March 18th, 2011

Elias, Bridgette, & Ben

Routes:

Rigid Designator WI5, 115ft

Cupcake Corner WI4-5 M5, 75ft

With so much powder piling up above the ice falls in the east Vail chutes it had given me little reason not to keep riding the deep.  Yet after work an opportunity to climb with one of the valley’s best, Elias aka the Spaniard, is hard to turn down.  My ice climbing experience is rather limited but I am still drawn to the challenge of a different kind of climbing.  Putting on crampons and swinging axes feels awkward at first, but soon it becomes an extension of your body.  It opens up the world of rock allowing for different moves up things that might be unclimbable without tools.  Setting the pick of the ice axe into vertical slots only wide enough to slip a quarter into or placing a point of your crampon on a sliver of a seam.  It also takes some mental adjustments climbing with tools.  It is now possible to reach higher while torquing on smaller seams.  Then once you are hanging by a seam it takes your confidence a little while to gain the trust of your tools holding you to a pillar of ice.

Here are some photos from Cupcake Corner…

Elias on Cupcake Corner

Elias topping out on Cupcake

Ben Lysdahl cranking up the mixed climbing

Ben with The Fang in the forground

Bridgette finding a spot for her axe

Weston moving onto the icing of the Cupcake (Photo - Stanley Rose)

Last couple of moves to the top (Photo - Stanley Rose)

The only way to describe  Elias climbing is; a powerful yet delicate elegant dance on ice.  He makes quick work, never second guessing a move, swinging the axe hard but never to hard, and always moving upwards on the 115′ pillar of ice.  In about 10 minutes he was making his final moves, pulling himself over the top of the vertical section of ice falls.  Standing atop this giant icicle looking down, yelling for a lower, he passed the mere 3 ice screws placed on the way up.  For those of you who get a chance to climb with Elias it is a great pleasure, even just a chance to watch will probably get you excited enough to want to try it for yourself.

Photos from the Rigid Designator…

Elias leading the Rigid Designator

Elias high up on the Rigid Designator

Elias flying up

Elias leading

Here are a couple pics from the past month.  With the snow pack settling under warm temps and the avalanche danger dropping we are heading back up to the high peaks this week so check back in for some new trip reports.

Jordan taking a swim in the Water Tank, East Vail (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Dana hitting an open shot near the bottom of Water Tank, East Vail (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Weston playing a little game of beat the sluff, East Vail (Photo - Dana Walenta)

Weston finding it in Benchmark Bowl (Photo - Dana Walenta)

Weston back side 180 indy off the cornice on the North Shoe, Vail Pass (Photo - Dana Walenta)

Weston riding pillows not for sleeping Raquet Club, East Vail (Photo - Dana Walenta)

Dana finding powder weeks after the storm (Photo - Weston Bierma)

February 15th, 2011

Partners: Weston Bierma, Jordan Winters & Sam

Route: Winter road closure via snowmobile to Half Moon Creek Trailhead, ascent and descent on the southwest slopes

Round trip distance: 6.92 miles

Total elevation gain:  4,200 feet

Total time (including the snowmobile) – 9 hours

Mt Massive Elevation Profile

Mt Massive Google Earth View

One of our running jokes is “You might be a ski bum or a mountaineer if you look forward to going to work because you get to sleep in” (I start work at 6:30 everday).  This was just the case.  I awoke at 4am to load up the sled and pick up Jordan for the one hour ride to Leadville.  We drove the truck as far as we could on the winter closure and unloaded the sled under first light.  The sled took us the next 9 miles in between Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive.  The sled ride in was a huge success, only getting stuck once.

Sunrise over Mt. Sherman 14,036' (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Upon cutting the engine at the summer trail head we were deafened by the silence.  Our skins gliding through the deep powder on the valley floor only occasionally disturbing a surprised hare or ptarmigan.  The first 1.5 miles were nearly flat leaving us nearly 4,000′ of climbing in just two miles.

A surprised hare (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Jordan skinning past an ice fall on the beginning of our ascent (Photo - Weston Bierma)

The ascent of over 4,000 feet was like traveling through a series of different environments, deep powder in the forest, mashed potatoes, wind hammered slabs, and scoured summit ridges.

