the headlights for a night tour at Hyak. Snow was silky smooth. Fresh powder, since the chair derailed at 10am. Francine was only stuck on the chair for about 2 hours.

Picture is a little dark

Jan 17, Snow

2012-01-17T17:15:00.000-08:00

Not much touring posts, in January. My Dad is complaining about all the inactivity on my blog. Sorry Dad. After a dry spell which forced me to break out the skate skis, January really delivered. My deck looked like this several times in January. Ended up skiing lots of chairlift days at Alpental.

Jan 16, Kendall Peaks

2012-01-16T18:19:00.000-08:00

Greg got a couple of great shots, while we were skiing the Kendall Peak area.

Kevin Curd Photo: Greg Louie

Ellisa Eng Photo:Greg Louie

Jan. 3, Cave Ridge

2012-01-05T15:44:00.000-08:00

Hooked up with Scott Otterson for his annual ski day. He's back to Germany to work on wind power next week. Also, along for the tour was Greg Louie. With no real agenda we headed up the commonwealth valley. We got sucked over towards Guy Peak and found an interesting ascent route through the cliffs to attain Cave Ridge. Climbed to the high point of Cave Ridge then dropped North towards Mt. Snoqualmie before hanging a right back into the commonwealth drainage. More touring, than turning, but an excellent day in the woods.

Jan 1, 2012, Mt. Catherine

2012-01-01T17:15:00.000-08:00

First tour of 2012! My nephew Jack and his dad Leonard are signed up for a three day avalanche course over MLK weekend. Needing a little touring practice we headed out the back door for a Mt. Catherine tour. Unfortunately for Len, his demo skis came with undersized skins that were not staying connected to his skis. He dialed in using his backcountry gear, but ultimately had to turn back with his skin issues. Continuing with Jack, we topped out at the summit of Mt. Catherine and enjoyed the views before dicing up the fresh powder, As in most of my tours, the downhill seemed to be over far too quick. However the snow was great, and it was good to get my nephew out experiencing skiing without a chairlift.

Dec 24, Brandon Kern Hyak Invitational Randonee Race

2011-12-24T13:37:00.000-08:00

Hmm, got an email last week from Brandon. He wanted to do a casual randonee race at Hyak on Christmas Eve morning. I told him that it sounded like too much effort. The format was two hours of racing up and down the front of Hyak. Greg Louie thought this sounded like fun, so he quickly forwarded the invite to his list of ski partners. Well, race day dawned, 33 degrees and raining. Since lift served skiing was going to be poor today, Francine and I motivated out of bed and made it to Hyak at the early 7:50 hourish. I told myself I only had to do one lap.

Turns out we had about 15 hardy souls willing to get out of bed early to ski in the rain.

Of course, Seth was race favorite, with a history of dominating when it came to pain suffering. Here he trails Brandon. I think Brandon managed to keep the lead for two laps before Seth made his move.

John Stimberis about to get lapped by Seth

Seth, the machine

Brandon

Greg

Turned out to be a great way to spend the morning. I even managed to do 3 laps as I tried to keep an enjoyable pace.

Early Results:
Seth Davis 6 laps, 6,000 ft.
Brandon Kern 6 laps
John Mauro 5 laps
Greg Louie 4.5 laps
Heather Kern 4
Crispin Prahl 4 +
Holly Walker 4
Kevin Curd 3
John Stimberis 3
Elissa Eng 3
Melissa 3
Francine Curd 2
Ann 2
Cindy 2

Dec. 20 Catherine Again

2011-12-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

It's funny, some years I never even ski Mt. Catherine. This year it seems to be the fall back tour. Greg wanted to get out for some exercise, so depite what looked like lousy conditions we headed for Catherine again. Got our exercise, but the skiing was pretty awful.

Dec 13, Mt. Catherine

2011-12-13T14:50:00.000-08:00

Dragged Tom out for another tour of Mt. Catherine. The 3,000 foot ascent/descent took a little under four hours, from the house. Snow was not blower powder, but for how long it has been since our last snowfall, it is holding up surprisingly well. Didn't see many tracks leftover from the weekend. I think the powder snobs are holding out for more snow.

Dec. 12, Hyak Lap

2011-12-13T14:44:00.000-08:00

Plan was to do a little Mt. biking in Issaquah, but with a huge fog bank in the city we decided to join Tom and his buddy Brad for a ski tour at Hyak. Weather was bluebird and the mountains were out. Brad was taking his first tour, so enjoyed the easy skinning at Hyak. Unfortunately the snow was a little crunchy for his powder skis. However, was perfect day to test the new equipment.

Francine and Kevin pose for possible xmas card photo.

Dec. 9, Mt. Catherine

2011-12-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

Started at the house with the intention of skinning up to Nordic Pass via. the start of the Mt. Catherine tour. Tried to follow the drainage to Nordic Pass, but eventually decided to just climb to the top of Catherine. Snow was actually pretty decent and had a good ski down. Seems even steeper with less snow. Ground coverage was a little lumpy but still skied well.

Dec 5, Silver Peak

2011-12-05T16:08:00.000-08:00

Beautiful sunny day for a tour out to Silver Peak. Managed to get sucked into the Frog Lakes vortex on the way home. Still not sure why I always have to get turned around when I use Nordic Pass to get home. Good day for a long tour.

Francine and Greg on the way up.

Nov 30, West

2011-11-30T12:56:00.000-08:00

Did a few laps at Summit West with Francine and Tom. Francine had new skis, with the new dynafit radical speed bindings. Francine, instantly, liked the new setup. She couldn't believe how much easier it was to tour with the dynafits over her Fritschi bindings. Another sucessful dynafit convert! Skiing was actually quite good, with 4-5 inches of soft mush over softpack. Could have had a little sunnier weather.

Classic Summit West weather

Francine likes her new skis!

Tom Davies

The new bindings, sweet.

Nov 21, Alpy

2011-11-21T17:33:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a year. 7 days of touring already. Mixing up the ski partners, I got out with Greg Louie, Don Hecker and Francine. I guess if you can't have bluebird weather like last Saturday, snowing hard is a good alternative. Snow was getting deep with 6 -10 inches of new. Snow was definitely a little thicker than this weekend, but we all enjoyed getting out. Skied one run down Nash and called it a successful day. Probably the longest tour Francine has done since she blew her knee.

Francine Zigs up Schluct.

Etta - Future Patrol Dog

Greg slashing down International

Don

Francine, first International lap of the year

Greg

Nov 19, Alpental

2011-11-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

Kevin - Lower Rollen

Wow, what a great day. Hooked up with Seth to power out about 5,000 feet of powder. We were somewhat suprised to find about a dozen skiers at the top of the mountain. Despite following them down Nash there was plenty of powder to enjoy. Lap 2, we couldn't resist laying first tracks into Edelweiss bowl proper. Then another quick shot on Lower Rollen before another sweet run down International. Today was the most skiers I have ever seen touring at Alpental. Pretty obvious that this earn-your-turn thing is catching on.

Seth - Edelweiss Bowl

Seth - First Tracks!

Nov 18, Hyak

2011-11-18T14:46:00.000-08:00

Struggled to keep up with Frank. He was on fire. Still waiting for him to get old and slow down a little. Also dragged out Scott Sumner for his first day on snow this year. Pretty nice first day with almost a foot of new.

Nov 17, Hyak

2011-11-17T17:38:00.000-08:00

Nice to be able to ski in the backyard again. All the brush work over the summer has really paid off. Made one backside run and a couple on the frontside with Frank and Tom.

