Sugarbush - December 29, 2012

Well - Damn if we haven't gotten some early season snow this year.  After spending most of the past few weekends moving and otherwise getting bogged down with being a first time property owner, I was thrilled to get out on the slopes this past Saturday and find some great coverage - and some outright pow to slap.  After some discussion on Thursday night, Osgood, Darren and I decided to just head to Sugarbush for a day trip for the first time out this year instead of heading into the back-country.  Assuming we don't have any rain this week, we'll try to break out the skins next weekend.

Alarm went off at 4:35 a.m., in the car at 5 a.m., met Osgood and Darren at the Kohls just south of Concord, and then headed up 89.  We made great time, pulled into the parking lot at about 8:15 a.m. and were on the slopes before 8:45. 

Some funky lighting and fog out of the gate, and then it started to snow, picking up about 6 inches on the day after 4 feet in the previous week.  Pretty much everything we skied had nice coverage, and one of the nice parts about Sugarbush is there is some nice side country to explore where there is almost always some untracked powder, especially after the nice storms we enjoyed this week.  Great day on the whole, other than (1) when someone appeared to be impressed by my bump skiing before immediately showing me up (anyone know if Jeremy Bloom was in VT this past weekend?); and (2) when Darren referred to me as "Katie."  That was weird.  Oh, and the 7 hour drive back to Boston after the VT highway division forgot to send out the plows wasn't very cool either.

Anyway, enjoy a few pics.  I am in possession of a go pro, but no SD card yet, so video will have to wait for another week or two.

Funky a.m. lighting and fog.

The Fells - November 10, 2012

Just a small post, but had a nice ride on a beautiful day around the Reservoir Loop at the Fells this afternoon.  For those unfamiliar, the Fells has been the source of a great deal of controversy regarding mountain biking for the better part of the past two decades.  Check out fellsbiker.com for a pretty thorough overview of where things stand.

Fortunately for me, they opened up a great 6 mile single track loop right before I moved down to Charlestown.  It takes me less than 15 minutes from the time I start my car until the time I am riding, so I quickly adopted the loop as my "quick and easy" ride for Saturdays or Sundays when I don't have time to get up to Fort Rock, Lynn Woods, or anywhere else that has a bit more terrain.

Anyway, I actually sold my Contour last night, so no video footage (probably a good thing considering my frustration level with the small FOV at this point), but I figured I'd post a few pictures since I've ridden the loop (or variations thereof) at least 10 times this summer, and I didn't want the season to go by without acknowledging how happy I was to discover this great ride so close to the city.  Definitely made moving back to Boston much easier on my psyche.

Should have the Go Pro soon - can't wait to capture some far superior skiing footage this year.

Enjoy the pics!

This section doesn't look like much, but its a fairly tricky ascent that gets me almost every time.

Kingdom Trails, VT - October 2012

Headed up to VT for our second annual Kingdom Trails trip with Scott, Chad, Josh and Zack in mid-October.  A little past peak fall season, and a nice overnight frost, but once again the trip was a blast.  Crashed in the Burke Bike Barn for the second straight year as well, can't speak highly enough about the place.  Plenty of space, a fully functioning heater (which was key this weekend), and a new "game" room - but we didn't take advantage because, well, it was under 30 degrees out at night.

Saturday was beautiful though, blue skies and cool air.  Scott and I hit up the cross country network, and Chad, Josh and Zack headed over to the downhill on Burke mountain.  Turned out to be our only day of biking due to pretty heavy rain on Sunday, but it was a great one.  Scott and I logged more than 16 miles.  Troll Stroll stood out in particular as a great ride, I don't believe we went down that trail last year.   Scott and I also came across a man who took a really hard fall on Tap and Die.  We were able to contact emergency services and get him out OK on a backboard, but definitely an opportunity to pause and make sure to keep things under control the rest of the day.  Hope he is doing alright.

Anyway, please enjoy the video.  I kept it short because, frankly, the footage is borderline unwatchable.  So much bouncing.  I guess strapping the Contour to my bike helmet with an old ski goggle strap was not a good strategy.   But the still shots I mixed in should give a feel for what the bike barn was like and the beauty of the surrounding farm lands, so it wasn't all for not.

Ski season is getting closer.  And by then I vow to have a Go Pro, so hopefully this site takes another step in the right direction from a quality perspective.

