Heads down, testers Jeff, Bjorn, and Anna-Sophie fill out review cards on the chairlift ride, before switching to the next pair. The 2012 OntheSnow.com ski test is a wrap. As one of the more widely visited online ski websites, with an equally popular annual ski review, it was an awesome opportunity to be one of the testers this year. Over the course of three days, about a dozen of us...
Ski descent of the Grizzly Couloir on Grizzly Peak, 13,988 ft., up the Lincoln Creek Valley near Independence Pass.
We’re happy to have another Power of Four checked off the list. The giant Tour de Aspen/Snowmass, our local contribution to the COSMIC Race Series, was once again a true grunt. Christy and I did not do this two-person team event together like we did last year. Christy opted to do it as a women’s team with Anda, her primary training partner, and Charlie MacArthur and I lined up in...
Our race ended here, when Christy finished her 10th lap. She lost no time beginning the rehydrating process.. Saturday was the Sunlight Endurance Challenge, a.k.a. the 12 Hours of Sunlight. Last year, Christy and I managed to win the co-ed relay division of this unique uphill/downhill race. Despite a pretty thin field with only a few teams competing, it was still a really close finish against our friends from town,...
These have been in the news a lot lately. Christy and I decided we’d get avalanche airbags for each other as Christmas presents this year. And even though we haven’t been backcountry skiing at all this season due to the dicey conditions, we know they’ll eventually see some use. (more…)
Anda, Christy, and Tanja(Anda’s sister visiting from Slovenia), all happy to be done. Our big local races are just around the corner and we needed to log some miles. And since you never go out as hard on training days as you do when it’s a real race, we figured it was the right thing to do. Sure, we could have spared ourselves some suffering by opting for the recreational...
Jesse Berg drops in from the Climax Col on Day 3 in the Purcell Range. Last May, Christy, Dirk, Art Burrows, and I joined four Canadians on a 10-day traverse from the Bugaboos to Rogers Pass. Afterwards, I did a little story on the trip, (more…)
Christy, descending Burnt Mountain towards Buttermilk. Low angle powder is OK, it’s the big backcountry descents that aren’t coming into shape. This winter has not been like those of the past few years. We’re happy the huge early-season dry spell that settled in across much of the west has passed, and that the conditions in the ski areas are finally good. Unfortunately, the instability in the thin snow pack that...
Christy, finding the old facets skied like a big pile of granulated sugar. When Kir’s email came through asking if Christy and I would like to join her and Anda at her Chair Mountain cabin for the weekend, you could hardly describe the thought process as a decision– I knew instantly we were going. Having spent nearly every day of the past three weeks working/skiing the thin coverage of Aspen...
A photo from the start. [Christy here, again] It’s not a good sign when things look like this in January. Sure, we need more snow, but it could always be worse. Even with a not-so-great start to the season, we’re still pretty lucky that we can get out on a nice, long tour and enjoy the gorgeous scenery. With a random Monday off, and a need to unwind from the...
We met in Aspen in 2000 and have been happily stuck in the rockies ever since, getting out in the mountains every day we can, in every season and by all means possible. Read More