Frank and Tom at the top of Hyak

Frank cruising the backside

Nov 16, West

2011-11-16T16:59:00.000-08:00

Area a little more skied out today. Patrol was out putting pads on the chair towers. Made two quick laps with Francine and Tom Davies.

Nov. 14 Summit West, Snoqualmie Pass

2011-11-14T20:43:00.000-08:00

First ski day at the pass, thanks to about 6 inches of new over the previous rain soaked foot, the snow was actually pretty good. Coverage looks excellent already, and Summit West should only get better as the week progresses.

Nov 11, Moto - Sasse Ridge Trail

2011-11-12T10:34:00.000-08:00

Scott with Cle Elum Lake below

Hooked up with Scott for what looks to be the last motorcycle ride of the year, in the Cle Elum area. Despite temperatures just above freezing, the trail was in great shape. The snow was falling by the time I reached home. Hopefully ski season is starting next week.

November 2, Tokul East

2011-11-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

Francine in the Woods, Tokul

Francine had the day off work, due to transformer work at the pass. Made the best of it, with a loop at Tokul. The trails were in great shape. Unfortunately, the loggers, look like they are getting ready to cut another swath of destruction. Ride included Tether Ball, Safety First, first section of Golden Spike, Middle trails back to bottom, then up to Crazy Ivan. Nice.

Nov. 1, Taneum Motorcycle Loop

2011-11-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

Got out with Eric, Mike Reimer, Matt Karaus and young guy Ben. I think Ben was only 28, which had to be the reason he was so much faster on his Honda CRF 250. Rode up Woods n Steel, East on Cle Elum Ridge Trail to catch N. Fork Teanaway trail from the bottom, all the way up past the Taneum Shelter to Windy Pass and back on the ridge trail. I managed to pinch flat my front tire, right before windy pass. I was planning to ride home with a flat front tire, but luckily Eric had all the tools, including a spare front tire and air cartridges to inflate it. Our Pit crew managed to change out the flat in under 20 minutes. Sure made the ride home a lot more fun! Thanks Eric.

Eric fixing my flat Photo by Matt Karaus

Oct. 17, SKI Camp Muir to Pebble Creek, Mt. Rainier

2011-10-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

DAY NUMERO UNO! First day of the new season, hooked up with Greg and Frank for some of the best conditions we have had on the Muir snowfield.

October 7, Miller Peak Time

2011-10-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hooked up with my soon-to-be neighbor Scott Sumner, for a motorcycle ride up and around Miller Peak. Trail was in perfect condition, with even a little fresh snow on the sides, as we neared the summit. This is a classic ride, and was glad to get it in before hunting season starts full swing, and the snow really flies.

September 26, Armstrong Pass to South Lake Tahoe

2011-09-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

Final day of riding. Drove up to the top of Oneidas road, paved, for another point to point ride. Climbed 4 miles on sweet, mountain biker designed single track to Armstrong Pass. Ron, a friend of Lisa's, works for the forest service and designed these fun, swoopy, trails. The grade was amazing. Everytime we came upon a rise, we would look up the hill to where we thought the trail would climb, Washington style, and the trail wasn't there. Had to look lower to find the nicely climbing trail. Again, the scenery was amazing with the granite boulders and trees. The last mile was quite a grunt. The sign at the start of the trail said 3 miles to the pass; it was actually 4. At the pass, you could turn right to head to Big Meadow on Hwy89 or left to climb to Freel Peak. We turned around for a screaming, fun, descent. 8 miles and we were still at the car. Descended down "Armstrong Connector" for 2 miles. This is one sweet section of trail. Great rock sections. This dropped us out at the "Corral" trail, where we rode our first day in South Lake Tahoe. Descended Corral to Powerline trail and worked our way home for a 22 mile ride to finish the week.
Packed up and hit the road. Drove 4 hours to Alturas. Had some great pizza at Antonios, and stayed in another cheap hotel recommended by the restaurant, Rim Rock Motel. Spotless clean, but older. $59.40 per night. This is a record on motel prices for us. 10 more hours and we were home the next day. Nice week!

September 25, Kingsbury Grade to Spooner Summit

2011-09-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

Francine - Tahoe Rim Trail - Near Kingsbury Grade

Another point-to-point shuttle. Stats are great on this ride. Start at 7,800 ft, climb to 8,800 ft and descent to 7,000 feet. 13 miles.

Trail conditions were even better to start the day, as it had rained overnight. Started climbing right away, with granite boulders and huge trees everywhere. Tahoe has some amazing landscape that we get to ride our bikes thru.

This was supposed to be our easy, off day. We thought there was only 1,000 feet of climbing, but the book said 1,900 feet. We were really feeling our legs, especially at this altitude, and our 4th day of riding.
The wind picked up in Tahoe today, so was quite windy at the "Bench" at the halfway point.
The downhill conditions were stellar. Thanks to last night's moisture, the descent was screaming fast and smooth. Seems like most of the trails in Washington are hammered or technical, so not very many screaming fast descents. Yet another sweet ride. We did this as a point to point, but if you had only one car I would recommend an out and back from Kingsbury Grade to the bench at the highpoint. The scenery on the Kingbury Grade side was stellar and I would have loved to ride back down the technical rock sections.

Sept 24 Mt. Rose to Lake Tahoe

2011-09-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm, add it to the list. Tahoe is pretty sweet and and deserves it's spot on your bucket list. It's been on our list for years, but somehow we never managed to motivate for the 14 hour drive. Well after tasting the singletrack, I have to say it is well worth it. Perhaps, I am a little jaded, due to the fact, that 3 of the 4 rides we used car shuttles to increase the downhill quotient.

Francine and Lisa ride the Tahoe Rim Trail

Lisa

Started the Tahoe Rim Trail (bikes on even days only) up the Mt. Rose Highway, at 8,550ft at Tahoe Meadows trailhead. Rode "Tahoe Rim Trail" to "Hobart Road", around Marlette Lake to "The Flume Trail" to "Tunnel Creek Road-Ponderosa Ranch". Yes, we finished right next to the stage set for the Bonanza TV show. Except for a 200 ft and 800 ft climb, we rode downhill to the lake, elev 7,723ft. 25 miles and a net loss of 1,680 ft.

The 8 mile Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) section starting at the Mt. Rose highway was gorgeous. Granite rocks lined the crushed granite trail with huge trees everywhere. The weather was perfect with partly cloudy skies and a slight breeze. We had amazing views of Lake Tahoe constantly. The "flume trail" is perhaps the most well known trail at Tahoe. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in that actual section. It has gorgeous views of the lake, but the grade is fairly flat for about 3 miles. It did redeem itself when the trail turned into jeep road and headed quickly to the lake. It was high speed to the finish!

Kevin

Marlette Lake then Lake Tahoe

September 23, South Lake Tahoe - exploratory ride from unit

2011-09-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

Lisa has a trail out the back yard, along side the South Truckee River, that heads out to join more trails in the hills. Rode some local trails in the utility district to Pioneer Road. Crossed that and hooked up with the "Powerline Trail" to Oneidas Road. Climbed the steep pavement for 2miles to "Corral Trail". Rode that for 1/4 mile and branched off for a swoopy, curvy descent on "Sidewinder" to "Incense Cedar" to the "Powerline Trail". Climbed that until we took a left and headed back to Pioneer Road. Basically took local trails all the way back to the house. 15 miles.