Jordan making his final approach to false summit number one (Photo - Weston Bierma)

With unseasonably warm temps Jordan and I sat on the summit in just our soft shells eating some flat and chilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  The descent off the proper summit was less than thrilling in terms of skiing, but some days it isn’t all about the turns.  The views from Mt. Massive were second to none of the Elks to our west.  Nothing is better than having one of the biggest peaks in the lower 48 all to your self during mid winter.

After picking our way through the top talus filled snow field we found slightly better turns in the lower flanks of the mountain.  Jordan and Sam went ahead as I peeled off into a safe zone that I had specifically picked out to nab a couple of descent photos.  Lucky for me the sun was already casting a late afternoon shadow and yielded some very nice shots.

The view from the summit of Mt. Massive, looking west towards Aspen (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Jordan Winters in the upper right making his Massive descent (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Sam laying down a big heel side turn in the lower right (Photo - Weston Bierma)

All of us celebrated our descent when we hit the valley floor, but we knew that our day wasn’t quite over.  We had to skin the 1.5 miles back to the sled, then we had to rally another 9 miles out to the waiting truck.  Jordan was a champ as I towed him behind the sled all the way out with out a stop.  We blasted through drifted snow and zipped across the flats back to the truck.  We all sat on the back tailgate enjoying a celebratory cold one looking up at the sun setting behind Mt. Massive.  It was hard to imagine that a mere 3 hours earlier we had been sitting atop the summit, that’s way I always say “I only go up so I can go down”.

Crew: Jordan Winters, Weston Bierma, & our newest member 2005 Arctic Cat M7

Location: Vail Pass North Shore Zone

It had been 11 days since our last major storm cycle and many of our favorite spots had been either tracked out or riddled by the sunny 48 degree day earlier in the week.  It was time to take our new toy out and explore some areas that I had been examining on the map for the past couple of years.  We drove the sled in about 5 miles and parked it near what our expected exit would be.

Jordan Winters knowing that we had found the goods (Photo - Weston Bierma)

We began skinning up through the trees under light snowfall and flashes of sun through the parting clouds.  Our ascent began on the South facing aspect slowly wrapping around east towards the top.  The snow began softening and gaining depth as the compass rose drew closer to North.  Fittingly we topped out at an area called Top of the World.  The view is usually just that but with a small storm moving in the clouds hid the peaks.   Down below the flat light disappeared amongst the widely spaced trees.  Our grins grew as we peered in over the cornice and saw untracked North facing powder.  The snow pack below treeline had been  stabilizing over the past week so we felt very comfortable dropping into some steep and deep.

Jordan Winters dropping off the cornice and into the North facing goods (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Weston taking his turn (Photo - Jordan Winters)

Jodan Winters making another lap (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Weston dropping in for a second lap (Photo - Jordan Winters)

Steep and deep it was indeed.  Considering the fact that we had not had any new snow in the past 11 days to ride knee to thigh deep powder was exactly what we had hoped for.  Now that we have a sled we should be able to consistently find the goods even two weeks after a storm cycle.  We made great turns down the steep glades.  At the bottom we put our skins back on and headed back up towards the sled.  With big grins and a successful day this is a zone we will definitely be returning to.

Jordan getting the deep and about to hit the steep (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Crew: Weston Bierma, Dana Walenta, Jordan Winters, and Graham Predeger

Location: East Vail Chutes

Our first of several low pressure disturbances on the northern track settled into the Vail valley leaving the resort with 15 inches of new snow and even more in the East Vail snow anomaly.  Over the previous 24 hours we experienced high winds gusting to 80 mph, heavy snow, and our typical complex continental snow pack left us with the avalanche danger on high and flirting with extreme on certain aspects.  Despite all the obvious clues and the upgraded avy danger we witnessed what has become all too common, people skiing alone and others dropping right down the gut.

After getting line drop – first shots on Campbell’s, Genghis Khan and a pair on Red Square it was time to skip the one hour lift lines and head for the East Vail Chutes.  Lap one was conservative skirting the trees and hitting a cliff zone that we frequently ski when the avy danger is high.  Towards the bottom we did witness some areas of instability.  The snow pack was becoming reactive as all the new snow began to settle, our conservative decision making was confirmed.  At the bus stop we ran into G-Man along with a couple of others who had noted seeing similar areas of instability on steeper aspects.  We talked the whole way about the snow pack on our bus ride back into town for our to a second lap.