Mt. Moosilauke - September, 2012

Ryan, Scott, Gene and I decided to hike Mt. Moosilauke on a splendid rainy day in September.  Some people plan their fall hikes for blue bird days when the leaves are at their peak color, but we opted for a grey, rainy, cold day.  Funny how it always ends up being a great time though.  And as an added bonus, we were able to check out the Moosilauke snow fields and two possible ski descents for this winter.  My guess is that you would have to time a ski trip there perfectly to get powder on the snow fields - seems likely to be wind swept pretty quickly - but one of the descents looked like it would be fun on a day when steeper terrain is off-limits due to avalanche risks.

Enjoy a few pictures.  Video footage of Kingdom Trails to come soon.

(At the summit, one of the ten highest peaks in NH)

Hiking in Switzerland

This is probably the last of my long overdue Swiss blog posts.  For the most part, other than my trip to Austria for some late season skiing, I alternated hiking in the alps with taking naps by Lake Luzern for a month.  Wish it could have lasted forever.  I suppose blogging about it will have to suffice for now.

Anyway, I took some pictures and video during the many hikes.  Here are some highlights.  Consider this entry a photo journal of sorts with a few panorama shots at the end.

Enjoy!

Stroll along Lake Luzern on day one.  Got a good look at Mt. Pilatus, which would ultimately get the better of me.  But more on that later.

View of Mt. Pilatus and Luzern in the background, Lake Luzern in the foreground.  Taken from a clearing on the way to the summit of Mt. Riggi. 

Tuckerman Ravine - April 2012

The chronology of these last few posts is a bit off, but here is footage from a trip to Tuckerman Ravine that I took with the Osgood twins in late April, just before I headed off to Europe.  This was very late in the season (Sherbourne Trail was only open 1/3 of the way down), but it was a beautiful day and there was plenty of coverage in the bowl despite the year-long snow shortage in the northeast, so the lack of people on the mountain was shocking.

The day featured a warm up on Left Gully, straight into a trip down Chute (my first time).  Definitely give Chute the steepness edge over any of the other lines I have taken (Lip, Left & Right Gully).  We'll see about the headwall next winter. 

After those first two runs, I ate a huge tuna sandwhich.  Big mistake.  Ended up calling it a day, exhaustion and a full stomach made it to tempting to just take a nap in the sun.  The elder Osgood did one more run down Hillman after trying to recover a lost set of skis on Chute - impressive energy!

Anyway, I already posted the still shots from the trip back in April (http://eightyninenorth.blogspot.com/2012/04/tuckerman-still-shots.html), so I'll just leave you with the video.  Again - bright sun = washed out footage.  The lack of a fish eye was also especially frustrating - really no way to appreciate how steep the terrain is.  Cannot wait to get a Go Pro for this season.

Enjoy!

Ischgl, Austria - April, 2012

Traveled to Ischgl, Austria, for the bluest of blue bird days during the first week of my month long trip to Europe this past April and May.  I was delighted to discover that Austria pulled down nearly two feet of snow 48 hours before my planned trip.  Although I figured much of it would be skied off by the time I got there, I held out faint hope that it was late enough in the season I could still find some great, untouched lines.

(example of a great untouched line)

The plan was actually to go to St. Anton am Arlberg, the cradle of modern skiing.  I found an unbelievable lodging deal in the center of the famous ski town, and set off on the 3 hour train ride from Luzern.  When I arrived in St. Anton on a Tuesday evening, however, I was shocked to find the town abandoned.  I went to check into my hotel, and I was told the ski area had closed for the season two days earlier, even though they had a massive base and just pulled in nearly 2 feet of snow!  I guess everyone is spoiled by skiing in the Alps, so no one comes after mid April even though there is still great skiing. 

Anyway, I managed to figure out that I could take two 45 minute bus rides to Ischgl, which was still open.  So I set the alarm for 5:30 a.m. and crossed my fingers I would figure out the bus system without issue. 

(me waiting for a connecting bus next to a gas station in Austria - aprox. 6:45 a.m.)

Amazingly, it worked out perfectly, and I had a bright, bright blue bird day (so bright the videos are pretty washed out, but that is a recurring theme with the Contour) and unlimited untracked powder.  The only downsides were that I was skiing on my own, and all my advance back/side country research was for St. Anton, so I was mostly confined to in-bounds skiing.  Didn't matter though - was still an awesome day.

Enjoy the video!  Two more to come this week, but this is probably the best of the bunch.

Mt. Cardigan, Mt. Washington Avalanche Course

Long time no post!  Busy spring and summer changing jobs, moving, etc.  But I'm starting to pull everything together.  And that includes sorting through old videos and getting a few more posts up from the past six months as the weather starts to get a bit cooler and we all start looking forward to snow!