September 22, Susanville, CA Ranch Bike Park

2011-09-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

We originally planned a mountain bike trip to Oakridge, Oregon, but Lisa Delfiner (Parsons) emailed and was heading to rent her rental units in South Lake Tahoe. She had 2 units open, a place for us to stay, and was looking for bike companions. Her dates matched with Kevin's scheduled week off, so we immediately changed plans. Lake Tahoe has been on our bucket list for some time, but we haven't made it there.

We didn't want to do a 14 hour drive in one day, so Francine looked for places to mountain bike on the way down. In 2008, Susanville built 14 miles of machine built mountain bike trails. We drove for 11 hours and made it to Susanville by 7:30pm. We stayed at the River Inn Motel for a scary $59.40, including tax. Unit was old, but clean. I would only recommend one night.

Rode 15 tough miles at Susanville Ranch Park. Parked at the lower parking lot, made our way up "Heart Attack Hill", to the west side on "Hi Go" to "Round UP Loop". Back over "Lo Go" to the trails on the West side. After much up and down, we finally started downhill at 11.32 miles for an all out downhill finish back down "Heart Attack Hill" to the car. We figured we climbed about 2,000 feet. They had signs at all the intersections, which was nice, as we forgot our map at home.

Got in the car and drove to South Lake Tahoe.

Sept. 18, L.T. Murray Wildlife Area

2011-09-18T19:06:00.000-07:00

Headed east until the rain stopped. More exploration at LT Murray. Nice to try something new, that is only an hour away.

Sept 8, Duthie

2011-09-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

Went to ride Duthie mountain bike park with my nephew Jack. I don't think I have posted any ride reports from Duthie. However it has been a staple for a good ride option. We started riding at Duthie soon after the "boot camp" trail was roughed in. We have watched as it has evolved into a great mountain bike "park". Built almost entirely with volunteer labor, it provides trails to meet all ability levels. It has a good selection of crosscountry - keep your tires on the ground- trails, but also provides for those that like to experience flying, as it offers several jump lines. It is amazing how well these trails have held up. The parking lot is definitely full every weekend, and most weekdays as well.

Jack works his way through the progression of jumps, getting his skills ready for some of the more difficult trails.

Sept 3, Tour De Snoqualmie

2011-09-04T16:23:00.000-07:00

Seth emailed early in the week that he and Holly would be up, at the Alpental condo, for the weekend. They were hoping for a little mountain bike ride. With not too many options, we headed for Summit West and a tour across the ridgeline connecting West, Central, and Hyak. With great views and a mix of roads and trail, made for a good day. Also had the pleasure of Tom Davies joining in at the last minute, for a group of five, with Francine and I.

August 30, Whistler - River Runs Thru It

2011-08-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

Rode some familiar trails today. Took the Valley Trail (paved) to Cut Your Bars, Emerald Forest, Barts Dark Trail, to River Runs Thru It.
Saw our first real wildlife - a Black Bear munching on grass in the neighbor hood at the bottom of
Cut Your Bars.

Looks like River Runs Thru It had some flooding as a good portion of the section before the famous bridge has been rerouted and a new bridge across the river is in a different spot. But the newly added extension that ends at Rainbow Park is much nicer and ridden in, compared to our last time when it was a freshly cut, new trail. The entire trail was quite smooth and fast, as we normally ride this trail in June, when it is real muddy and the wood bridges are all wet. Hung out at Rainbow Park enjoying Alta Lake for a bit, before heading to the village for coffees. 13 miles.

Went back to the unit for lunch and a nap for Kevin. Then, we headed back to the Zappa trails for another 5 miles. Rode thru Blackcomb to Lost Lake. Climbed Molly Hogan to climb Pinocchio's Furniture. Basically descended on Fountain of Love, The Torture Never Stops, Dinah Moe Humm, and finally Peaches en Regalia.

All the trails in Whistler are in prime shape. They have done tons of trailwork.

August 29, Zappa Trails (Lost Lake)

2011-08-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

The real reason we didn't want to hike Mailbox Peak last Friday, was because we had a 4 day trip to Whistler planned. We are still feeling our quads from the straight up and straight down hike going around Guye Peak. Got a great rate on a 2-bedroom at the Gables. We've stayed at this complex, located directly between Blackcomb & Whistler. It's an older complex, which means the rooms and living space are big. We should have invited someone to join us.
No stairs, so we roll out the unit to start our ride. Rolled around Blackcomb base before heading out to Lost Lake Trails. They have some fun singletrack named after Frank Zappa's songs. We climbed Peaches en Regalia, Dinah Moe Humm, Disco Boy, The Torture Never Stops, Fountain of Love, started a general descent on Pinocchio's Furniture, Dwarf Nebula, Zoot Allure, Toads of the Short Forest, Gee I like Your Pants, Son of Mr Green Genes, to Jellyroll Gum Drop. At the bottom, we rolled to the Float Plane dock at Green Lake to eat some bars.

Back to the Trail system to head up Hooktender and Tommy Moore. Went left on Central Schnitzer?? to Comfortably Numb, Packard Goose, I'm not Satisfied, Why Johnny Can't read and Grand Wazoo to the bottom at Lost Lake. This last set of trails were completed in 2009, and were in excellent shape. Perfect difficulty for us, and a great option off the "crushed gravel" trails like Hooktender and Tommy Moore. They have done tons of trail work out here. Then headed back on the valley trail to the unit for some lunch. 11 miles.

August 28, Squamish

2011-08-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

Brave cougars have been prowling Squamish. They should run from humans on the trails, but have been hanging around too long and not running away. Trails in our usual loop off Perth Drive to Alice Lake Provincial Park are closed: Jacks, Mikes Loop, Credit Line (new to us) and Wonderland (new to us). So we headed slightly east to a new area to try a brand new trail, Half Nelson. We rarely ride on busy weekends, so with Cougar warnings, it was nice to see tons of bikers out and about, with all the parking lots full as we biked up the road to the top of Half Nelson. Half Nelson is a machine built downhill, bmx style, with bermed tight corners and all rollable features. Since we don't jump, this meant breaking hard before each jump. Not my first choice for a trail, so next time, we would head down Recycle, which branches "right" at the top of Half Nelson. After finishing Half Nelson, we climbed back up the the road. Francine descended Psuedo-Tuga (blue) and took that to the bottom thru P-T3. Kevin wanted a harder trail, and descended Home Brew (black) & Low Down (double black), and climbed back up the road to meet Francine to descend P-T3. 10 miles.

August 26, Guye Peak Circumnavigation

2011-08-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

With my niece, Madeline, home from college, there had been talk of getting out and hiking Mailbox Peak. Since Francine and I have done no hiking this summer, we were pretty scared of the 4,000 feet of elevation gain on Mailbox. Not so much scared of Mailbox, but of what our legs would feel like for the following week. Luckily, we were able to convince my sister that a circumnavigation of Guye Peak would be a nice alternative. Turned out to be a great hike, with most of the flowers in bloom, and the surrounding mountains in full glory. The ascent up from Alpental was in great shape. The descent, down into the Commonwealth valley looked to have received very little traffic this year. We had a few fallen trees to negotiate as we wound down, but we made it out alive.

Francine and Kris climb up, with Alpental valley below.

Jim and Maddie

Lunchbreak at Guye/Snoqualmie saddle.

Dropping into Commonwealth Valley

Jim

August 15, LT Murray Moto Ride

2011-08-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

Inspired by mountain bike reports of smooth singletrack, we loaded up our motorcycles and went exploring at the L.T. Murray wildlife area. Just South of I-90 at Thorp. Very nice area. Will have to come back with the mountain bikes in the shoulder season.

