Andrew Eckels and company spent the day on Mt. Shuksan this past Tuesday, starting the trip off w/ our other bro Andy Traslin who later blazed away w/ Dan Hemelstader over ice and exposure. Below is Andrew’s trip report of their steep day on Shuksan.

Despite very warm winter temps for several days, north facing slopes around Baker were holding stable powder. I realized just before the high pressure system moved out that conditions were just right for hitting the NW Couloir off Mt Shuksan, a goal that when I conceived it a year ago seemed far fetched. The approach to the base of the climb was laced with a foot of powder and we had high hopes for similar conditions on the steeps. What we found was slightly wind scoured but stable slopes, perfect for booting. Cory, Ben, Jacob, and I had never done a line like this during winter, but we were accompanied by Andy Traslin who flew up the slope kicking steps

until we were all overtaken by Dan Hemelstader He and Andy climbed the entire couloir and skied the north face. We stopped at the exposed traverse that they described as too icy to ski, and dug a

precarious ledge to transition on.

We had all skied slopes nearly as steep as what we were on top of but nowhere near as big or exposed. Leaving the ledge and making the first turn flushed away any fears or doubts, it was game on! The line is 45-50 degrees for 2000 ft of vert and took us the better part of an hour to ski. When we reached the soft powder and mellow slopes of the apron the stoke flowed freely from all of us as we ripped sunny open pow turns with our line behind us. Nobody could hold back their grins or whoops of joy, and it was an easy decision to go for another run. The experience was So different from ripping lines in the ski area and so much fun. We’re all chomping at the bit to summit Shuksan and ski off of it now.

New next season – Moment Skis’ Deathwish – featuring a new design profile they’re calling Dirty Moustache which has 3 camber sections along the 112mm midsection of the ski and rockered tip and tail. This gives the ski incredible edge hold by putting weight on 4 contact points along the edge. We joined Moment’s Corky Still to try out the Deathwish skis on Winter Park’s hard pack snow (which many called icy) – check out the video below showing Corky carving at hi speeds to prove the point and Moment’s own CEO, Casey Hakansson, talking about the skis. Alas, a powder ski that can carve on hard pack too. And don’t forget that all Moment Skis are handmade in the USA.

It’s been 1 week since we landed in Winter Park for SIA’s (Snow Sports Industry) on the snow demos of next season’s gear. It’s been a whirlwind, fun packed week – we’re pretty wrecked at this point. We’re finding that skiing all day and editing videos all night is hard work. But it’s been rewarding. A quick recap (more details and video gear reviews coming later this week):

Dean Cummings bending his Karen'cito's -his skis of choice for big 1st descents

Days 1-2 Winter Park- we were fortunate to have not only demo’ed skis but see them in action with some of the industry’s greatest athletes. We skied with 2 big mountain icons and World Champion Extreme skiers: Dean Cummings to check out his H2o Outdoor Gear and Chris Davenport and his Kastle skis, etc.

Scott Rove Helmet $90, Scott Fix Goggles $99.99, Arc'teryx Alpha SV Jacket $599, Dalbello Virus Tour Boots $749, Kastle BMX 128 $1179, binding adjustment by Chris Davenport: priceless.......

There was major buzz about the weather in Winter Park -known for cold winters with its base elevation at 9000+ ft- folks were saying it was about 60degrees warmer than last year when it was negative double digits during the SIA demos.

The big storm that dumped around 2ft in Denver totally missed the mountain resorts which only received a couple of inches at most. Such a bummer. But snow was good and coverage decent with clear skies in Winter Park.

Ditto at our next stop on days 3-4: Steamboat (aka Ski Town, USA), where we got to ski with Kelly from Olympian Chad Fleischer’s shop and a legend, Billy Kidd. Sting got a private ski lesson from Billy. TNT appeared on Steamboat TV18 – if you missed that, see the post below.

Jackson Hole's backcountry

Temps dropped drastically as we crossed the border into WY on days 4-5. Anna of Jackson Hole Mtn. Resort and her friend, Allie, were our gracious mountain guides at Jackson Hole. The Tetons are amazing. So much to ski/see there, so little time!! Ran into friends from the past: Derek of Spring Creek Ranch and John, JH Patroller. Derek invited us to a Superbowl party where we met Leif Nelson, former Speed Skiing legend who mached 200km/h.

Day 6 was a big day: Teton Pass in the a.m. with Matt, friend of Moment Ski-E.O. for some backcountry turns. Then, met up with Backpacker Magazine’s photographer, Josh Meyers, for a half day at Grand Targhee on the other side of the pass – the mountain was empty. It gets our vote for best kept secret and drop dead views.

Wait until you see the rest of our pics. There is so much to do in this zone – plan on a month next time. We’ll bring you all the details and videos as soon as we can (stop skiing)….should be soon as we’re missing Trooper dog who we couldn’t fit into the car. Figure next time we should be ok strapping him to the top of our car if we’re driving through Mormon country. You know we’re kidding – we’re dog lovers.

View of Tetons from top of Grand Targhee

One of our young ski mountaineer ripper friends, Jon Knitter, sent this video of his “short edit of a lovely trip to Whitefish, Montana. with a great crew. We managed to have a great time with the little snow they had…enjoy.”

