The Snow Troopers

Tamarack Ski Resort opens this Friday, Dec. 13, 2013 at 9am. Those who bring a donation of a non-perishable meal that will feed a family of four will receive a FREE lift ticket valid that day. Food donations will be accepted at the resort starting at 8:00am. Donations can also be exchanged for a lift ticket tomorrow, Wednesday Dec. 11 from 8:00am – 4:00pm @ Mattress Land on Rifleman in Boise across from the Boise Town Square Mall. Donated food will be given to local food banks, including The Donnelly Free Store, Cascade Food Pantry and the Western Idaho Community Action Partnership (WICAP) community center in Valley County. During the past FEED THE NEED events, Tamarack Resort has been able to collect more than 24,000 meals from 5000+ people.

This year marks Tamarack Resort’s 10th Anniversary Season. Tamarack will be operating on 900 acres and 2800 vertical feet including the Tamarack and Summit Express, both high-speed quads. Altogether, six lifts will operate on THURSDAYS – SUNDAYS (4 days a week) and Holidays 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Those seeking additional acreage can access more National Forest terrain through boundary gates on both North and South summit access points. Experience the beauty of Tamarack through our eyes in this video and read why this has become one of our favorites.

I love my family, friends, my boy Trooper and all the awesome creatures we share our Winter playground with, so just seeing this one of a handful of goats getting buried alive hit me hard ( I want to say they all end up out, but the video isn’t too clear). Like I said, hated to see this, but it is powerful, so click play and “Live to Ski Another Day!”

Short video from Carl Simpson and Jeff Rich, chasing some of the many dayz of December POW at Crystal Mountain Resort!

photo credit – Carl Simpson

Stoked to share this very creative segment from the latest Sweetgrass Productions’ movie that features Mt. Baker local / friend, Zack Giffin. If you have followed our site from the earlier years, then I’m sure you have seen Zack and his brother Sam’s “Right on Brothers” videos, or maybe the sweet day we had with Zack and the Plakes a few years back. Their videos and athletes always kick ass, especially the amazing pillow line Zack skied this past Winter up in Canada (I will share it very soon).

Below is the creative forest segment from this year’s Sweetgrass.

Western Washington University, located up in Bellingham, WA, is known to me for educating some of the best skiers and snowboarders I know! No joke, I think in my 15 years living the PNW life, I have only met one person that didn’t do some kind of snowriding while going to school up there. Currently, having young athletes enrolled at WWU, I’m am in constant contact with these hard working students as they blaze through school with excellent marks, some of them fighting the good fight in politics to help save our snow, but ALL of them leave school with a solid resume to head off into OUR real world ( just like this one from Ian Saksa ), or should I call it a compilation of 1/4 finals.

One of our bro’s and new team member this year, Jeff Rich, calls Stevens Pass, WA his home stompin’ grounds (however just like so many of us, when away from WA and being a year round skier, he calls the Cascades his home). Jeff Rich and our other good friend Zack Jessel were both captured accessing the goods in the Stevens backcountry by Jameson Florence this past December 4th. Still can’t believe how much better the conditions are to the North, just up the Cascade Crest from Snoqualmie Pass, WA (not to mention the South). BTW, Stevens Pass is rocking the Hogsback, Skyline, Kehr’s, Tye Mill, Seventh Heaven, and Daisy chair lifts daily 9AM to 4PM.

Zack Jessel stepping on the throttle and throwing a rooster tail. Stevens Pass, WA - 12/4/13

Jeff Rich finding early season air. Stevens Pass, WA - 12/4/13

FACE SHOT in route... Jeff Rich. Stevens Pass, WA - 12/4/13

5 Hard days of skiing and partying make for a tired skier... Jeff Rich snoozing on the ridge before making another lap down the backside, Steven

Come out to North Bend Theatre (125 Bendigo Blvd. N., N. Bend, WA) this Saturday, December 7 to cheer on the Winners of the North Bend Outdoor Amateur Film Challenge and watch world class skiers and riders in Warren Miller’s Ticket to Ride. Films begin at 7pm and 8pm, respectively. This year’s Film Challenge submissions include TNT’s so we’re calling all Snow Troopers to show their support. You’ll also see our friends, Chris Davenport and Jess McMillan, as well as many others in Ticket to Ride. Admission is $15.00. Saturday’s showings wrap up the North Bend Mountain Film Festival so come catch the big screen action before it’s all over. Showing tonight and tomorrow starting at 7pm (doors open at 5:30pm) are films from the Banff Mountain Film Festival Tour – admission is $17.50.