Francine, with Mt. Stuart in the distance

August 13, Northway Trail, Crystal mt.

2011-08-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

Rode up to the top for a cheeseburger, then descended back to the car. Lots of people up top, with the Crystal Gondola in full operation.

July 24, Winthrop - Starvation Mountain

2011-07-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a day off. Kevin & Don went rock climbing, and Francine & Val went to the farmer's market in Twisp.

Today, Val had a meeting in Twisp at 2pm, so we got her to shuttle us most of the way. Climbed a mile or two to the start of the ride. Unfortunately, quads are finding their way onto many trails in the area. It didn't help that this section down to the Blue Buck trail was also a firebreak when they had the big fire a few years ago. I believe motorcycles are allowed, but NOT quads. So, we had 5 miles of quad/moto style road/ trail, instead of nice narrow track. At the intersection of Blue Buck trail, what was once sweet, narrow singletrack, had also been visited by quads. After about 5 miles, we came to a big intersection with roads. Surprisingly after this, the quads went another way. And once we left the burn, we had some fun, narrow singletrack. Not sure if I would do this ride again. Too much road, quad track, burn area, etc. from what was once an awesome singletrack downhill. 15.5 miles with shuttle.

Don rides through the burn

Francine

River crossing

July 22, Winthrop - Bear Mountain & Middle Fork Figure 8

2011-07-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

Third day of riding. New ride for us. Climbed forest roads and came down on Bear Mountain Trail. They ran a race on the first half earlier in the year, so it was a little beat up. The next half of the downhill was quite nice. Settled in for another road climb to the Middle Fork Trail. The first half mile saw the once narrow single track turned into quad tracks. Fortunately, at .6 miles, the trail contoured around a hill, and the quads had to turn around. After that, we had narrow, primitive single track. Nice, sweet descent. Another perfect day with the weather in the 70's. 15.5 miles.

July 21, Winthrop - Sun Mountain

2011-07-21T07:42:00.000-07:00

Val is still on the hard-tail, so Sun Mountain is next. Convinced Don & Val to drive up to the mountain and ride more loops up there. Parked at Chikadee Trailhead. They usually ride from their place. Did Rodeo, Fox, Black Bear,Winthrop Trail, Patterson Lake, Up Radar Creek, down Magpie to the cabin and had lunch. Went out Yellow jacket, Fox out to Aqualoop. Back on the road to Yellowjacket, up Cris Cross to Overland and back to the car. Great ride, as the trails were nice and hard pack. We are used to coming in October, when the trails are loose and real dusty. Thank the wet spring. 17.7 miles.

Patterson Lake Trail - Headed to Radar Creek

July 20, Winthrop - Buck Mountain

2011-07-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

We got invited to Don and Val Hecker's place in Winthrop for the week. We had a great time last year, and were excited to go back. Temps are only in the 70's, as opposed to the 90's. Val's suspension pivot was fried, so she had to rent a 29er hardtail until the parts came in, so we had leisurely breakfast before heading out to the trailhead. Everything in Winthrop is green with their wet spring. Had a nice 3 mile climb up the road before hitting the trail. This ride, which was once trail pieced with roads, is now awesome narrow singletrack. The new upper section seems to be the obvious way to ride the loop. Coming off the top, the bushes are growing, making the swoopy, turny trail a little hard to see. Near the end, Don wanted to also ride to Buck Lake, but we were done, and Val needed a different seat, so we booked down to the car. Trails were hadpack and smooth and narrow. This is a must do, short loop. 13.5 miles.

Val

Francine

July 17, Golden Spike, Tokul

2011-07-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

Kelly took us out to show us the Golden Spike trail, a new connector between Tokul West and Tokul East. Trails were a little wetter than we expected. Went up Tokul East to Golden Spike and down Tokul West. Great to have a new option to change up the ride and be able to ride both areas. Can't wait to go back when conditions are drier. 14 miles.

July 13, Cooper River Trail, Salmon la Sac

2011-07-13T08:35:00.000-07:00

Caught the Cooper river trail in excellent shape. Thanks to Tim B and EMBA for brushing out the section along Cooper Lake. Rode up to the Wilderness border, halfway to Pete lake, then spun around and rode back to the Salmon La Sac trailhead. About 14 miles - do this out and back - old guidebooks recomended some kind of loop.

June 26, Chinook Pass

2011-06-29T18:45:00.000-07:00

Steve Sandberg drops in for the first run of the day.

Kelly motivated me to go ski Chinook Pass with him. He had talked about skiing Chinook Pass a couple of months prior. I am sure he did not realize the pass would take until June 23 to open. Chinok offers some great end of season skiing. It's pretty nice to be able to start on snow, right from car, in June. Kelly, also, invited his buddy Steve, to keep the pace manageable. Steve had the full downhill setup with heavy Volkl powder skis and Marker duke bindings paired to his Dalbello Pro boots. Kelly took the lightweight approach and borrowed a dynafit setup from me. Steve might have been a little more worked by his heavy equipment, but he looked pretty happy, once he pointed the skis downhill. Did the Naches Peak circumnavigation. Parked just on the East side of the pass, then circled clockwise into the nice backside bowl. Took two runs on the back then dropped the frontside back down to the highway. Timing was perfect as we followed the warming snow around Naches Peak.

Steve

Kelly boots the final pitch to the summit ridge

Kelly

Steve

Still a little bit of the snowpack left.

June 23, Taneum

2011-06-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

Took the green dot roads over to Taneum and enjoyed the entire area, by ourselves, as the main access road was washed out this spring. Pushed Francine's limit on some of the rugged singletrack.

Francine rides through a meadow.

June 15-19, Bend with Bob

2011-06-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

Signed up for another Evergreen MTB assoc. ride organized by Bob Bournique. Location was Bend, OR., with camping right in the middle of the "Phil's" trail system. We had about twenty riders, and either I am getting slower, or the standard is getting much higher. Everyone was in great shape, and Bob punished us for our fitness by laying out some excellent long rides, all starting from camp.

Bob rails around a corner on Mrazek trail

Ken cruising

Half the group

Last day - Gray Butte

Good views / Good descents

Post ride jump!

THURSDAY 6/16 - 28 miles: KGB - GS - down lower Storm King - up Funner - down Tiddlywinks - Storm King - COD - 4610 road - GS - KGB.
FRIDAY 6/17 - 30.5 miles: Marvin's Garden - Phils Trail to Helipad - down Storm King - up Deschutes River Trail to Benham Falls for lunch. Back down Deschutes River Trail to Entrada Lodge - up COD - Marvin's Garden.
SATURDAY 6/18 - 32.5 miles: Marvin's Garden - Ben's - Skyliner - up 4601 road - down Mrazek - 4606 road to Phil's - Marvin's Garden.
SUNDAY 6/19 - 15 miles: Grey Butte loop with out an back to Burma Road, and down the trail to Skull Hollow.

June 9, Syncline

2011-06-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

Third day of riding. Maybe we should of picked something with less climbing. However the views made it all worth the climb. Unfortunately, we took Hidden Valley trail down, which was narrow, sidehill, and had occasional tough rock sections, all flanked by poison oak. Next time will do a more moderate trail for the downhill.

