Super fun one, that just took place recently, to our South at Mt. Hood’s Timberline. Mostly a park edit, however the guy killing it this vid, Matt Heffernan, is on my list of favorite all time REAL skiers. You know, REAL skiers, like Davenport, Plake, Morrison, ect., that have mastered the inbounds action of their generation and now have evolved into the ski mountaineering world. What I love about this method of progression is by the time they are slaying big lines, they are doing it with the tremendous ski skills gained from years of riding chairs. To me, this is so important mainly to get you down the mountain safely ( I can’t count the times I have seen people ski above their level and do it with exposure!?!), and second it makes for a good looking video! Live to ski another day and always know your limits! Back to Matt, he first caught my eye, 3 or 4 seasons ago, destroying the feather light powder in his home range of the Wasatch ( having a pulse on him since and looking forward to more bc POW adventures in 2014/2015)! In the mean time, we hope to get down and visit Matt at Hood before he packs up for another SW Winter. Check this one out!
Just saw this really cool MX video below, that brought me back to a different time in my life. First of all, the video featuring Red Bull athlete, Robbie Maddison, is off the hook. He pulls off some cool stunts using a dessert plane bone yard which is really what caught my eye, having been a 5 day a week MX desert rat back in the 80’s and early 90’s. However, it’s not only the desert MX plane “props” riding that has me sharing this video today, it is MAINLY the location. Back in the 70’s and 80’s, My Grandpa Frascella was the supervisor for the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base “Air Plane Grave Yard”. This place was AMAZING, and I am not sure how he was able to take me out there as a child, but he did, always before our main target of the day, “DM AFB bowling alley action”. Out in the true grave yard we would drive for miles and miles past perfectly lined up fighter jets, cargo planes, B52s, B29s and so on… Thousands and thousands of planes! Even though, this vid wasn’t actually shot on the base, it was very close and still has a similar feel. As soon as I clicked play on the video, I knew it’s location and thought it was a really cool idea for a video shoot. I grew up North of Tucson, at the foot of the Santa Catalina Mountains (seen in the thumbnail above). Super cool mountain that rises over 7,000 feet above the desert floor. The 9,159′ Mt. Lemmon, not only provides as a great Summer escape from the heat for the local desert dwellers but also provides for a small ski area up on the very top, known as Mt. Lemmon Ski Valley. The small ski area is located in what’s left of the Aspen, Ponderosa and Arizona pines stands, after a jackass flicked a lit cigarette on his June 17, 2003 nature walk, which ended up tourching over 84,000 acres (basically the entire mountain burned down with almost all the homes too). A little Mt. Lemmon side note: I was speaking with Glen Plake a few years back about the Lemmon, and was blown away when he mentioned having skied there years ago, and proved it by recalling the terrain with in moments / almost perfectly naming the steepest run found off of the most Southern ski chair lift in the Continental United States. Anyway, not may people know that I traded the 5 day a week dirt bike life back in the early 90’s for the ski life that later lead to my current year round alpine touring life, which I have found gives me a far greater feeling of FREEDOM! Live to ski another day!
Wild to find out watching the “behind the scenes” below, that Robbie dislocated his shoulder at the beginning of the shoot.
Andrew Eckels reports back from his Lemah Mountain trip in Washington’s Cascade range (in an area north of Snoqualmie Pass). He, Woods and Galen Herz backpacked there via Lillian, Lila Lake, Chikamin and Pete Lakes. Lemah Mountain consists of five peaks (and a glacier): Lemah One – Five with the highest topping out at >7480ft. They skied some beautiful lines as their reward for what Woods called “whacking through the gnarliest brush from upper regions of Lemah Valley”, among the many other challenges involved in tackling this route. Check it out in this video captured/edited by Andrew. Live to ski another day!
One of my favorite spots on Mt. Rainier. I love views you get, but the early Summer skiing can be really fun too. Super long cruisers on the Russell Glacier, that can take you down to Seattle Park, along with short steeper shots on the Flett. It takes a little work to get into this zone, that starts at the Mowich Lake CG, but well worth the work. If you do wander for a ski or just a hike, be sure to NOT forget that good camera and bring a head lamp (to catch a sweet sunset). Sweet sunset shot to the left was captured by Tara Simpson & below is a VERY nice edit, that Carl Simpson banged out from their recent July eye candy and soft sun cup adventure.