On Tuesday of this week, Jerad Merbs, Karter Riach and myself took a gamble in search for some of the goods our Brothers, to the North at Stevens and to the South at Crystal, have been slashing in recent days. The two options for the easiest ski approach, we felt, were Alpental or Silver Peak. We chose to head for Silver Peak, (making that call at 5AM Tuesday) because of two reasons, 1) Monday night’s storm didn’t produce the snow we had hoped to see on the ground when we woke up, 2) Jerad would rock his jeep with tough rubber, that could possibly get us to Windy Pass. The Windy Pass target was almost hit with the jeep, but the goods were very spotty as we reached the lower dome of Silver (just under the Cirque). If I were to head back to Silver with these current conditions, I will be rolling with crampons and an ice axe. The low angle skiing, in this wind effected zone, is your best bet, but conditions are still quite boney. Think BIG SNOW!

The temps were in the teens and Silver Peak was already blingin’ from the beautiful sunrise. However, Trooper dog wasn’t enjoying the good morning we were, due to what I call the cold weather “STINGERS” on his paws. I have found over Trooper’s 10 years (him being mostly a Golden Retriever, which has the wrong hair for snow) of skiing year round in the Cascades, there is only a couple of weeks a year when the below normal temps sting his pads. The “stingers” happen when we are in the ICE Station Zebra mode here in the Cascades and the backcountry skiing is usually locked up good and tight too. This can be a great time to take up another sport that might be at it’s best in these type of conditions, like cross country skating/skiing. In these apx two weeks a year of “frozen lock down” time, we will hit a fresh groomer for a walk/ski, but I have learned with Trooper, when the cold temps/moisture content are just right he will start holding his paw up as if he has a piece of cactus in it. Trooper, will then take a few more steps, stop, and now, he will be holding (maybe) a front left and a back rear (which would let me know he didn’t have a strain or something in his paw, but it did show his wicked balance on a funnier note).

You will see in the video, I found a fix for the rare problem he was having on Tuesday, by using a product I am currently using for myself called Gurney Goo (an anti-friction, silicone based product made for marathon runners (feet, crouch, etc… -A better example might be the Tough Mudders, mucking through a mud puddle, then running for miles with some serious mud (just call it sand paper) between their thighs). Very cool product for all sorts of ultra outdoor activities.

Revelstoke Mountain Resort is  an awesome get away that offers not only the most lift served vertical relief in N.America, but also offers heli, cat, and backcounty snowriding (note: there are only a handful of base areas, that I can think of off hand, here in N.America that offer all of this action in one location). The fact that Revelstoke offers the full package (heli, cat, lift, and backcountry) out of their base area, gives you much better odds to get the goods on your trip. For example, if there is a NO fly for weather, then you have three other options. Another example, if you show up for a lift served ski vacation and the only untracked snow is in the backcountry, BINGO, there are three other options to get after the untracked (on the annual PREPLANNED trip). Another cool note about this zone, Revelstoke gets hammered with quality snow and is a stop on this month’s Freeride World Tour (which should tell you something about their BIG mountain terrain, with me having too). Go visit this rad mountain and historic BC city.

Below is a short video from our friends at Freeride Media that touches on a little of the HUGE amount of fun to be found at Revelstoke Mountain Resort.

Amazon has announced that they are working on a new delivery system to get packages into customers’ hands in 30 minutes or less using unmanned aerial vehicles (aka drones). Amazon’s current drones can accomplish a same day 30 min. delivery to GPS coordinates within a 10mi range of fulfillment centers. However, by the time the service dubbed “Prime Air” launches, it’s possible that range could be much extended. Amazon estimates deliveries could begin as early as 2015 pending FAA implementation of new rules for use of drones. Our imaginations went wild when we saw the video below – think about what this could mean if Prime Air could evolve to serve the needs of backcountry skiers and travelers. Imagine being on the summit of Mt. Rainier (where there’s cell service) or being able to schedule a drone delivery ahead of time (when there’s no cell service). Travel lighter, faster, safer – Bezos, you rule!