I’ve stood at the top of this couloir roughly five times over the last ten years and yesterday Courtney Phillips and I finally skied it, to use the term loosely.  From the top, it looks like it could be either a hidden gem… or a fiasco.  We brought a rope just in case.

Hmmm, looks good from here. The top of the Hash Pipe.

So far, so good. Forty-six degrees, southeast facing, 9,500′, narrow, rock-lined & a big question mark down below.

The dead snag/verglass/rotten rock step-over crux. Why is Courtney smiling?

Unfortunately at the end of the first nice chute section, the party was over and the line cliffed out.  Oh well.  It turned out that a Mountain Goat had the same idea and had already done a lap on the Hash Pipe (he probably has a different name for it) earlier that day.  To help show us the way, he shit all over the loose, rocky, exposed traverse, which was aromatic and fun to walk through.

There are a lot of famous traverses in the climbing world – this one, the Goat Shit Traverse, is not one of them, but it avoids a rappel.

There she blows. (that little patch of snow in the middle of the rocks)

Although I don’t think I’ll ever repeat this, I enjoy lines like these as they are fun little mysteries and you never know what you are going to find.  Eighty percent of the time they are junk, but when you uncover a gem, it makes it all worth while.  You never know until you go. It has been kind of a poopie year in the Wasatch, so lines like these are a fun distraction while the bigger stuff slowly stabilizes.

I’ve noticed a little bit of a disturbing trend lately. And no, it doesn’t have to do with excessively sized clothing or extensively coordinated ski ensembles. In fact it has to do with quite the opposite. It has do with the lack of necessary backcountry equipment in typical sidecountry/backcountry arenas.

You might be saying to yourself, “WHAT! Who the hell goes into the backcountry without a pack, beacon, shovel and probe?” Well unfortunately my eyes have witnessed an disturbing amount of skiers in the sidecountry off of Jackson Hole without any sort of backcountry equipment recently.

In one of the last days of filming with TGR I noticed a group of about 5 skiers fumbling and flailing around Rocksprings Canyon without a shred of safety equipment. Mind you the gate that they opened had an avalanche advisory with the dial turned up to HIGH.

So what do you, a knowledgeable, backcountry experienced skier do in this sort of situation?

Well first off, discussing prevention and large sweeping regulatory management of said idiots is out of the question. You start preventing them from stepping into dangerous terrain and soon we might all be forbidden. Idiots will always find a way to get into the backcountry unprepared and under-trained, so when they do, what should you do?

The technique I’ve found to be most successful is to approach them with a few questions. ‘How are you guys doing?’ followed by an inquisitive ‘Do you folks have beacons, shovels and probes?’ This second question is obviously rhetorical since you’ve already born witness to their lack of packs, but nonetheless it is a good icebreaker.

So when they answer ‘No’, politely respond that they really have no business being in the backcountry with any sort of safety equipment. This is when you’ll probably get a “Well that’s none of your business,” sort of retort. That’s when you unleash the fury and inform them that “In fact, yes, it is one-hundred percent my business.” Then let your diatribe begin. “You see, if you were to cut a slide on our group, witness a slide on another group or even be buried yourselves, then our roles will become distinctly intertwined.

Safety in the backcountry is not a one-man sport, it can depend very often on the people that are around you. And if those people are unprepared like you folks, then you are not only putting yourself in danger but many other people in danger as well.”

Then in your most polite manner please tell them to Get The Fuck Out! Well, don’t tell them that exactly, but don’t be afraid to tell them to hike right back down their bootpack back to the resort boundary. Tell them you’ll keep on eye on them, but all in all do everything you can to get them out of the backcountry as quickly and as safely as possible. Being ambivalent or apathetic in these situations could not only cost the health and lives of others, but of even your own.

Chairman Ting’s digital graffiti art performances at the Salt Building inside the Athlete’s Village were commissioned by The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) using Tangible Interaction’s unique digital graffiti wall technology.

To see more of this visit their dedicated page on Vimeo.

The format is pretty simple – ski/ride & party, but not necessarily in that order. Starting on Thursday night with a Backcountry Film Festival, it then rolls on to a Friday night pre-registration at the BD retail store where you can mingle with the athletes/instructors. Noah Howell will be signing left buttock cheeks, Forrest Shearer gets the right and Julian Carr will be sticking back layouts off of the BD clocktower onto a flat cement landing.

