The Return To Lost Lake

A lot has gone down in Lost Lake since I last was there. Actually, in between the last time i did this run/hike there was a person who went missing for two nights back there. Word is he randomly followed a local back there through the access gate and under vertigo, no-vis conditions he decided to go his own way like stevie nicks and ended up a seriously confused (and proally hungry person). He ended up in Moonlight real estate property from what I gather, and in those two days everyone was talking about it. The police had helis up there with snowmobiles and moonlight patrol looking for this kid. Ends up that he had warrants out on his arrest, so as soon as he was dropped off by the helis the cops took him in. Howabout that- sleeping out in the woods for 2 nights then to sleeping in a jail cell?

Rob's checking out a line off this death-cornice. One person we were with broke off a huge slab of one cornice a little further down just by walking a little too close to it. Backcountry is real.

That's the way I came down this time. The snow was unbelievable compared to last time we did this.

The line out was so smooth, fresh, and long. In a few years there will be a lift at the bottom of this bowl I bet. For how good this area is and the amount of great riding to be done its only a matter of time.

That's crew from today. We hit the tram and this area at such a perfect time. Ski patrol thought the viz was sketch and to cut the chutes before we charged them, but everything was good to go.

...and thats all I got this time around. Enjoy? This season just won't let up it's still snowing- we do have heavier snow but its not rain yet!

It's That Time Of Year Again...

...on the move again....

So it's that time of year again, which means to anyone unfamiliar with my yearly schedule means that I'm about to migrate for the season- or am I? Will this be my first Montana summer to go along with the epic Montana winter I just experienced? Is this the place to set down and try to make things happen- the age old impossible trick of creating the good ol' "sumthin' outta nuthin". Is this the place? I ponder these kind of questions sporadically on my days off, coincedentally shown above in this photo....



These rocks are on wave wall, and to the unexperienced eye I really dont know how big they look, but from my experience theyre a solid 25 ft, or more, or less- it doesnt matter in the least to this story, but its sets the stage slightly.

So this was the photo from a couple weeks ago on a solid 15 inch pow day, or something along those lines, all i know is that everything was totally socked in visibility wise and Challenger was riding unbelievable. Everything pretty much was actually. Earlier that day there was a chinese-downhill down the normally mogulled out Snake Pit that was a faceshot free-for-all. It took this resort way too long too get upper mountain open, but when things finally started opening it was on. This shot above is from the entrance to Upper Pinnacles. The hike up it was almost complete vertigo, but like most every other run that day it proved more than worth it. Where am I going with this besides just running Big Sky jargon? well lets take a step back to those rocks from 2 pictures ago...heres a shot of those rocks from far away, where people saw us going down. It's called the Wave Wall because its a long cornice that stretches down the ridge, as displayed below...


Take into account also that this above shot was 2 months earlier and who knows how much more snow. It's just to give someone an idea about the run we were on that pow day. Since everything was riding so well we charged off that cornice and down into it. The snow was the deepest there compared to everywhere else we had rode that day and immediately we sunk into it and everything was right in the world. Made about 2 turns down it before that rock patch- thats when I got confused.

Confused? Yeah I guess thats the way to put it. I saw a skinny chute thru the rocks but I wanted more- wanted to jump off something. Thought I had my landing spotted and I definetly didnt, because as I was flying at my destiny I immediately realized these rocks were significantly larger than I had expected. Threw a speed check at those rocks and then everything turned to a chaos of little rocks, powder, and the overlying question of which way was up.

I knew I was gonna take a few impacts, so as I tumbled I just waited for them. The first came directly onto my back and it was the most brutal of all of them. It hit me on my right side under my shoulder blade and next to my spine. I got a large fruit cocktail for that one. Other impacts affected lower muscles in my back, but that was the most noticeable for sure. Two days later I noticed a large mutli colored bruise under my butt, which shouldnt be too big a deal, since swimsuit season is still a few months away.

