The Snow Troopers

This weekend I took Trooper dog for a nice walk up into the Rocky Run zone today and yesterday. I had planned to shoot for Rampart Lakes today but another afternoon start and the weather that turned for the worse around 5PM, I once again stayed around Lake Lillian. Below is a short conditions vid (minus footy of the nasty billy goat trail that leads to the fun). Almost time for this Snow Trooper to start driving for the better/higher snow on the volcanos.

3 time Freeskiing World Tour Champion and big mountain legend, Hugo Harrison, recently road tripped down from B.C., Canada to ski Mt. Baker’s backcountry with us. Aside from the clouds and rain most of the day, conditions were perfect. We skinned from the Heather Meadows parking lot, past Artist Point towards Table Mountain. The sun cups were soft. With his home mountains Whistler Blackcomb now closed, he was happy to be skiing. You’ve most likely seen him ski before on film – he’s been in so many by Warren Miller, Teton Gravity Research, Matchstick Productions, Poor Boyz Productions, etc. Check back soon to see him next in the Snow Troopers video. In the meantime, here are the photos from that day with TNT, Jerad Merbs, Carl Simpson, Jeff Rich and Zack Jessel. By the way, the road to Artist Point is expected to open on July 1st. WSDOT has already chopped up the snow all the way to the Artist Point parking lot so it’s looking like a 7/1 opening should be no problem.

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I wanted to share this video a friend of a friend sent our way, showcasing 11 year old Cody LaPlante who throws down like a champ in the Tahoe zone (and doing so for YEARS now as seen in video below, so click and look out for him in years to come).

Wondering where to ski and ride this June 15-16 weekend? Look no further than the Pacific NW – Washington and Oregon have the only 2 ski areas open to the public for lift served skiing and snowboarding this weekend. Crystal Mountain, WA will run its gondola and Green Valley lift from 8:30am – 3pm to access terrain on the upper mountain. Mt. Hood Timberline will run its Magic Mile and Palmer lifts from 7am-2pm for top to bottom access on a 72″ base. This is Crystal Mountain’s final weekend of skiing and riding so get it while you can. If the forecast is right, we’re looking at shorts and t-shirt weather all weekend long. Don’t forget the sunblock – we’re getting about 16hrs of daylight up here in WA now.

I really love this video Carl Simpson cranked out from his past week+ of the “Snow Gods’ given goods up at our late season stompin’ grounds (up here on Snoqualmie Pass, WA). Not much more to say except grab that Sunday morning coffee and click PLAY. This video is excellent and fast moving, enjoy it as I edit our trip up to Mt. Baker’s Table mountain from this past Friday, with the two featured snow riders in this vid (Jeff Rich and Carl Simpson) along with the one and only Hugo Harrison… Stay tuned!

ATTN Parents: The BANGER video below has one explicit word with in it, that slipped by the edit…

Here is the video to go with our post from earlier this week that captured some of the June 1st action on Silver Peak with a fun group of friends.

This week, our WSDOT Crews began clearing the 3 mile road through the Mt. Baker, WA ski area to Artist Point located at 5,100 ft. They’re shooting to have the road open on July 1, 2013. That would be a full 3 weeks ahead of last year’s opening on July 24th. If our warm weather and sunny skies continue, we’re confident they’ll hit that date. WSDOT doesn’t disappoint! Needless to say, we can’t wait so we’re headed up there on Friday. Stay tuned for an update on conditions. In the meantime, enjoy these from last year’s trip with Mike and Andy Traslin.

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The Pacific NW weather is amazing this week. In case you’re thinking about heading to the Snoqualmie Pass area for some turns, here’re a few shots of the conditions at Alpental. Top 3/4 or so are still skiable but if you want to be on snow from the car, head to Silver Peak instead (see post below).

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What a great start to June 2013. The weather finally cleared yesterday. We headed to Silver Peak in the Snoqualmie Pass area to find a party up there – over 2 dozen skiers and mountaineers turned out to enjoy Silver Peak at its peak. Snow coverage and conditions are perfect right now for both the skin up and ski down. The back of Silver Peak is still skiable as are the frontside chutes off the main summit where everyone usually ends up. The road is melted out to about 100′ short of the Mt. Catherine trailhead. Check back soon for the video.

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Here are recent aerial shots of some of our WA, OR and CA Ring of Fire volcanoes: Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. McLoughlin and Mt. Shasta.  Enjoy the pix!

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