Lap 2 was very similar to lap in 1 in terms of route selection, trees on lower angle terrain.  Just as we rounded the corner to our entry point we witnessed two guys skiing away slowly from a fresh slide in an area called Marvins.  We would soon find out that one of the two skiers had triggered a slide about 30 feet below the starting convex roll entrance.  The slide then propagated as it went over the first cliff band washing out hundreds of feet below on the flat shelf.  The crown varied in depth stepping down to about 2-3 feet deep.  The skier was very lucky taking only a short ride and losing one of his skis.  I snapped a quick photo as I crossed the fresh debris, perplexed as to why someone would drop the gut on Marvins on a day like this.

Fresh slide on Marvins that gave a skier a ride that luckily only cost him one ski (Photo - Weston Bierma)

We rode the remaining way following our normal safety protocol.  As we all met at our final safe zone around 9,750′ we see the two guys who had triggered the slide in Marvins frantically yelling “Avalanche, Avalanche…. There was just an Avalanche and the two people above us are gone!!!”

They yelled up briefing us on what had just happened.  Two people dropped in above them (not in there group), triggered a slide, and yelled avalanche down to the two guys below.  The guys below peeled off into the trees, when they re-entered the slope the two people who had yelled were gone.  This is where we came in.  We had every reason to believe that two people were buried in the debris below.  All four of us quickly switched our beacons over to search and advised the other three who had just joined us to switch over as well.  Four people were left outside of the slide path in an island of safety in case of any hang fire.  Dana and I began booting up the debris to cover the upper half while Graham and Jordan went in at the middle and worked down (we started our search from the middle of the debris, not by choice it just happened to be where we were).  Within 5 minutes we were 90% certain that no one with a beacon was buried, by 10 minutes we were 99% sure spending an additional 15-20 minutes looking for clues in front of trees and rocks.

Dana and Jordan doing some final checks before heading out (Photo - Weston Bierma)

The slide began below the cliff band and ran down through the aspens and into the foreground of the photo

Side Drama – While we covered the deposition the other two skiers who had initially alerted us had joined the other party of three in the safety area.  One of the three guys in the second party on scene could not figure out how to switch over to search.  What ensued was an eruption of the other two in his party.

“I thought you knew what you were doing!!”

“I am never skiing with you ever again.”

“Un…real”

“I am out of here and you are not coming with”

Plus go ahead an add in some expletives, say every other word or so.

We couldn’t believe it, but I could not imagine being in the other group.  Mean while a “Hans Solo” wearing nothing but an Avalung pulled up to the island of safety.  He asked what was up, one of the others filled him in.  Without hesitation he skied on past, right across the zone we were searching and disappeared into the aspens below, how fitting.  As for our search, we were certain that if anyone was in there they did not have a beacon on.  We soon found out that the pair that yelled avalanche kept on going down to the bus stop.  The bus with them had already left before we got to them but another guy filled us in on the pair.

Weston and "The Sheriff" of East Vail (Photo - Dana Walenta Circa 09')

I am not sure what has been going on lately.  Is it the Go Pro cameras, the tall T’s, or the Skittles aka Lollipop Kids that are setting the new standard for backcountry skiing?  I have never seen so many people riding so careless.  On this particular day we got to witness several “laws” broken that “the Sheriff” at the top of the Poma is there to prevent.  Today I witnessed the following…

1. Dropping the gut on Marvin’s on 20″ of new under high avy danger.

2. Ski lost in slide.

3.  Someone wearing headphones.

4. Someone who did not know how to switch their beacon over to search.

5. A “Hans Solo”, please note that this name does not imply any relation to how incredibly cool Harrison Ford actually is.  (Hans Solo or Bogey are names that we use for solo ski/riders spotted in the backcountry)

6. Groups skiing or riding all at once in avalanche terrain.

7. Hans Solo wearing nothing but a Black Diamond Avalung… now what?

This is just the list from today.  I have seen people carrying shovels that are actually for digging a pit to shit in when backpacking… guess what,  you are shit out of luck if you need to dig a 5 foot hole through concrete in less time it takes to take a shit.  I have pointed people back in the direction of the resort when they ask for directions on how to get down to East Vail.  I have waited 30 minutes to drop in so the group that tailed us out the backcountry gate, either went their own way or turned around.  I have had someone tell me on the lift that they have a Recco chip in their jacket so they can ride backcountry, I replied “yeah it’s a great popsicle recovery system”. (Recco is a reflective chip put in many high end garments, with the proper equipment and a helicopter it can be easily seen as a reflection from above, don’t hold your breath for the chopper).  It’s not that hard to take a 3 day class at Colorado Mountain College, or go to the local gear shop and buy some equipment, at least pick up a book at the local library – it is free after all.

