Backcountry Skiing 1-3-20
Author: thedancingwind
Skiing in July
Max & I had so much fun skiing in June this year that we went back to Beartooth Pass for our first time skiing in July! We skied Garder Headwall on the 4th of July, and then met up with Linda at Beartooth Basin for two full days on July 5th and 6th. The snow on Gardner Headwall was looking a bit grey and brown in spots, but was still surprisingly good. And note that the lake at the bottom is still frozen.
It was cool in the mornings and the snow was firm, but by afternoon it was t-shirt weather. Max even skied in shorts for the first time. This was the bumpiest snow we had skied at the Basin so far, and we were kind of scared the first time we looked over the edge. But as always, once we summoned our courage, it wound up being tons of fun. The staff at Beartooth Basin are super friendly and encouraging, too. Next year we may have to get season passes!
Skiing in June, 2019 Edition
June 14th-17th, Max and I skied Beartooth Pass and Beartooth Basin with our friends Lindsey and Linda. We arrived in the afternoon on the 14th and did a couple of laps on Gardner Headwall. The snow was soft and slushy, and a bit sticky near the bottom. I gave the first run a try in the bowl on my backcountry setup, which I normally only use in deep powder. But this snow was a different kind of deep. 😛
Although I love my DPS Yvette 122 skis in powder, I didn’t love them in spring slush, so I committed to wearing my resort boots and using my Blizzard Viva 8.0 skis instead, which I have always loved skiing in slushy spring snow. Then the real fun began, because we also got to ski the steep headwall proper for the first time.
It was hot on the bootpacks back up though with the sun reflecting off the snow. Max and I rolled our ski pants up into shorts!
On June 15th, Linda joined us for a day of lapping Gardner Headwall. It was so warm that I wore a t-shirt and my hiking pants this time instead of ski pants. We had a lot of fun together in the spring slush. The sky was beautiful too!
In the afternoon, Linda dropped the rest of us off by the start of the hike out to Rock Creek Headwall. There was a storm rolling in and we were hoping that we could beat it, but unfortunately it caught us before we got there.
Not wanting our first trip down Rock Creek Headwall to happen in whiteout conditions, we decided to turn around. We got pelted with stinging hail the whole way back. Oh well, next time!
On the 16th, Max, Lindsey and I skied a full day at Beartooth Basin. They had just been able to open for the season the day before, and we were all super excited. The snow was so good!
On June 17th, Max and I skied a power hour at Beartooth Basin and did a final lap on Gardner Headwall before our drive home. We had so much fun that we decided to come back again to try skiing in July.
Backcountry Skiing March 9, 2019
Today Max and I did a seven-hour backcountry ski tour through the western mountains of Idaho. We were the first ones to reach our destination and there was a lot of fresh snow, so we were breaking trail and finding our way during our uphill skins for most of the day. We also dug a snow pit (putting that Avy 1 class knowledge to good use!) and enjoyed plenty of fun powder runs down.
All Female Avalanche 1 Course
Yesterday I completed a 4-day, all female Avalanche 1 course thanks to a Progression Session I scholarship from Jackson Hole Babe Force. The classes were taught by the American Avalanche Institute, both in classroom sessions in Jackson, WY and out in the field on Togwotee Pass and Teton Pass.
There were an amazing 24 women in the classroom sessions on Thursday and Friday. One of our instructors told us that there are usually one one or two women in the class! Because our class was so large, we split up into four smaller groups for our weekend sessions in the field. We met up bright and early in Jackson, WY on Saturday morning to carpool to Togwotee Pass. It was very cold and there was plenty of fresh snow, both on the slopes and on the road.
We learned and practiced so many things to help us stay safer in the backcountry, including how to use our probes and beacons, how to check and understand the avalanche forecast daily, how to make the best decisions about where to ski (and where not to ski) depending on conditions, and how to do beacon searches and simulated rescues.
Our reward for a long Saturday packed with learning was to skin up the slope behind us and ski down through some untracked powder! Our all-female group was supportive and encouraging of the varied experience and skill levels we had.
Between our Saturday and Sunday field sessions, Mother Nature decided to DUMP a foot of snow on Teton Pass. We got a bunch of shoveling practice getting in and out of the parking lot on Sunday.
But it sure was fun to ski down on our way to learn how to dig snow pits and do snow stability tests. Below is our group about to drop in to a foot of untracked powder! We got a couple more super fun runs in after digging our pits too.
Thanks again to Jackson Hole Babe Force for the opportunity to learn backcountry snow safety in a supportive environment.