The actual skiing action takes place on Saturday from 9am – 4pm at Brighton and features morning and afternoon clinics on just about anything to do with skiing, riding and the backcountry. I’ll be teaching clinics on steep skiing and backcountry terrain assessment, but if I wasn’t, I’d love to take a clinic on filming or park riding. The cost is $75 which includes a lift ticket, the clinics, lunch and a ticket to the Shoot Out Party that night at Club Elevate.

The Big LePowSki is put on by Black Diamond and Arc’Teryx with the help of many other sponsors. This is one of four stops for the tour (La Grave, Davos, St. Anton and Brighton) and it is a fun, yet casual event. There’s something for everyone and crankin’ skills are not required.

For more info and to register, visit www.thebiglepowski.com

From the less than humble start in Jackson, the spigot turned on the day I arrived and more than 10 feet fell in the two weeks I skied with the TGR crew.

Pictures were to be honest, few and far between. Skiing took precedent. The camera stayed in the pack for fear of dropping it in the bottomless fluff that paraded across the Tetons. 8 days of filming from sunup to sundown left my legs beaten like piñata and more exhausted than a Tiger Wood’s joke. Some of my best skiing in my life took place these past two weeks.

Welcome to the Tetons.

Shroder Baker in Trench Town.

Josh Nielson feeling the side effects of living in Trench Town.

Todd Ligare. Tree couloir of deepness.

The Sea of Dreams

Heading out my favorite zone in JH. The North Shore aka The North Choir.

One of the more exciting lines I’ve ever skied. Sluffing like a hard rain, peppery like a Steak au Poivre and a bounty of airs. (My track = looker’s leftmost)

Side note: 7 and 1/2 hours of bootpacking for this 20 second line was totally worth it!

The Valley View quad is said to extend the resort’s terrain from the bottom of the Whitestar lift down to the Speed Straight section of the access road. The former Captains Quad lift’s new position will mean Cardrona’s lift-serviced vertical will increase by 250 metres and the ski area will grow to a total size of 345 hectares. An additional car park will be built for season pass holders for easy and quick access on to the lift, when in operation.

According to the resort the new Valley View Quad will increase Cardrona’s lift-serviced vertical to a total of 600 metres which will enable the resort to build a FIS homologated downhill course named “Goldrush”. As part of this development a 40 metre tunnel is being installed to allow uninterrupted access from the Captains Express to the bottom of the Whitestar Express.

“It is very rewarding to be able to open up new terrain for Cardrona customers to enjoy,” said Cardrona sales and marketing manager, Nadia Ellis. “This development has been in the pipelines for a few years so it’s really great to see phase one underway.”

Phase two will continue next summer with the installation of extensive snowmaking in the Valley View area to ensure top to bottom skiing throughout the season. Further groundwork will also be carried out to develop trails in the area.

Apart from a love of boarding, I hold a deep appreciation for the finer things in life, such as great coffee. Being a coffee nut, no doubt comes from living in the coffee crazy culture of Melbourne, Australia, where espresso coffee is the standard when eating out. Not much beats downing a cup of your favourite brew just before a big day on the slopes, or just as you are retiring to your lodge at night.

Luckily for me, and other coffee nuts that come to Hakuba, this daily indulgence of a strong cappuccino with full cream milk and 1 sugar need not be sacrificed, with a strong showing of espresso bars in the ski town precinct. Although there are many ‘imitators’ serving the drip stuff in town…

Here are my top 3 espresso destinations:

Bamboo Coffee Bar

Opened in 2008 by Aussies wanting to bring Real espresso coffee, and made by baristas, this stylish coffee lounge and bar, sets a high standard in coffees, and located in 2 prominent locations being Happo Gondola and Hakuba Train Station, you can take advantage of free Wifi and a great selection of cakes, cookies and muffins.

Sounds Like Café

New this year to the top block of Echoland, this modern bar and café gives a laid back vibe, and serves great coffee. The range of gourmet sandwiches and other goodies are extensive, with the chicken burger a definite must have during your stay.

Roots Café

Hakuba’s only vegetarian restaurant and organic café, they are easy to get to being at the bottom of Happo-One, and you can ski right to the front door for your favourite brew. Great for when you need a mid-day kick along during a day on the slopes!

The Street View technology – which has been rolled out in many urban areas of the world – has been adapted to give a skier’s view of the slopes and venues for the Games. The maps show the alpine skiing runs, cross-country runs, the luge, and even the ski jump.

While some of the views seem a bit outdated and obviously done when there was little amount of snow one can see how this technology could be used in the future for resort ski runs. The question is, will they be able to hide some of the secret spots?

Here’s the video from the Google team:

And here’s an example from the slopes of Whistler:

View Larger Map

To view all of the venues visit Google’s special page they’ve set up.