What I also witnessed was an excellent search executed by our group.  It made me feel really good about my backcountry partners, thanks guys.

Am I going to continue riding in East Vail? Absolutely it’s my backyard… it just may not be as often.  What am I going to do about it?  Simple, buy a sled and head for the hills.  More to follow.

East Vail Chutes

With little new snow this year during my brothers visit we had to head to the backcountry to find some untouched powder.  Dana and I headed out with safety as our number one priority.  With a conservative route planned Dana dropped in and set the track to our first safe zone.  What followed was big smiles and laughter one after another until I brought up the rear on the sweep.  Everyone was finding their powder legs and getting some deep turns.  Our second stop was a concealed cliff band, well protected by trees with a mellow run in.  Everyone got a chance to test themselves… some making bigger bomb holes than others.

Jordan locking onto a tail grab (Photo - Collin Schwantes)

Weston getting second shot after Jordan (Photo - Collin Schwantes)

Eric in the white room (Photo - Collin Schwantes)

Eric airing it out (Photo - Weston Bierma)

We hiked out of undisclosed zone 1 and headed for another area of the East Vail Chutes, this time it would take us back to our house in East Vail.  We stopped part way and enjoyed a snack in the warm Colorado sunshine despite the thermometer barely eclipsing zero on the day.  We laughed and talked as we peeled the icicles off of our eye brows from the Colorado champagne powder on our first run.

Ryan trying to hide the smirk from all of that Colorado Champagne Powder (Photo - Weston Bierma)

A little bit of bush whacking traverse through some tight trees led us to our final pitch of the day where everyone got first tracks and a great view of the Gore Range.  Another great day with the boys, Dana and I could not have done it without the incredible breakfast you guys made!  Hopefully everyone got a photo to stick on the fridge of another sweet trip, looks like we now have a tradition since you guys are the only crew who have visited every winter since we moved.  You guys are always welcome to come visit anytime, see you at the lake this summer for some extreme tubing and flying hulls on the sail boat – Dana & Weston

Eric going deep (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Dana showing how it's done (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Collin is either really short or it's really deep (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Jordan putting using his signature praying mantis move on the cliffs (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Ryan unsure if he is floating in the snow or floating in the air (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Dana waist deep in the aspens (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Vail Pass

Riders: Weston Bierma, Jordan Bierma, Ryan Dauss, Collin Schwantes & Eric Schleicher

Every year when my brother comes and visits with some of our other childhood friends we have a little fun in what we call the Sledding Hill Sessions.  All of us grew up only a couple blocks away from each other and spent many evenings after school learning to snowboard on the “sledding hill” on the corner of Bridge Street and Mequon Ave. in Cedarburg Wisconsin.  Since non of us have really grown up we continue to do the same thing we used to do; pack some snow into a jump, kick in some steps to the top then strap in enjoy a moment of weightlessness.  With temperatures barely cresting zero degrees the shoveling and kicking steps was a welcome bit of warmth.  Here is what followed…

First jump of the day. Rider: Weston Bierma Photo: Ryan Dauss

Throwing down some O-Matic style Rider: Jordan Bierma Photo: Weston Bierma

Rider: Weston Bierma Photo: Collin Schwantes

Stylin the frontside 3 Rider: Ryan Dauss Photo: Weston Bierma

The man behind the video, video coming shortly

Backside rodeo 5 attempt Rider: Weston Bierma Photo: Jordan Bierma

The Cedarburg crew after another successfull Sledding Hill Session

28th December 2010

Quandry Peak 14,265′

Ascent route: Standard East Ridge

Descent route: Upper and Lower East Ridge Bowls

Round trip distance: 6.98 miles

Starting elevation: 10,860′

Total elevation gain: 3,405′

Partners: Solo

Total time of trip: 4 hours 2 minutes

Quandry elevation profile

Quandry google earth via East Ridge

Trip Report:

With back country partners busy this week with the holidays, family, sickness, work, and everything else that goes along with Christmas week in Colorado I had to pick something quick and conservative, this way I could pick our guests up from the transportation center by lunch.  The main objective of most locals is to shift the decimal during Christmas week.  Today I managed move it three places.  With Vail having around 15,000+ visitors per day during Christmas I managed to keep my total number of people seen to 11, and not one of them ran into me while making my descent.