June 8, Post Canyon, Hood River

2011-06-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

We've ridden Post Canyon for years and years. Our host at the house we rented for 3 days, David, offered to lead us around. He took us up Seven Streams, our normal up route to the Family Man area. We then hit 8-Track, a new trail for us. At the intersection of The Boot Trail, David had to head back for an appointment, so we continued on without him. Did The Boot Trail and the new Twin Peaks Trail. Started heading up Upper 8-Track, but turned around as we didn't want to climb, and didn't have a map. Took Trail 158 as a sweet descent. Then went up to Mitchell Ridge and down to the car. These were probably the best dirt conditions we have had. Not slippery, very few puddles, and perfect dirt. It is nice to see the improvements and new trails added to the system. New signage is also nice, even if they use numbers instead of trail names. 14 miles.

Kevin at the bottom of a sweet descent on Trail 158

Trail name that only a County land manager could love.

June 7, Hood River - Hospital Hill

2011-06-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

Headed to Hood River with Francine for three days of riding, around the town of Hood River. Today, we paid our toll to cross the Hood River Bridge and drove to the hospital in White Salmon, Wa.. Rising above the hospital is a huge hill that has some tasty singletrack. We tried to make the tough climb to the top even harder by doing the switchbacks from hell (millenium trail). With the hillside falling away and thanks to the cattle grazing the area, we were barely able to climb the thin ribbon of trail. Once up top we had stellar views and enjoyed perfectly tacky trails. A bit of work, but a sweet ride. 13 miles, lots of up.

Francine -Millenium trail - Hospital Hill

June 3, Birthday Tour, North Cascade Highway

2011-06-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

Only car in the lot!

Frank leads the way on day two.

The gang

Greg kicks steps to the top of the next valley

Greg

Tom

Greg

Frank

Climbing to Copper Pass

Greg drops in from Copper Pass

Kevin

June 2, Spire Gulch, North Cascades Highway

2011-06-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

May 26, Vantage Rock Climbing

2011-05-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

This spring has been pretty lousy. Rode Rat Pack in Roslyn yesterday and it rained the whole time. When Brandon asked if I wanted to catch some actual sunshine in Vantage, I couldn't say no.

May 21 - 22, Bob's Excellent Teanaway Ride/Weekend

2011-05-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year. Time for Bob's Teanaway campout with the Evergreen Mounatain Bike Assoc. We skipped Friday, but arrived Saturday ready to camp. Unfortunately at the furthest point out, on our ride, the skies opened up, and the rain came down. The rain was kind of a bummer, because the trail would have been sweet, if it wasn't all wet and mushy. Still good 20 mile ride, with an excellent group of 15 riders. After the ride, we skipped camping, and ran home to hot showers. We came back on Sunday to sunshine and followed Bob on his maze of trails hidden between the West Fork and North Fork of the Teanaway River. Aftewards we enjoyed growler's of Snoqualmie IPA and some fresh oyter's shucked\brought by Chancy, as we soaked up the sunshine.

Slick on the slickrock

The group at our turnaround, as the rain began.

Mike Westra, Duthe Hill architect, rides the rock.

May 19, Devil's Gulch - Only made it 3 Miles

2011-05-20T20:52:00.000-07:00

After the big weekend rain event, the creek flowing down the same valley as the Devil's Gulch trail was moving fast. We rode out the trail until we came to a river crossing that was too deep to cross. A quick 6 mile roundtrip ride, but still fun!

May 18, Echo Valley, Lake Chelan, Wa.

2011-05-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

When in Chelan? Ride Echo Valley! Put together a ten mile loop that took about two and half hours. Started at the bottom, so did involve a healthy climb to start the ride. Trails were in great shape. Probably the best I have ridden at Echo Valley. Of course, I tend to come later in the summer. Highlighted our route on the map, as I think it is one of the better loops, if you are willing to climb.

May 16, Sage Hills - Upper - Wenatchee

2011-05-16T22:34:00.000-07:00

Headed to Lake Chelan for a couple of days. Stopped in Wenatchee for a quick ride. Parked at the Horse Lake Ridge trailhead. Last summer we had noticed the start of a new trail that climbs up higher towards the treeline. Thankfully the trail was finsished. Flowers were in full bloom, with Lupine and the Yellow Balsam root adding color to the beautiful scenery.

We had limited time, so we started at the upper lot and did about 6 miles. For a longer ride start at the far end of town, and ride all the way up. The lower trailhead is on 5th, straight up the street from Safeway.

May 3, Roslyn to Rat Pack

2011-05-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Rode from Roslyn, Wa. up to the ridgetop and descended Rat Pack trail to Cle Elum. Happy to say the trail is snow free and in great shape.

April 28, Ancient Lakes, Quincy Wa.

2011-04-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

April 23, Sedona Bike Festival

2011-04-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

First annual Sedona Bike Festival. Last ride of the trip. Nine days in row. Too many trails to count. It's been a great nine days, and nice to finish it off by hanging with a few locals at their first bike festival. Organizer, Thomas, claimed they only had about 25 hardcore riders in Sedona. No wonder some of their trails were so hard to follow! We still have plenty of trails that we did not get to ride. We finished off the trip by getting a pair of demo bikes at the festival. We both tried the Ibis HD 6inch travel bikes. Went out and did about a 3 hour loop, tea cup, to adante, to thunder mt. and back. We both really liked the demo bikes, and enjoyed riding the rocky terrain with a little extra cush. It's been a good trip. Now, it's back to winter at Snoqualmie Pass.

Specialized, Turner, and Ibis came to the festival with their demo fleets. Also, the forest service had a booth, and the local bike club. Pretty low key festival. Sounds like they were excited to start small.

April 22, Huckaby, Wilson Canyon, Jim Thompson, Jordan trails

2011-04-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

Still had the Schnebly Road area on our hit list. Rode Huckaby trail down to Oak Creek. Took some time to find a way across the creek. The river was only knee deep. All the hikers who took the steep trail down to the creek thought we were crazy to have bikes with us on the trail. Once we climbed up to Midley Bridge, we rode out Wilson Canyon trail to Jim Thompson trail, which climbed above uptown Sedona. Took a little detour on another narrow social trail. Once near the Jordan trailhead, we searched for the Secret Trail network which would take us back down to the "Y" in town. We kept running into neighborhoods, and finally took pavement back to the car. 10 miles. Breezy mid 70's day.

April 21, Flagstaff - Lower Moto\ Secret Trail \ Schultz Creek

2011-04-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

We needed to check out Flagstaff and Kevin inquired on MTBR.com for some faster and flowier trails. We found them. These trails were much like Bend, Oregon, but slightly more technical. We did the suggested loop, and added a couple more trails. Rode up Schultz Creek, Fort Valley, Lower Moto, Upper Moto, Secret Trail, Schultz Loop, Gnarly, to Upper Brookbank. We ran into too much snow on Upper Brookbank, so turned around after 12 miles to start our downhill to the car. Rode back to Gnarly to the Schultz Creek trail.

The section of Upper Moto above the pipeline was rated black diamond, and was quite technical. Once on The Secret Trail, it had way more flow and we were on the bikes more. We decided to add in Gnarly with the hope to do a downhill on the Sunset Trail. We ran into snow and had to turn around.

The descent on Schultz Creek trail was fast, smooth and flowy. We ran into a local that said the snow had just melted on that trail, and most of the locals haven't wanted to get snow on their bikes yet. Great ride! Sure nice to be able to pedal without hitting a cactus. Temperatures in Flagstaff were chilly mid-sixties. 18.25 miles.