Friends of mine saw me tumble down those rocks on wave wall and were dialing ski patrol on their phones before I even landed. They said they didnt realize it was me, and thought I was dead for sure. I definetly could have been, that's for sure, but for what happened I don't see it as a lesson in safety equipment because that wouldnt have averted this from happening. Nah, no helmet lessons in this or wristguard/butt-guard/shovelpack for my spine- nah here I think I really learned about appreciating the task at hand- like respecting your goals and how dangerous things can be when done riskily. The bottom line is that I made a rash decision and should have known better.

I'm lucky I learned the lesson without getting too hurt. That's the bottom line- respect the mountain or you'll learn the hard way.

Lost Lake, Odie Sleeps Over, Derek Comes Thru

Lost Lake is behind Big Sky and next to Moonlight Basin, accesible through a forest service access gate off the peak of Lone Mtn. Today we waited the 7 (or more) tram car wait to get back there and ride some untracked goodness. The run was a chute that I never caught the random name of (one chute back there was named 'Mullet") and the top was shark-finned rocks at times. After that though it the turns deepened up significantly and it was a solid fast runout. From there we chilled for a few, then prepared for the hike out.

The hike out was a solid 25 minutes, plus perhaps. This put us atop another ridge we could drop into that eventually funneled us back into moonlight basin terrain. In total, the experience took about two and a half hours, but the tram line can account for almost half of that. I was intrigued to see the area because I'd heard about it for so long, and theres always a desire to be familiar with the mountain entirely.

Today was a recon mission for future trips back there for sure. We tried to take on Wyoming Bowl at the end of the day but ski patrol advised against it due to the temps. It's on the list, and after that it would mean i've been around this mountain 360 degrees, which goes to show how big this resort has the potential of becoming. We talked about it before the hike out that there was a definite possibility a lift tower will be where we were sitting in the next few years. These resorts are racing to topple all US resorts in skiable acreage, but without improving the already existing issues going on here they'll be building a faulty foundation- as if they already haven't been.


...So I wake up a week or so ago to a dark living room, and its 6am so im up putting the coffee on. Making my way through the kitchen this large furry thigh high thing rushes by me and disappears. Yeah- soon i realized it was a dog, but my initial reaction was absolute shock, like "what was that!?!?" Flicked the lights on and I meet Odie, this pointy-nose collie with a phone number on his neck. Alright, well all of this doesnt change the fact it was 6am, and this dog was pretty chill it seemed so i went back to bed awhile. After roomates wake up I make my way out and the story came together that Odie was cold and nervous about being cold and outside, i guess, and my roomate justin was told by a cute girl down the hall "you should take that dog in for the night!" so in short thats how Odie crashed at our place one night. When Odie's owner came to pick him up he didn't want to go with her, now that was some funny stuff that you really couldn't laugh about till it was over.

Derek Doucette came into town for 4 nights and 5 days, something like that. He got to ride some pow, see bison, catch montana fish in a montana river, and experienced a sample of how a handful of people live their lives up here in the mountains. The first day he was here there was only slight sympathy for his acclamation to the whole place, and we had him deep in the trees riding up to cliff lines. He'd never rode out west before so we tried to give him a buffet line of montana stuff to do. I say 'we' because everyone threw down some time with derek.


...stay tuned...

Fam Visitation and Early March Madness

Early March started well with some fresh snow to improve conditions, and milder temps settled in. A few early storms brought some suprising pow days, which helped everyones demeanor around this place.

I had Fam in town for the past 5 days. Dad and Cole, my little cousin, came out to see what I actually do in my winter life out here in Montana. Neither of them had been even remotely west- i mean dad visited me in chi a couple times but thats it. Both of them were dealing with some altitude issues in the first few days (getting winded easily)....
Early March started well with some fresh snow to improve conditions, and milder temps settled in.

Dad hadn't skied in 10+ years easy and Cole was used to waiting in lines at Okemo and riding Wachusetts, so both of them got more than they planned for. I gave a few days of mountain tours to the both of them, and in the off time dad took around 500 photos total.

Hectic times call for drastic measures; thats kinda what im on right now as far as work progress is going. Theres a lot of variables in the work right now so to anyone interested just stay tuned, we're trying to make March happen like February didn't, but so far its off to a solid snowfall start. Derek from DC is coming through in about a week also, so we'll see what March brings....