4.11.2014

up there out there, eh.


Made it to the alpine in time for sunrise and waited for the stink cloud to burnoff

It did burn off, and then it got stupid windy
Looking down the burl spine
Looking back up.. some of the steepest earth i have ever ridden.. Stay tuned for some action shots.

4.08.2014

oh hey there.

I've been slacking on posting the last month or so, for a variety of different reasons... Blown up computer, broken arm, etc.  But i have some material from the last month to share, so i will try to catch up in the next week or so.  

This series of shots is from early march, around the time the "real" part of the season started.  The snow started to stick a bit better, and some of the fun lines and spines started to fill in.

This is a beaut of a spine, just mellow and fun.  A huge avy cycle had happened a day or two before, but this morning was blue, and the snow had tightened up well.

Felt good about the snow, and started to get into the spicier lines.  The lower snowpack, has meant that the cornices are smaller, so it has been nice to get into some lines that are usually closed out.  I haven't hit this one in 6 years.

The bubble spines...

2.01.2014

Dragon Slayer

Last Spring, I went on a shred mission with Daryl and Dave Treadway, and photographer Bradley Slack.  I had been wanting to get some photos of this line for years, and despite the weather forecast calling for cloudy skies, I managed to tag this one at sunrise.  I am super stoked we got it, and I like how every shot in this sequence is pretty cool on it's own.  Frequency TSJ ran the fifth shot for issue 11.2, as well as a small write article.  Happy to finally capture this.

















out there


Endless sunny skies has drawn us out to the usual spots, that dont really look like how i remember them
Dave B hiking the ridge.

I found a cool little chute, I have never seen before, as it is usually closed out by cornice.  I chipped my way in.

some scenery

a look at the drop in

oncc you were in, it was a nice shelfy line.

The spine wall, that is more rocks, right now.  The chute line starts in the very center of the photo, off the top of the ridge.

Everything looks a bit better with some light on it.

Dave B shreds out the bottom of the chute.

1.28.2014

sungawd

Not looking super inviting or like the spine paradise it can be, but with the stability being good, I was itching to get onto some bigger terrain.

We made the decision to hike straight up the face.  Jon J punching.

We had to traverse the lower portion of the face, as the main line was not filled in yet

We destroyed vertical, with the help of Billygoat ascent plates.

Dave B, Mie and Jon working on the final punch to the ridge.  My usual instinct while hiking up stuff is to stay close to the rock, but due to how rotten the snow was, we just hiked where there was more snow.

Dave B stoked.

Fun Line to drop into... 1000 metre or so run.

Dave B

Mie Yamashita



1.24.2014

At least there is a tide.

Well, it has been a strange start to winter.. Lack of real snowfall, has made the coast mountains feel like a different place. I have been trying to get out as much as I can because we have some snow, and we still have mountains, so it still makes sense to get amongst it.
I decided to test out some of the steeper slopes.. This one shredded nice, but it eventually peeled down to rock, just out of view of this picture.  I wasn't surprised.   Foon photo.

Delaney and I shredded this zone over a week earlier.  No new snow, but still holding.  Delaney Zayac gets in there.
Delaney finds some creamy pow, on a sheltered north side.   Johnny Foon photo.


As the day went on, the temps got crazy hot in the zone, so we headed to the shade and toured up to a real gem.
At first glance, this line looked like a gnarly shark pit, but with sun shining on it, and the quality of the snow, I knew I was going to drop in

Delaney and Johnny Foon opt for the central chute off the top.. It is usually closed out by a cornice.  Foon photo

I was pretty stoked I got to shred this one.. Nice snow the whole way and totally shredable.  Foon photo
She was a beaut of a day.  We watched the sunset in the alpine and manouevered our way out in the dark.  In this photo, My line is barelyvisible on the ribbon of sunlight.

1.12.2014

rock-grinder

Despite the low snow, it has been pretty fun shredding around the ski hill, the last few weeks.  Got onto this rock ride , i haven't hit in years.. Link to the sequence shot.

       mie yamashita photo.

1.06.2014

Getting out

It has been a slow start in the coast mountains.  We recently saw 25 cms of new snow, so i figured it was finally time, to venture away from the ski hill area and have a poke around in the local hills.  
We managed to get to the alpine by sunrise.  We were happy to see a crew had been up the day before, as there was alot of rock hidden just under the snow. We brought our splitboards, to avoid getting too aggressive on the snowmobiles, which seemed like a smart decision.
beaut of a day
The snow was a bit wind slabby up high, and it felt sketchy on the ridge top, but it got friendlier as we got into the more protected areas. The snow pack is sugary, which seems like it will be a issue, after we start getting some real snow.. Time will tell, I am not writing off the season just yet, like some people like to do.   I am cautiously optimistic.

The riding was fun, and the coverage was good enough to shred.  This was the entrance to a fun air to straight line, that only exists when the snow is as low as it is. 
dave b slashes the natural halfpipe.
dave b finding the pow amongst the trees.
Extreme contrast between the sun and the shade.  This line turned out to be a bit more full on than what i expected.. A couple drops, and some needle threading. It worked out, and got the stoke going.
Dave B shreds the lean cuisine.  It was rad to get out again. It was a real reality check when dave and i skinned out of our first line, and looked 10 ft up a tree to see, a scar , that was likely caused by the ski of snowmobile from another year.
A few shots from last spring.. We are only 4 meters away from this.