Our friend Russell Cunningham, of Karakoram – high performance splitboard bindings, just sent over his chopped up raw video of their recent descent on the North face of Mt. Adams. The target was the NW Ridge, a super long and steep descent made even longer with the firm conditions they found this past July 7th. The vid is long, so if you are doing some house chores, like I was a bit ago, this video will get the adrenaline going as you are folding a basket of laundry or doing some dishes, etc. Thanks for the share Russell!
A little edit of a BIG pre 4th of July trip South to Mt. Adams, with Tim Black, Adam Roberts and Jason Hummel (be sure to friend his facebook page, Jason Hummel Photography, to keep a visual pulse on his adventures from ski to bike, whitewater and more!).
photo credit/ Jason Hummel Photography – pond skimmer/ Adam Roberts. Below is Tim Black’s sweet edit of their July 1st – 3rd, 2014 Mt Adams adventure.
Short little 4th of July edit from the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area, accessed from right here on Snoqualmie Pass, WA. The original plan was to head South for Rainier, but with the weather not looking so grand, I chose to put the time in on a hiking trail rather than behind a windshield. About an hour and a half after pulling out of Hyak, I was clicking in for a nice ski towards Rampart Lakes. I had figured the sun cups would be gnarly by now (based on a short vid I had just seen from Mt. Baker’s Artist Point with HUGE sun cups), but I was wrong as my skis sliced through the “hand” sized, soft sun cups. The first half of the day was full of sunshine, later the clouds blew in quickly and posed a threat.
However, not a drop of rain fell, the clouds backed off and the evening fun began. “O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming, and the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air”, gave proof that all my Hyak friends were down there… Below “Rampart Ridge”. Live to FREEdomski another day! 238 years old.
Super fun “Paradise” blend of goodness, that took place earlier this week, just prior to the 4th! So stoked to have the freedom to enjoy such beautiful moments with friends in real time or in “Reel” Camera time at later date. If you happen to be in the Sunday chill mode, kind of like me right now, then click play for an added boost to get out and enjoy the remainder of the day! BTW, there is a nice looking window of weather for you mid-week volcano skiers, GET IT! Edit below and pic about by Jeff Rich!!!
This video below of a hiker being extracted, by Snohomish Helicopter Rescue Team (HRT), from a cliff this past Monday (6/30/14), near the Alpental ski area, has a good outcome. However, seeing this really COOL video bothered me quite a bit, watching the guy being plucked in his walking/hiking gear from what seems to be about one pitch into a multi pitch 5.8 (or something) climb!?! When I hear or see a rescue like this one, I always think of one in particular, it was an incident in Little Cottonwood Canyon (SLC, UT) back in ‘98, where a guy was skiing out of bounds at Snowbird, then got caught in slide. I was driving home from Alta, as I passed the search and rescue command post, got home to Salt Lake City, the late news said they found him in the bc with a broken leg and a heli had been dispatched. I went to sleep, happy they found the guy, then woke the next morning to hear they all died on the flight out of Little Cottonwood. So tragic! So, that being said, watching the video below of the incident here on Snoqualmie Pass, and I am so stoked the guy was saved (minus his pack), but I have to ask (and I think the networks tried asking but the hiker had no comment), “What the HECK were you thinking!?!!!” We can all take a fall, down the stairs, skiing on a green dot run, or in the parking lot (all falls that have taken me by surprise), so please know your limits and always remember to “Live to ski another day!”
Finally put together an edit of the Silver Peak Solstice (June 21st) and the Trooper Dog Memorial Pond Skim (June 22nd). The weather was excellent and the company was even better, starting around noon on Saturday and all saying our “goodbyes ’til next time” around 6PM Sunday night. My guess is about 40 skiers total, showed up for the Solstice gathering (counting 29 peeps, including myself, as the sun was getting ready to set), and Sunday there were 10 of us hanging out at Lake Lillian. Super fun weekend and already looking forward to next year’s gatherings (however, next year the Trooper Dog Memorial Pond Skim will go down the first full weekend “day” of Summer; Saturday, June 27th, 2015… Be there! On a side note, the Solstice was a special day in my life this year as I said goodbye to the best friend I have ever known (Trooper Dog) and met a new one in Ben Starkey (Super cool cat, that my boy Trooper dog went right to as I released him at Sunset). You can see it in the video below, as Jeff Rich shouts out, ” He’s going for the CHUTE!” Trooper dog always had a nose for a badass, he wouldn’t let just anyone into his ski circle (after meeting Ben now, Troop would have liked him right away, as I would like to think his spirt was showing me 
). Thanks so much to everyone that shared that moment with me. Live to ski another day, TNT.
above photo credit / Melissa Park – skiers / TNT and Trooper dog’s last run.
