the skier boyz headed south to fishlake nf to ski the tushar range to avoid wasatch rain crust .I think we did a good job of keeping our president touring almost the whole time even though he brought a little bit of alaska with him to our high desert alpine playground. Here are some pics from the trip. mt holly 12001

summit of mt holly looking at the tushar backcountry

looking north north east from mt holly

puffer lake

tushar trees

skier boyz x-treme comp venue

the berkshire division of skier boyz on the mower

roy herbason nursing a broken dynafit to the bottom of the mower he must of toured those binders into the ground again
sometimes I wonder how many board feet of of trees where consumed by this slide path over the years

scogs inspecting at a glide fracture lower on the mower

Amanda sking the mower for the first time and learning the kick-turn

Scogs above the glide fractue laying down turns with out rocker.

The massachusetts division of the skier boyz went out this morning expecting a normal tour upon arrival to the mower we ran into the last sterbender on his 2400 snowbile he even offered to put custom rocker on all our skis unfortunately he got my skis everyone else got away . Now i got rocker everywhere and can't even tell whats the tip and tail they both look the same. I guess I should have listened to tightass on the whole wasatch being closed to day.

Suicide: January 9

There's been a lot of talk of dawn-patrol lately. I found myself participating in the storied ritual early Sunday morning. My reasons were simple: free ride up the canyon with a promise of breakfast.

Cornwallis and I geared up in the covered entry in the shadow of Hellgate. The snow was beginning to let up and stars and planets peered through the last remnants of a weak system. The skinner began at the road in 2 angry inches. Trail breaking was easy and we were at the base of the chute in short order.

Cornwallis put it in 4 low and took off in a fury. I would not see his face again until the top. The higher we got, the deeper it got. It became obvious that we were in for a treat. Wind and snow had conspired together in our favor.

The cornice was bigger than usual and required some low 5th class moves. True to form, Cornwallis strong-armed it. I elected to pass my pack up.

From our perch, we shouted obscenities at Snowbird and Alta for longer than was necessary. Eventual we clicked in. We didn't say much because of hoarse throats from our recent hollering. The snow was excellent and the skiing effortless. 10" of low density scattered as we silently plummeted towards the 210.

Cornwallis Cam

We rounded the bend and passed from shadow into the sweet sunshine. Lower down there was only 4" and the turns were getting loud. Trenches from skiers earlier in the week were frozen solid. We worked right to a smoother area and let 'em run until it got quiet again.

I've always wanted to "ride that shit switch into the road," but the reality of a 4' drop to flat convinced me otherwise. It was still early and my stomach reminded me of the pre-arranged breakfast. Free-ride, free food: maybe there is something to this dawn patrol fad.

- U.K.

Coalpit 4 & Bell's Cleaver: January 7

J-Wow and the PA Prince had sent the booter up "The Cuatro" two days prior. We used our phone-a-friend to get the inside line on the creek crossing since the bridge at the power house is out. Shred-Hound quickly found the class 5 skinner through the brush and on to the booter. The Prophet and Powers took turns leading the charge while Cornwallis and I lurked in the back.

Up Coalpit 4

3,200' later we topped out on Perla's Ridge and the Cleaver came into view. There was some debate whether to ski down into Bell's or to conserve vertical.

Shred-Hound Visualizing Lake Bonneville

We made some turns but mostly trascended across the south facing slope. There was a rapidly warning crust and frozen roller-balls, but the going was fast and we were skinning towards the Cleaver. The closer we got the worse the snow looked. A prior wind event had the team worried about snow quality up high. We were 800' below the summit looking up at the NW face of the Cleaver. The dream was over; it was not to be. The consensus was the snow was garbage and Powers starting skinning to a mini-pass east of the Cleaver. But Power's must have been suffering from vertigo. He kept going up where he should have switched back. He was above the pass. Now another kick step and another. The distance to the summit was halved and the Prophet took the lead. The distance was halved again and we regrouped on the ridge about 200' below the summit and there was no choice despite the rock, ice, snow route above.

