The first ski tour of the year is always filled with a bit of anxiety. Like any other adventure, you’re constantly doing a mental checklist of gear on the drive, despite making the effort beforehand (even the night before!) that everything you need is in good working condition and ready to go. I laid all my backcountry gear on the floor, taking note of what I had, and didn’t have.

Let the games begin

Due to relatively little amounts of snow, the destination for our first ski tour was, wherelese, Mt Rainier. With sunny skies predicted and about half a foot of fresh snow, our expectations weren’t all that high but instead hopeful. Arriving at the Paradise parking lot around 9:00 am, we were quite pleased to see most of the ground covered in fresh snow, with the possibility of skinning from the car looking high.

Before I really had time to think about it, our small group began the skin up towards Camp Muir. No matter how many times I ski on or around Rainier (which is a lot) I am always blown away by how beautiful a mountain it is.

Taking very few rest stops, I found myself quickly gasping for air and the legs tired as I attempted to photograph “The Mountain” while keeping up with my buds. Soon I fell into a rhythm though and the Muir snowfield unfolded into a massive powder field. This was going to be good I thought…

My legs kept trying to tell me this was the first ski tour of the year, while my brain was just too enthusiastic about the current conditions (which are rarely that good towards Muir Camp at 10,000 ft) and the fact that despite a very slow start to the ski season here in the NW, we were looking at about 3000 – 4000 ft of very good turns.

And very good turns we did have. So enjoyable they were, we opted for two. Sooner or later though we had to listen to our tired bodies and so the adventure back to car began. A bit of walking here, some survival skiing there and our first day of backcountry was deemed a success.

There are a lot of folks in Washington who tire of hearing Mt Rainier stories, myself (sometimes) included. But on this day, the first turns of the year, it just didn’t matter.

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Well maybe not, but it’s hard not to feel it in the air these days. Mornings are crisp and cool, snow levels are dropping (well sort of…I think the top of Mt Rainier may have had a dusting recently) and a friend of mine in Whitefish just sent some hiking photos from Glacier National Park and there had to have been at least 3 inches of P…O…W…D…E…R!

Yes I love winter, even here in the Pacific northwest. Because for every inch of rain that falls here in Seattle, a foot of snow falls in the Cascades. And since it rains quite frequently here, it also snows…a lot. I’m not a resort skier, I hate lines and lift ticket prices are just about absurd. (Relatively speaking that is…they’re actually on the cheap end here.) So for myself, and the growing masses, looking for endless face shots, unknown adventures with friends and desolate mountains, the backcountry beckons.

So although winter may in fact not arrive for many months, I just posted (and will be posting more) some backcountry skiing pictures from seasons past to get everyone in the mood.

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Pray For Snow!

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It was quite difficult for me to stand by and watch as the gun went off during this past springs Spearhead Passage Backcountry Ski Race at the Whistler Backcountry Freeride Jam. I’m typically not the one to watch such epic events. Fortunately, some last minute networking with the media folks found me arriving atop Whistler Mountain with the racers not for the race but instead as a photographer. My goal for the day: snap some ski photographs. Easy enough right?!?!?

First, the reason I wasn’t racing was because I felt like shit (and rightly so, because I was sick for the next two months!) Secondly, I wasn’t necessarily prepared for the frigid temps found atop Symphony Bowl, Flute and further points east (on the race course.) So I did all I could do to snap some inspiring backcountry ski photographs before my batteries died and my hands froze solid. Well, apparently some of those photos were good enough to  show to the public, because a couple are on display at the home page of the Freeride Jam website HERE (or click on the images below for a short slideshow)

So my advice to all those photographers out there: NEVER be afraid to ask the media if they need a photographer for an event! Don’t expect to get paid initially, but I can (almost) guarantee that if you offer your services in exchange for something that doesn’t necessarily cost them money, you will find your services are very welcome. If they aren’t paying you, ask for a link on their website or at least credit wherever your images get posted.

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What do you do in a town covered in white 6 months of the year? Why ski of course!

Maybe I’ll participate in the next nordic ski race in town (click photograph to enlarge)

Or I’ll just keep on heading into the backcountry around Glacier National Park for some inspiring views into the rocky mountains…

And deep powder turns…

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