Trail was smooth except for these little rocks.
Secret Trail

Just like home, lot's of snow!
Upper Brookbank Trail

April 20, Girdner to Two Fences

2011-04-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, we still haven't taken a day off, and we have tired legs. Kevin read a book all morning. We started our ride around 2pm. Initially, we planned on doing another secret trail that we weren't even told the name of. (Found out later that the name is Ledges and Airy.) On our way down Girdner, we saw the turnoff, but decided to stay on the fun, packed, wider Girdner trail. Rode out Two Fences to Dry Creek Road. 7.66 miles.

April 19, Special Ed and 2 shuttle runs each

2011-04-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

Francine on Special Ed.

5th day in a row riding. The legs need a rest. So, we planned a little 7.5 mile loop and then planned on doing some shuttling. Parked at the bottom then rode up Old Post to High School Trail, to pavement up to the Sedona High School, where Special Ed starts. It's another unofficial trail that is narrow and technical. Had a little route finding problem. Ended up hike-a-biking up the wrong trail. Rode out another trail that dead ended, with cacti everywhere. Here, Francine had a minor incident with a cactus. One needle stuck her shoe. Luckily it entered in solid plastic, instead of the soft mesh on the shoe. While she was leaning down to pull it out, she acquired two more needles in the hand. She was able to pull all three out without using the tweezers we brought. No serious effects. On our way down, we took another wrong turn, but made it out alive, riding around Pyramid mountain to the car.

Next we hit the shuttles. We took turns riding Under the Radar, Under Under the Radar, Under Under Under the Radar to the car. Then Francine rode Herkenham to Under Under Under the Radar. Kevin rode Red Rocks Loop trail down to the pickup point.

April 18, Chuck Wagon Trail, Dry Creek, Sedona

2011-04-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to bonk on a 14 mile ride? Unfortunately with all of the mountain biking in Sedona being on National Forest Land, it becomes very hard to create new trails. Due to the politics, trails fall into two categories, official and unofficial. Unfortunately that makes navigation a little bit of a challenge, since the unofficial trails cannot be signed, and on many the start of trails is very hard to find. The flip side is that the forest service seems to tolerate these trails, as long as they aren't too visible.

The plan today was to start on Lost Watch to Touron to Mescal "unofficial trails," and then finish a loop on the signed official trails. Fortunately we missed a turn, and ended up on Chuck Wagon-Gunslinger. The trails in the area wander through cactus and small bushes working their way through the numerous washes. The trail was really skinny and out near the end, tough to even follow. We eventually ended up finding the correct road crossing after about six miles of tight sinuous singletrack. We gave up on trying to locate the hidden entrance to Mescal and hit the signed trails. By about 8 miles my legs were starting to cramp and my brain was barely functioning, when it came time to decipher the map. Fortunately, Francine seemed to be keeping a cooler head, in the eighty degree heat and she got us on the right trail pointed towards our car. Not only do we need to start earlier, but I think I may have to take my hydration a little more seriously. Checked out Fat Tire Bikes in Sedona and chatted, for quite a while, with owner Dave. His shop is definitely the place for trail info, or if you need a new Ibis bike.

April 17, Lower Shady - Templeton - Lower Shady

2011-04-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

Today is checkout day from Red Agave. We got in a short ride, 7.6 miles, still allowing time for a shower before our 11am checkout. Lower Shady is a fun, flowy trail swooping in and out of washes. Kevin actually finished on Upper Shady. On to West Sedona to check in to Sedona Pines, thanks to an RCI Timeshare exchange from Pat & Larry.

April 16, High on the Hog, Sedona Az.

2011-04-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

Day 2: Slim Shady-HT-Little Horse-Broken Arrow-High on the Hog-Pig Trail-Mystic-Chapel-Little Horse-Llama-Bell Rock pathway. Whew, just a few trail names. Good day, had a little route finding on High on the Hog. Otherwise very nice, except for the finish on Bell rock path is lame (take the horse detour).

April 15, Sedona, Highline Trail

2011-04-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

First day mountain biking in Sedona, Az.. We are spending our first three days, just south of Sedona proper in Village of Oak Creek at the Red Agave motel. The motel, same ownership as the Bike and Bean bike shop, is super clean, and has excellent riding right from the motel's backyard. Today, we rode Made in the Shade to Highline trail, then Baldwin, Templeton, and Slim Shady all the way back to the motel. Nice technical riding. Took about 4 hours to go only 12 miles, as we circled Cathedral Rocks. Temps were in the eighties, so may have to get out of bed earlier tomorrow.

View from our front porch

Francine in front of our unit at the Red Agave

April 6, Tree Skiing, Snoqualmie Pass

2011-04-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

Hooked up with Greg Louie and Crispin for a little powder skiing. We thought we would follow a nice skin track up the Phantom side of Snoqualmie Mt. Unfortunately, as we pulled into the parking lot, the ski area security guy, Kent, was trying to shut down the Alpental parking lots. It appears that a party of five skiers, that had already headed up Snoq. Mt., set off a small avalanche. The parking lot was soon to be a search and rescue staging area. Word was that two skiers had non-life threatening injuries, but would need help getting off the mountain. We decided on alternate plans and headed for our favorite tree skiing area, down the road, and managed to rack up three laps of good April Pow.

Crispin and Greg ski an old slidepath

Greg

Skier - Crispin Photographer - Greg Louie

March 26, Alpental Slackcountry

2011-04-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

Big brother, Kelly, had wanted to go for a ski tour all winter. With weather looking crappy, but Kelly actually having the time to tour, we took the easy route and rode Alpental's lifts to the top. Scooted out the backcountry gate and over to Pineapple basin, where we stuck our skins on, and headed to Bryant Pass. Kelly got some good practice making steep kick turns, and after a 1,000 feet of climbing we were in the wind, at Bryant pass. Dropped into Bryant couloir, for a variety of turns.

the crux, looking pretty easy with lots of snow

March 18, Snoqualmie Mt.

2011-03-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

Went up and looked at the slot couloir with Brandon and Ellie. Due to time constraints, and unsure about exit conditions we gave it a pass. Looked to be in excellent condition. I am sure someone will enjoy tracking it up this weekend. We hit the summit, then made tracks to the bottom. Skiing was pretty crusty, although the trees skied fairly well.

Brandon cruises in the trees

Ellie, smiling, must not be too bad.

March 9-11, Whistler

2011-03-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

Rick skis Extreme Couloir, Blackcomb.

Headed up to Whistler for 3 great days of skiing. Fresh snow every day and no crowds. Had a good group of six excellent skiers; Rick, Marcel, Francine, Greg Mej., Randy, and I. First day was six inches of new snow and snowing heavily. Worked the lower slopes of Blackcomb. Good tree skiing. Second day skied Garbanzo at Whistler and then the Peak chair. Last day got up high at Blackcomb and the sun almost came out. Nice trip!

Feb 28, Snow removal

2011-03-03T19:28:00.000-08:00

Snow removal seems to have become a daily task. Winter is here.

Feb. 26, Mt. Catherine

2011-03-01T14:42:00.000-08:00

Whew, too much snow. With everyone exhausted from skiing non-stop for the last two weeks, it was tough to motivate for a ski tour. In search of something short, and without too much avy danger we headed for Mt. Catherine. Hooked up with Greg L. and Matt. Followed an excellent skin track up, then deviated to our favorite line. One quick lap, and we were eating brownies at my house by 12:30. Lots of face shots.