Leading the Charge

The last 200' took 45 nerve-racking minutes. At last the summit yielded. High fives all around. Powers had obviously won the uphill portion of the tour and was offered 1st tracks, which he graciously accepted. The spine started in the high 40's and and mellowed to a reasonable 41 for the run-out. Snow quality defied expectations: it was creamy goodness and the coverage was excellent.

Cornwallis on the Run

NW Face of the Cleaver (click photo for better view)

(click here for helmet cam of Cornwallis)

The day was far from over. The 3,200' Coalpit 4 waited patiently for her 5 lovers to return. Passion reigned as her tender slope fell away. Light gave way to dark. Snow to rock. Love to exhaustion. Exhaustion to hunger and back to love. What a great day!

This upper schuss is not in the Chuting Gallery so we were at a loss for a name. I felt empty knowing that I would not get to check anything off in the back of the Wasatch Primer. The shot deserved a name. Meat Cleaver? Leave it to Cleaver? Maybe NW Face of Bell's Cleaver should stand instead of some "Cleaver Play on Words."

Groan......

Sorry.

- U.K.

Tanner's: January 5

The only crust in Tanners was right here for about 500 feet. no more switch hitting please, I was well into the chute by the time the call came through.

Hale-Bopp: December 24, 2010

I'm somewhat embarrassed posting a drama free tour. Sure it was cold. Yeah it was an aesthetic line. Hall-Bopp is one of the Summit 49ers. All good things, but compared to the excitement down in Utah: my line was a yawner. Up here, nobody took a ride in a potentially deadly slide. There are no threads on tele-tips discussing the ramifications of my run. No one hopped a train out of Elko. No signs were stolen. There were no stare-downs with anti-personel artillery. Just another gorgeous run in a spectacular location.

Sorry for the let down.

In the Summit Lake area, there are a disproportionate number of peaks that are 49xx' tall. Obviously, I hope to collect the whole set. Hale-Bopp (4970') is between Upper and Lower Summit Lake. I parked at the pull-out on the North side of Lower Summit Lake and followed the skinner across the bridge and past the cabins. The skinner continued towards Raven Ridge, but I was interested Butch Ridge. Click for the map. I veered left and set the skinner/booter up Butch passing not one, but two Wolverine Cirques in the Sky. I continued over Nancy Peak and made the final push to the top of Hale-Bopp.

Today was day 23 without snow. It was 15 below at the lake and the temp hasn't cracked +10 in weeks. The snow structure is garbage. The entire snowpack would be facets if not for the Thanksgiving Rain Crust (TRC). Thankfully, the TRC (12" down) is supportable. Without it schussers would be punching through to the tundra on each turn. The sugar sloughs are running fast and long on top of the TRC.

The hoar on the South Face of Hale-Bopp sparkles in the sun. Its 2,500' to Butcher Creek. The pitch is perfect for boot deep effortless skiing. The weak bonds in the snow shatter with each turn. The crust announces itself on the steep roll-overs. My tracks cannot hold from and collapse into themselves. All vertical micro-features cave in. It's like trying to build a sand castle well above the high tide line.

Sure, the ski today was nice, but I see chairlifts in my future.

-Adam Lang

Washed Out Turns

Spirit Walker: Another Kenai 49er

North Bowl, Eagle River: December 20

The longest night of the year was upon us, and as if to make a point, the cosmos conspired to take the moon away. This was too much. A protest was in order. I organized a demonstration to prove that the dark could not crush our spirit.

The entire Alaska Skier Boyz Precinct gathered along with a couple of Marks for a protest march in the Chugach. Skies were clear and the moon was on our side, but old Cosmo was attempting to strong-arm our celestial brother. By the summit the moon had been completely subdued. To honor our fallen comrade, we skied the dark moonless night for 1,500' vert of knee deep blower.

Hubert and The Noodler led the protest march back up the bowl for a second helping. Cosmo's grip began to loosen and our old dear friend was beginning to light the way. The battled silently raged on. Cosmo had made a statement but our compatriot was intent on taking back the night.

At last it was over and the moon was victorious. Our loyalty was rewarded with a perfectly lit second run in North Bowl and for a third run back to where our protest had begun.