Quandry Peak 14,265' as seen from the East Ridge route

Quandry is an one of the easiest 14ers in the state to ski.  It starts with parking the truck, putting on the skins, stop for water, then 3,405′ later you are standing on the summit.  It was a balmy 1 degree Fahrenheit when driving over Vail pass, thankfully the temperature doubled by the time I parked the truck.  The quick strides on the mellow lower glades got the blood flowing and I quickly warmed up.  The hike was very enjoyable until breaking above treeline and was blasted by 20-30 mph gusts of wind.  By the time I stopped for my next water break the remaining half of the Nalgene on the outside of my pack had frozen.  The blue bird sky and warm sun made the weather a bit more balmy and enjoyable.  I skinned right up to the summit where I tucked in behind a couple rocks for a snack before putting my board back on for the descent.

Looking to the South at Northstar Mountain before being blasted on the barren ridge

Wind hammered East ridge with the summit of Quandry in the background

I descended the far right side of the upper bowl where conditions varied from blower to soft-slab to concrete hard-slab.  The upper bowl is filled in nicely for this time of year considering 3 years ago I  was unable to descend the summit due to lack of snow.  The lower bowl rode excellent with shin deep blower powder. The best turns were had in the lower glades before returning to the truck.  The coverage seems excellent for summit county for this time of year, I look forward to knocking off a couple more peaks in the nearby Mosquito Range in the coming weeks.

The view from the summit

Self-portrait on Quandry

October, November and December 2010

We wasted little time getting back in the saddle after returning from our year of traveling.  For those who would like to know more about our recent trip around the world please visit our travel blog…

Around the World With Weston and Dana

In the past three months we have gone from “placing pro” on Independence Pass to sweating in the saddle on the Monarch Crest trail to snorkel deep snowstorms.  Here are a couple pictures from our last couple of months back in Colorado.  After this we will be doing more dedicated trip report posts from our adventures.  Enjoy and get ready for 2011 it is going to be the biggest and best year to date!

kNee Deep November

Colorado winter has started off with a bang, or should I say more of a silent snow fall, landing gently in our big backyard.  As of the end of December we have already eclipsed the 200 inch mark at the house in East Vail.  Our back yard, 12 million acres of the white pine national forest, are now filled in and ripe for some early season turns.  Here is a little taste of what we have been doing, the big stuff is about ready for riding and we should have some exciting posts to follow in the very near future.  Enjoy and remember it’s never to late to live the dream!

Dana popping the pillow on Upper Tele Line East Vail, CO (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Jordan Winters going deep into the Water Tank East Vail, CO (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Jordan Winters keeping it flowing down the Water Tank East Vail, CO (Photo - Weston Bierma)

Dana picking up where she left off before we left again in the Water Tank (Photo - Weston Bierma)

A day with the legendary local “G-Man”

Paul “G-man” Genelin is a local legend and ex-pro skier that has the most infectious laugh and an unrivaled passion for skiing.  I recently got to spend a day with him which turned out to become one of my most memorable days of back country skiing.  We headed up the mountain on the last day of November with our minds set on skiing Sun Down Bowl which hadn’t opened yet because of a new chairlift that was being installed.  A quick stop by ski patrol headquarters to make sure that they weren’t going to be doing any explosives control work in the area and we were on our way to pure bliss.  We made three incredible laps on Ricky’s and Windows with the entire back bowl all to ourselves.  Thigh deep untouched powder whisping around us with only Paul’s laughter of approval breaking the pure silence on the crisp bluebird afternoon.  Thanks for an incredible tour G-man, one for the ages.  Also I know you can make turns in your sleep but next time you worry about the skiing and I will worry about the photo!

G-Man getting first tracks of the year on Ricky's. Mt. of the Holy Cross 14,005' dominates the background behind G-Mans smile (Photo - Weston Bierma)

G-Man finding the powder through the Windows (Photo - Weston Bierma)