Catching up

Time just keeps on flying.  I just looked back and my last post was at the end of February.  It has been a busy winter of playing.

You just don't see that every day.

The first weekend of the month we headed down to Denver for Monica's baby shower.  We all got a chance to catch up a little Thursday night then Friday morning Dave and I headed for Vail.  It was my first time riding with Dave and we had a blast.  We found plenty of tight tree runs and he some great video that I still need to get a hold of.  I ended up ripping a giant hole in my jacket from a close call with one tree.  At the end of the day we retired for beer and pizza and were joined at the house by Slick Lettuce.  I have not gotten to see Slick since the wedding so it was great to catch up.  You know good friends when you just pickup right where you left off.

Dave, Slick and I were back out at Vail Saturday morning and had to search a little for untouched snow but found plenty.  It was a great day of getting out in the snow with the guys.  The day ended way too quickly and we all agreed we would meet back up in Denver later that night.

Dave and I hit the road and after 2 coffee breaks we had him back in Denver in time to catch the tail end of the baby shower.  We wrapped up the festivities and then all adjourned to the Berkshire Restaurant (Dave's brothers restaurant) where we got to see all the baby shower attendees as well as have a special visit from Slick Lettuce and Amanda (old friends from NC).  We were so psyched that they made it out.  It really was crazy because we just picked up like we had just seen each other yesterday.  We really miss those guys and were so happy to catch up.  

Too quickly we were back on a plane to Seattle.

The second weekend of the month we had our annual gathering up in Baker.  We ended up with 6 great friends.  The group was Natalie, myself, Dan, Laura, Ross, and Stephanie.  The plan was to get out and snowshoe/ski and play outside.  Unfortunately the weather was a bit of a bust and Dan had managed to stick a cheese knife through his foot a few days before so our outdoor adventures changed over to hanging in the hot tub and drinking a few growlers of beer from the brew pub down the street.  Not a bad weekend at all.

Again too quickly we were in the car and headed back to Seattle.

In the spirit of not being home at all for the month Natalie headed out to a friends wedding the weekend before last and I headed up to the mountains to splitboard with a few friends.  It was a great day in the snow.  Perfect powder in the trees and a great group of people.  We ended up getting about 6000 feet of climbing in over 11.2 miles.  A great day!

And last but not least last weekend Natalie and I had our first weekend together in a month last weekend.  It was great to not be in a hurry all day or feel like we needed to be anywhere.  We got up Saturday morning and headed out to a cool breakfast place in Freemont, then headed over to the Burke Museum to catch a photography exhibit called The Owl and the Woodpecker.  Amazing photos!!

This weekend is looking like we will be in town again and we are not sure what to do with ourselves.  I am going to try to get out skiing but the conditions are looking a little dicey right now.  Hopefully mother nature will get her act together.

Snow Caves and Back Country Skiing

A few more pics (here) and (here)

This past weekend was the second field trip with the back country ski class I am taking.  The plan was to get in some skiing, dig snow caves and sleep in them.  It was a success...

At 4:30am Saturday morning much to the delight of Natalie my alarm started going off.  Ross and I were scheduled to be on the road headed to Mt Baker by 5am.  Anyone who knows me knows I was less than excited to be up so early but after a Red Bull and some cereal (breakfast of champions) I was feeling better.

Skinning up

We pulled into the Baker parking lot at 7:45, got dressed and met up with the rest of the class.  There were about 20ish people total on the trip including instructors.  After breaking up into two groups we headed for Artist Point which was about a mile and a half away.

After a few hours of skiing we rolled into camp and chose our sites to dig our cave for the night.  Ross and I lucked out and got a primo spot in a large berm of snow.  This cave was going to be awesome!

It took just under two hours and lots of sweat but we built a sweet cave.  We had room to fit all of our gear and lay down comfortably.  The pictures make the ceiling look low but we could easily sit up with room to spare.  The only tight spot was getting in and out of the cave as you had to go down under the wall through a narrow cave area.  You can see Ross digging out that part in the picture down below.

About 3pm everyone was wrapping up their construction so we decided to get in a quick ski down the Swift Creek drainage right behind camp.  The snow was pretty nasty and had a crust on top that kept even the best skiers on their toes.  It was nice to be out and good to warm up on the climb back to camp.

Digging in

The night was spent melting snow for our water the next day, cooking dinner, and then a good group get together to go over the plan for the next day.  In the end due to the weather report not being great for the next day the plan was that there was no plan.  We all headed back to our caves and tucked in for the night hoping to wake up to powder on the ground and no rain falling from the sky.