Taking away the moon on the longest night of the year was bullshit. Sitting idly on the couch is what Cosmo wanted, but we refused to give that cold bastard the satisfaction. Rise up! Do not ignore the injustices in the heavens! Take to the hills! Let the canyons echo with your protest chants as you plummet down sheer faces and cramped couloirs! Now is the time! Rise up! Rise up! Injustice will not stand!

-Fast Eddie

Another Inexplicable Fashion Trend from the World of Nordic Skiing

Winter Solstice

True winters first storm hit hard as it made its way to SLC and the Wasatch mountains from the pacific. This storm dumped epic amounts of snow in Mammoth and across to the wasatch it continued. We are gonna exceed six feet in four days. The temperature won't stay at a constant cold so our snow level has been going up. Skiing has been dreamy! Before the big one arrived we had Green light conditions and a fresh coat. It didn't last too long and onto the low angle we play.This is a classic shot of a skier boy Adam Lawton setting the booter up the exposed East ridge of Superior. We opened the S Face at the crack of noon. The snow was sluffy and beautifully soft just wish the visibilty was as clearer.
Skier on the lower shot of N chute on Lake Peak in White Pine. We ascended this way and skied the more E chute from the summit.
Chris fish dropping in to the NE chute avoiding any rock lobsters. It was a beautiful day in White Pine. The last blue sky day before it began to puke.
This was our clan for the day. After Lake Peak we went across to the Tri chutes and Birthday bowls to ski some more deep pow under blue bird skies. An unfortunate party attempted to race Todd to the top and had to settle for the right Tri chute as they watched Todd snake the cherry pickings.
Celebrating the coming of winter in White Pine!

Chris fish and I skied the big N aspect into the Birthday bowl and Todd and Stefan came back up the ridge to enjoy the lower one lookers right.Fraser and Olivia drove up from Ridgeway, CO to ski this storm. Some gusty winds weren't gonna stop them from having a taste test.
"Its definetly drier and deeper than Co" Fraser adds after a sampling in Willow meadow.
Matoosh Matook taking in what the Wapan has to offer on high danger days.
Bouncing Beattie enjoying every day he gets out.

Tri-Tip to Tenderfoot: December 18

It hasn't snowed all week which means Turnagain is bumped out. Summit hasn't let me down all year and today was no different. There was a huge wind event in town this week and I was concerned about the snow quality down south. This concern turned out to be unfounded. There hasn't been a whisper of wind all week. Our tracks from last week were still visible. Cold, clear, calm: Summit has been turned into a facet factory. Good news for today, but bad news after the next storm.

The skinner was still in great shape from last week despite some rouge snow-shoer's (Palin?) attempt to destroy it. We gained the summit of Tri-Tip 1 (of 3) and continued east to a sneaky pocket couloir.

Hubert Leading the Charge

The couloir faces north and peaks in the low 40's with a nice run-out high in the Tenderfoot Creek drainage. There was about 6" of recycled powder on a hard crust. Turning was loud, but conditions rapidly improved throughout the 1,800' descent.

Looking Back up the "Pocket Couloir"

(click for a better view)

H led the charge again this time to Tenderfoot Ridge. Before long we were relaxing up high, chowing down, enjoying some "adult" coffee, and basking in the sun. December 19th only has 5 hours, 28 minutes of sun up. It rises and sets in the south and only gets 6° above the horizon. This factoid played no role in our selection of our 2nd north-facing couloir of the day. This one started much rougher, but true to form, rapidly improved as we descended to Butcher Creek.

Daylight was running short, so we opted to to call it a day instead of looking for a 3rd north facing shot. The run back to the lake rewarded us with a couple of miles of high quality low angle love.

Sunset over Summit Lake III

One of about 20 Moon Rises / Moon Sets on the Drive Back to A-Rage

Summit gets high marks again, but the next storm will be interesting to say the least. For now, the workers at the facet factory are putting in some serious overtime.

-Banksy

sorry skier boyz I have been out of the loop not touring to much do to these snowmaking nights .The good news is im done and have earn my alta pass after friday and will be getting back in the backcountry in a major way.Here are some pics from the 2010 SM season