Matt at full throttle

Kevin and Matt

Matt

Greg

Feb 15. Red

2011-02-15T14:39:00.000-08:00

Hooked up with Collin from work. Did a quick run up Red Mt.. Windblown up top, but nice powder below the treeline. As usual, got a good workout booting the top half of the mountain. The memorial to Monika was starting to get buried, but a beaded necklace was still visible.

Collin Darrah

Feb 7-11, Revelstoke\Big White Ski Trip

2011-02-13T20:59:00.000-08:00

Headed up to Revelstoke with Francine to see what the excitement was all about. Whew, Revelstoke is a big mountain. 5,600 feet of vertical. With 24cm of new powder on our first day, it kicked our butts.

Feb 2, Red Mt. and N. Shoulder. Good day / Bad day

2011-02-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

Well looks like it is officially a body recovery, on the backside of Red Mt. Unfortunately while touring with Greg, we discovered a backpack and skis on the summit of Red. It quickly became apparent that the gear belonged to Monika, a friend that Greg had skied with a couple weeks ago. It appeared, due to a cornice failure, that she had plummeted off the steep backside of Red the day prior.We got out our cellphones and started to verify that she was missing. Francine at work, at the ski school, was able to contact her work and verfiy that, yes, she was missing. She then began the long process of calling 911 and alerting our local network of S&R, ski patrol, and fire guys. Greg and I started to work our way out onto the South ridge of Red, trying to get a view into the backside. Not getting a good view, we tried to work our way to the notch in the South ridge to gain access to the backside. Unfortunately we were cliffed out above the notch, and forced to descend off the ridge. Lacking any more energy and legs starting to fail we headed home. The rescue helicopter flew overhead as we started to make our way through Commonwealth Valley. A tragic end to very well respected person.

Greg, with cell phone in hand, thinks about the situation.

The day had started out so perfectly. It was a beautiful day.

John breaks trail to South shoulder of Red Mt.

Greg

Greg carves up the South shoulder of Red

Greg on top of Red Mt.

John takes turns off the summit.
Had to hurry home to feed the cows.

Jan. 19, Bootfest - Kaleetan Peak, Almost

2011-01-20T12:12:00.000-08:00

With bluebird conditions and 3-4 inches of new snow, it was time to get out. It had been several years since I had summited Kaleetan Peak and it seemed like a worthy goal. Greg drove up from Seattle, getting caught up in traffic, which delayed our start to 10:30, which turned out to be a little too late. We utilized the Alpental lifts to get a boost up to the alpine bowls, traversed out to Great Scott bowl, then commenced our first climb up to Bryant/Chair Pass. After a quick skin, we started what would be one of many sections that would need to be booted. While the new snow had bonded well with the rain crust, it was not solid enough to allow any skinning on the steeper pitches.

Kevin enjoys the rain smoothed slopes as he descends from Bryant Pass down into the Melakawa Lakes drainage.

Greg skinning up Melakwa Lakes drainage.

Our objective, Kaleetan Peak

The next big boot section, and steepest, came as we climbed the next pass to get below the face of Kaleetnan Peak. We were both glad to have our ice axes as we traversed across the slope in a no-fall zone. From this pass we dropped a short, firm, slope into the Kaleetnan Peak drainage. With skins still on our skis, purchase was pretty dicy. After getting to use my ice axe in the self-arrest position, we quickly decided to pull off our skins, so that we could actually ski the short slope.

Greg, at the pass above Melakawa basin.

More booting, as the firm layer under the fresh snow
would just not allow any skinning

SO Close!!

As it approached 3:00, we were lined up for the summit. Unfortunately, we would have to boot all the way to the top. With dwindling daylight, and two mountain passes to climb back over, we decided to pull the plug and enjoy some skiing.

Jan 10, Crusty Trees Across the Street

2011-01-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

Don Hecker called at 7:30am. What are you doing? I said come on up. Do you have a snow park permit, because we can go across the street from my house? Don had permit, so we were good to go! The climb up was great, beautiful views up Gold Greek valley and back towards the Snoqualmie ski areas. We wrapped up the ridge heading for the funnel coolie, but the sidehilling through the trees, near the top, got pretty firm. We decided to rip our skins, and skied a nice Steep line through the trees. Unfortunately the powder in the trees was only 4-6 inches over the firm rain crust. Still fun, but I have to go back with a little better snowpack. Thanks for the exercise Don.

Don looking good in the trees.

Nice snow, out in the open.

Jan 8, Otterson back from Denmark

2011-01-08T17:43:00.000-08:00

Scott was in town for two weeks over the holidays. With a jam packed schedule, he only had time to ski one day. Since he is in Denmark until May, this will be his one ski day of the winter. We tried to hook up last week, but about 3" of rain denied any skiing. Luckily with cooler temps. we enjoyed some great powder turns today.

Scott gets his first/only powder turns of the year

Greg

Scott Telemark "free the heel and free your mind"
or is it "fix the heel and fix the problem"?

It's a nice life.

We alway's give Scott a hard time about telemarking. It look's like a lot of work! He ripped the powder pretty good, but the survival tree skiing down lower was pretty tough. Maybe, he just needs to get out more than one day. Unfortunately sounds like Denmark is pretty flat.

Jan 1, 2011 Mt. Roosevelt

2011-01-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

With perfect weather, and a good crew we charged out to Mt. Roosevelt. Wind had effected certain aspects, but we found some pretty darn good skiing. At the end of the day, Seth had 5,000 feet of vertical registered on his watch. Definitely a full day, and a nice way to start the new year. I have too many good pictures, but hard to not post them all.

Seth breaks trail - we tried to wear him out,
by making him go first the entire day

Greg boots up the crux pitch to Mt. Roosevelt, with Snow Lake below

Mt. Rainier in the distance, as Greg makes
the final traverse to the top

Kevin enjoys a quick break on top of Mt. Roosevelt

Seth skis off the summit

Kevin

A little firm, where the wind blew.

Greg

Lot's of turns.

Happiness

Greg, back in the sunshine

Seth enjoys the best snow of the day.

Dec. 29, Kendall Ridge

2010-12-29T16:03:00.000-08:00

Hooked up with Chris B. and Greg for a tour. Yesterday we had a frozen rain event, but the new snowfall today made for tolerable skiing. About 6-8 inches over the crust. Crust was firm enough that you did not break through. As usual, just gaining the ridge was an adventure.

Dec 17, Slot couloir, Snoq. Mt.

2010-12-17T16:10:00.000-08:00

Alpental was pretty tracked out, so decided to get a little human powered skiing. Hooked up with Greg Louie and Justin Herx at the Alpental parking lot. Word was two groups had skied the slot yesterday, so we had a nice uptrack to follow. As we neared the top, caught up with Silas and a large group of about 8. Lucky for us, all but two ignored the slot and headed back down the frontside. That put Greg as 3rd person down the slot for the day. Justin was happy to have his first chance at skiing the slot. Weather was perfect and snow was pretty darn good as well. Slot skied a little narrower with early season rocks. The apron was definitely a little thin on snow and Justin found most of the rocks. After Greg busted out the super steep skin track back to the frontside we enjoyed great snow all way down the frontside as well. Justin even had to ski the waterfall, although he did opt out on the last pitch. Nice day.

Greg scouts out the Slot

Kinda Steep

Justin

Skiing out from the slot

Justin avoiding rocks

Greg Louie powder shot

Justin skis the phantom waterfall with the valley below.

Dec 15, Hyak

2010-12-16T16:19:00.000-08:00

Spun a few laps with the Heckers and Frank. One run down the backside revealed some pretty thin snow coverage.