Cozy in the cave

Sunday morning brought clouds and snow.  The visability was terrible so we did a little navigation practice to deal with whiteout conditions and then called it a trip.  It was sad to not get in the tour I was hoping for but it was the right call given the weather.  We all had an interesting ski back to the car with full
backpacks.  Once you get 30+ pounds of camping equipment moving it does not want to stop.  We did a quick debrief at the parking lot and headed back to Seattle.

The next trip is at the end of the month and I have my fingers crossed for better weather that time around.  All in all sleeping in a snow cave was a complete success!

Wedding Photo Video

I have been meaning to post this for a long time.  This is a video that our photographer put together for us.  This version is pretty lo resolution.  If you would like something higher quality you can download it from here (click me).  Enjoy!

Video Clip from the Other Weekend

The other weekend when we were up on Baker we saw some lines coming off of Goat mountain.  Turns out it was these guys.  What a ride!

Two Days in a row in the mountains!

Saturday  (all pictures here)

Saturday was the first field trip for my back country ski class.  Ross and I were up at 5am (ughhh) and on the road by 5:30 with coffee in hand.  We met up with the whole class up at the Stevens Pass parking lot about 8:00 and after breaking into groups we headed out.  The day started really cloudy and snowy so I did not have high hopes but the group was great and we were on the snow so I was psyched.  Well about 30 minutes out of the parking lot the sky cleared and soon the sun was shining.  It turned into an amazing blue-bird day!


Our group consisted mainly of splitboarders which was pretty cool.  We spent most of the day going over basics and exploring the back country.  It was not anything with amazing runs or huge vertical drops but it was a good tour and gave me a great base knowledge of the area so I would feel comfortable getting back out with with one or two other people and getting some good turns in.

We met some great people and I am really looking forward to the next trip we have scheduled the first weekend of February up at Baker.  I will have my fingers and toes crossed that the weather cooperates.

Sunday

Sunday we met up with the recently expanded couples hiking group of Mike, Katy, Dan, Laura, Natalie, and myself for a little snowshoe exploratory mission.  I have been reading a bit about people skiing and snowshoeing in the commonwealth basin just past Snoqualmie Pass and thought it would be a fun trip for everyone to wander around a bit.  We arrived to a very full parking lot and had a great hike up the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail).  We did not get any real views because it was pretty foggy but it was great getting together with everyone.  We all caught up and got some exercise.  What more could you want?  We ended up hiking about 6 miles which was about perfect.  After the snowshoe we all loaded up and headed for Snoqualmie Brewery to gorge ourselves on beer and pizza.  Always one of the best parts of the trip.  Thanks guys it was a great time!!

Amazing Weekend in Mt Baker Back Country

All the pics here

Well my neighbor Ross and I have been taking an AIARE Level 1 Avalanche Training Course for the last few months and this weekend was the final round of training.  Up until now everything has been in the classroom but this weekend we headed up to Mt Baker to see the terrain first hand.

Saturday we stayed pretty close in to the parking lot and did work searching for beacons of "buried victims" to help us learn how to use our avalanche beacons and feel confident that we could find and dig someone out if we had to.  I hope I never have to use those skills but it sure is nice to have them.  So Saturday was spent digging pits to observe snow layers and playing hid and go seek with buried beacons.  It was pretty chilly since we were not moving too much but a great day to be outside.  

Saturday after spending the day in the field we went back to the cabin and met as a group to plan our travel plan for the next day.  We chose to head up to the artist point area which I have been to before and is the place I tried to take Natalie a few weeks ago.

Working our way up

Sunday we woke up at 6:00am to clear skies and cold temps.  The whole day ended up being blue skies and cold.  Perfect!!  We left the parking lot at 9:00am and returned at 4:00pm.  The day flew buy.  We moved around a bunch, made a lot of observations about the snow conditions and even got in a few amazing powder turns.

The pictures say it all I think.  Beautiful weekend and I can't wait to get out again.  Hopefully the weekend will be nice so a group of us can get out into the snow again.

Some days mother nature just cannot be beaten.

Natalie and I had a great Christmas weekend.  We spent Friday and Saturday laying around watching movies and just being lazy.  It is so nice to not have anything that we need to do.

Sunday we were getting a little stir crazy so we headed up to Mt Baker.  Before we left I knew that a big front was supposed to come in Sunday night and drop a bunch of snow but the weather was clear as we headed up the mountain.  As soon as we pulled into the parking lot the snow started really flying.  We geared up and headed out and the weather just kept getting worse.  As we left the resort gates and headed out of bounds we knew the storm had showed up early and it was going to be a short trip.  

We made it 300 yards outside of the ski area boundary before the wind and snow cranked it up the final notch.  So we tucked our tails between our legs, admitted we had been beaten and headed back to the car.  It was a rough ride back but we made it after not too long.  

Days like that make the sunny ones so nice.  You win some and you lose some.  The beer at Boundary Bay Brewery coming back home was tasty as always though.