My good bro Robert Bolton sent this one over a couple days ago of a tour up into the Commonwealth for some great tree skiing. Below is what Robert had to say about the day in the old growth.

With avy worries fairly high, Stefan and I decided to head into the trees in search of ample powder and fresh lines. Our location must have been a wise choice, as we ran into at least eight other groups…. The snow was fantastic, and the heavy snow and winds kept us from venturing out of the woods. Three runs later, we were ready to call it another day.

TNT’s live on Steamboat TV18 this morning. He’s in their TV studio appearing as Mike Polucci’s guest on the Steamboat Today show to talk about The Snow Troopers. Click on the image below and look for Feb. 3, 2012 to find and watch Steamboat Today’s video of the show.

Steamboat TV18 is the winner of six RSN Arc Awards, including market-size wins for best morning show, best morning show host and best morning show set. Steamboat TV18 won its RSN awards in competition against some of the top nationally recognized, live, resort-area morning shows. The station is an affiliate of Outside Television, the broadcasting arm of the Outside magazine brand. Steamboat TV18 is the place to tune into for local weather, ski conditions, events, etc.
We’re digging Steamboat, Ski Town USA but we (and other CO ski resorts have so far with only a couple of inches) missed the big winter storm which is bearing down on greater Denver and on eastward dumping 6-24″. Thanks to Mike for having us on his show. Shout out to Kelly and Darrin at Fleischer Sports and to Clayton at Holiday Inn for taking care of us and making our stay in Steamboat so rad. We’ll be back for sure. Vivamus ski alum diem (that’s latin for “We live to ski another day” – translation provided by Darrin, the most well read ski town dude we’ve ever met.)

Not much to say about Mt. Baker except nothing like it in the lower 48… Here’s what Andrew had to say about yesterday at the KING of snow and wickedness.

Got out early enough to see the sun rise then shredded steep stable pow off Ptarmigan ridge and Table Mountain. Everybody was screaming and laughing after each run it was so good!

Congratulations to Dean Cummings on winning the 2012 Powder Award for Best Line at Powder magazine’s annual awards last week in Aspen. Dean, founder and owner of H20 Guides, is a big mountain steep skiing icon, Alaska heli-skiing pioneer and World Champion extreme skier. He won the award for his epic descent down Dragon’s Back Spine on Meteorite Mountain in AK’s Chugach Range (pictured left). Dean tells us that Meteorite Mountain was struck by a Meteorite in 1927 and created a ramp that is 50 degrees sustained for 2800 vertical feet. The spine had sections that were 60 degrees with high exposure. His award winning descent was one of two first descents he accomplished last spring. The other was down The Tusk Mountain also in AK’s Chugach Range – which Dean describes as the most committing line he’s ever skied. They are both featured in his new movie, The Steep Life. Watch as Dean talks to the Snow Troopers about his ski down The Tusk.

And take a look at the below clips of his first descents. He successfully completed them on the “Karen’cito’” skis – part of his “Access the Goods” ski line from his own H20 Outdoor Gear company – proving that the Karen’cito’ can excel in the most precision-demanding, extreme conditions. We’ll bring you more info about H20G’s “Karen’cito’” and other skis shortly so be sure to check back often.

We’d also like to congratulate Dean for being named Avalanche Educator of the Year at the Inaugural Avalaunch/Outdoor Retailer Winter Market Awards earlier this month. Dean is founder of the North American Outdoor Institute and lead architect of the American Mechanized Ski Guide Course. His award-winning avalanche safety curriculum has won two safety awards from the Alaska governor’s office.

Andrew Eckels and Jacob Mandell were playing hooky once again from Western Washington University last Thursday and Friday. In doing so, they were rewarded w/ a couple of sweet days of snow and one evening detour in the dark. Below are a few words from Andrew in regards to the two days of riding the Baker bc.

The first chute in the vid is off the east face of Barometer Mountain. The next three chutes are off the south face of Mt Herman. After Skiing the line off Barometer we climbed Slate Mountain and skied a chute off of its NW face. The line is over 3000 vertical ft. and the bottom half went from 6 inches on top of avi debri, to thick bramble to thicker forest. We ended up skiing out in the dark after making a wrong turn and getting cliffed out.

Our friend Christopher Madison sent this vid showing his version of January’s snopocalypse… Skiing epic pow and a rare ski of the Seattle streets. Below is what Christopher had to say about the storm:

Snopocalypse 2012 hits Seattle, and while most people stayed inside we rushed up to the pass to hit the mountains… but the pass was closed. So after waiting from 5:45am to 2:10pm the pass finally opened. Knowing we missed fresh tracks at Alpental, my riding partner Brian and I headed to Central to drop fresh tracks on the 360 chutes. It was also the first time I got to play with my Nordica Jah Loves I got off steep and cheap last year. With 140 under foot, those things slaughtered the pow, and great times were had.

After spending a few days in the mountains playing hooky and skiing new pow everyday, I still couldn’t get my itch scratched. It didn’t help to see snow everywhere when I came into Seattle either. So, of course, I had to get some street skiing in. So I spent that night hiking around and skiing the hills of Seattle. The perfect way to wrap up Snopocalypse 2012.