Nov 30, Hyak

2010-11-30T14:49:00.000-08:00

Backyard Day. I love it when it snows! Frank, Greg and Don came over for some Hyak laps. Lots of new snow. Definitely wind affected and a little stiff, but the turns off the top were excellent.

Greg

Kevin

Nov 27, North Slope of Chair Peak

2010-11-27T17:48:00.000-08:00

It was time for a real tour. Phoned up the hardcore crew. Conditions looked good! Met up with Seth, Ian, Crispin, and Greg at the Alpy parking lot. Crispin had talked to probably one of the few that actually had been up towards Chair Peak. Recommended route of travel was Snow Lake trail to Source lake Overlook. Skinned up into the Chair Peak Basin, then decided to climb up to the NE ridge and take a look at the backside. North Slopes looked good! Skied almost to the lake, then skinned back up. With skin track in place dropped one more line off the backside. Back to the front for more good turns, followed by a luge run down the Snow Lake trail. Good day, lots of vertical. I was pretty wiped by the time I got home.

Seth and Ian boot the final pitch to the ridge.

Seth

Crispin

The Gang, minus Greg taking picture

Kevin Photo by Greg Louie

Greg

North Slope of Chair with Snow Lake frozen over at the bottom.

Nov 24, Hyak

2010-11-24T16:50:00.000-08:00

Took a break from drywalling and made a quick lap up Hyak. One hour round trip, lower lot to tip top. Hyak has been skied pretty hard. After this weekend it might have moguls. Checked out the chair progress. Backside has the cable tensioned, no chairs to be seen. Front side missing the lower bullwheel, and needs the cable strung. Crews are concentrating on the backside chair. A fleet of snowcats descended from the mountain with the workers, as I skinned up. Skiing was excellent with my fat skis.

Turkey traffic lights up the Pass

Backside chair

Cable ready to be installed

Nov 23, Day 3 Summit West

2010-11-23T13:40:00.000-08:00

Hooked up with Greg and Francine for another day at West. Bolder skiers were shredding Hyak and Parachute at Central. In Hyak news, it was nice to see a lead cable strung on the front side lift.

Nov 22, Snowcat Race

2010-11-22T17:07:00.000-08:00

Plenty of snow, West should open this week, but will not happen tomorrow.

Nov 21, Summit West is IN

2010-11-21T15:10:00.000-08:00

I told everyone at work this morning that there was not enough snow at the pass. I stated the forecast looked very weak for much snow this week. Fortunately I was wrong! As I drove home on dry roads, the weather began to change, snow. Snowing hard, the DOT was quickly trying to transition to chains required on I-90. I got home and ran the snowblower, then waited as the snow accumulated. After about 8" of new had built up on the railing, it was time to head to Summit West. We managed two quick laps. Snow was almost too light, but we were not hitting the ground. Rumor is West will open on Tuesday. Guess tomorrow I will be chasing the grooming snowcats up the hill.

Nov 16, Last Run off Chinook

2010-11-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

Frank, Greg, and I headed up to Chinook Pass for a couple of turns. Unfortunately the DOT workers were hanging around telling people that the pass was closing for the season at noon. With nothing better to do, we quickly hopped out of our car and made some quick road side laps. Snow sucked, but the company was good and it was a lot better than a day at work.

Oct 31, Paradise, MRNP

2010-10-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

For Francine's birthday we made the drive to Paradise and started our ski season! Day numero uno of the new ski year, with freshies! Anticipation increased as the snow on the side of the road slowly increased. By the time we made it to the parking lot there was over two feet of snow along the road. Coverage was excellent. One did have to be wary of buried rocks on certain aspects up high. Made it up to about 7,200 feet then skied back down into the sunshine. Best ski was off the back of Pan Point, where the wind had not effected the snow. Perfect start to the season. Greg you should have got out of bed!

Visitor Center

Eric and buddies pass us by.

Francine headed up

And Down

Kevin scouts our line off Pan Point

Francine gets first powder turns of the year

Lunch with a view of the Tatoosh range

Francine with West side of Pan Point in background

Oct 22, Taneum Dirt biking

2010-10-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

Hooked up with Eric for a little Taneum adventure. Found a couple of trails that I may not need to repeat. From Cle Elum took Northridge trail (steep, rooty) to Manatash Ridge(lots of fun) to Blowout Mt. trail then down Goat Peak trail. Of course after walking our bikes around the switchbacks on Goat Peak trail and Eric losing his bike over the edge we decided to cut out on a private road. When we got to the gate (with new barbwire) we opted to slide out bikes under the gate, rather than continue down the black diamond trail. Full day adventure! Racked up 65 miles including some road time.

Eric, after that rock, in the foreground, popped his bike off the trail

Oct 12, Esmerelda Again

2010-10-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

Big Bro Kelly was switching jobs and actually had a couple of days off. Decided to take him on something new to him. Esmerelda Loop, short on miles, big on scenery and tough on the legs.

Kelly - Better than a day at the office!

Sept. 10, Miller Time Again

2010-09-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

Miller was so good last week, that I hooked up with Eric Smith and did it again!

Sept. 4, Miller Peak

2010-09-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

Hooked up with my neighbor Matt Karaus, and got off the pass for a ride. Seems like every time this summer that I went riding with Matt it seemed to rain. Well me made up for all the rain today! Drove past Liberty on Blewitt/97 highway and unloaded the bikes for 32 miles of excellent riding. Took Teanaway Ridge trail to Iron Bear, to Miller Peak trail, and then back down County Line making a lollipop loop.

Steep switchbacks and excellent scenery on the way to the top of Miller Peak

Hanging out below the summit of Miller Peak Matt keeping it on the trail.

Kevin Matt

Aug. 25, Circumnavigation of Esmerelda Peak

2010-08-26T22:19:00.000-07:00

Hooked up with Rich H, Francine and Anna to do the 14 mile loop around Esmerelda Peak. Beautiful scenery and an exciting descent made up for the tough climbs in the 90 degree heat.

Francine

Rich

Anna

Aug 15 - 20, Lake Entiat, Columbia River

2010-08-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I usually consider my vacations fairly active. But this was going to be a nice family vacation on Lake Entiat. However, It quickly became apparent that this was not going to be some nice, relaxing, beer drinking, hanging in the sun kind of vacation with my Sister's family, the Webers. The days started with the morning coffee at 7, then it was time for the early crew to do our best to add a ripple to the early morning glass surface of the Columbia river. This was followed by the wakeboard session, and the rock jumping session. By the end of the first day my body was wracked from one high speed waterski wipeout, and too much time behind and in the boat. Forced to slow down, I realized I was going to have to pace myself to survive this week.

Len carves up the morning glass

Jack waits for the rest of the group. Bike riding in the hills above Wenatchee

Maddie show the boys, who has the most guts.

Kevin getting his morning workout

Francine on the wakeboard

August 13, The Tooth

2010-08-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

Hooked up with Frank, Don and his daughter Wendy for the classic Snoqualmie Pass climb of the Tooth. Weather was perfect and company excellent. We left the parking lot at Alpental shortly after 8am and made it back to the car at 5:10. A full day adventure. We managed to be the first party on the route, with three other parties arriving before we finished. Frank did the first roped pitch, then alternated with me up the four pitches. Don led his rope the whole route with Wendy cleaning the gear as she went.

Don and Frank heading towards our objective, The Tooth

Don belays Wendy on the final pitch

Wendy on the summit

Frank begins the rappel back down

Wendy