I am also looking to sell my Contour and buy a Go Pro before Christmas.  Lesson from last winter is that the Contour just doesn't have a wide enough FOV for skiing. This is especially clear to me now that I am looking at all of this footage for the first time in a while.  Some of it is quite disappointing, to be honest.  But that doesn't mean you shouldn't watch!

OK.  Enough rambling.  Here is a combo video with shots from the trip Scott and I took to Mt. Cardigan in late February, 2012.  Awesome snow fields.  Crappy snow on the day we went though.  I'm also including some footage from a March trip to Tuckerman for an Avalanche course with Osgood, Chad Greenlaw and Josh Lent.  I won't make a practice of filming snow pits, but thought it'd be worth taking a bit of footage during the class.  No soundtrack to this one.  Boring, I know.

More to come.  Enjoy!

Tuckerman Still Shots.

With the season just about over, I thought I would throw a quick post together with some still shots from last weekend's trip to Tuckerman.  In the coming weeks I'll get some video up, and also some more stills from a few other back country trips Scott and I took over the past month, including photos from the Mt. Cardigan/Firescrew Snow Fields and an Avalanche Course on Mt. Washington (mostly around Hillman's highway and the Dutchess).

Enjoy!

Bottom of Left Gully and Chute - where we spent most of our time.

Scott at the top of Left Gully (our first run), with Wildcat in the background.

Mad River Glen - Feb. 2012

Back log on these videos is getting smaller - here is a clip from our trip to Mad River Glen the last weekend in February following a 20+ inch storm.  Easily the biggest system to hit New England this year, and as usual, when there is enough snow on the ground, MRG delivers in spades.

Enjoy the flick. 

Engelberg, Switzerland - February 13th and 15th, 2012

Headed over to Luzern, Switzerland for ten days in mid-February.  In between trips to Sweden, Germany, a pitch black restaurant in Zurich called the Blind Cow, and the epic Fasnacht festival that doubled as the best 30th birthday party ever, I managed to make it over to Engelberg twice.

The first day was great - but it hadn't snowed for a couple of weeks and the off piste terrain generally felt like skiing on a chalkboard.  On the second day, however, the 2-4 inches in the forecast magically turned into 2-4 feet, resulting in the deepest day I've ever had. 

I took an absurd amount of video, and had a hard time cutting footage out, even though most of it didn't come out very well.  Visibility wasn't great on either day, but during the snow storm on the second day, it was just about impossible to differentiate between the pow I was slapping on the ground and the pow that was falling from the sky and slapping me in the face.  The lack of a fish eye on the Contour didn't help, either, because it prevents the viewer from being able to at least see my ski tips. 

But enough talk.  Enjoy the video, which features a 9 minute techno song and guest stars Scot and Dean Osgood.  Additoinal footage staring Kelly O'Hearn and Nikki Roux is available upon special request. 

Switzerland, I miss you already.

Sugarloaf, Maine - 28 & 29 January 2012

Checking in again with some video footage from the 28th and 29th of January up at Sugarloaf, ME.  A chronic lack of snow continues to plague New England, but Sugarloaf allegedly pulled down 8-10 inches on the 27th, so we made the 3.5 hour drive after work.  The snow reports were more or less accurate, but unfortunately, some freezing rain followed the snow, effectively ruining anything off piste.  We made an effort to explore a few areas, but generally were met with some pretty heavy junk to push through.

The weather was great though - blue bird skies - and Darren's slopeside condo was pretty spectacular.  A couple of issues continue to plague my videos, however.  For example, when I jump off something, it looks like I am jumping about 6 inches.  I swear to God, there is one clip in this video where I make a 3+ foot drop followed immediately by a 6+ foot drop look pretty good, but you would never know it from watching.

Anyway - at the end of the day, we all have needs.  For the guys on this trip, we felt the need to ski, so we headed up and we had a pretty damn good time despite the iffy conditions.

Enjoy the flick (especially the last scene, which stars the one and only Gene Connolly)

Gulf of Slides, Mt. Washington, NH - 22 Jan. 2012

Headed up to the Gulf of Slides on Mt. Washington this past Sunday with Scott Osgood for our first backcountry trip on skins.  We had great weather - windless blue bird skies and weather around 20 degrees Farenheight at the base of the Gulf. 

(looking up at one of the main slides in the Gulf)

The only downside was that we were less than 48 hours removed from high winds and an eight inch snow fall.  So although the sun and warmth surely helped stabalize the snow pack a bit, there was definitely a risk for some wind loaded slabs.  Tuckerman Ravine has a similar aspect to the Gulf, and the avalanche forecast for the ravine varied between Moderate and Considerable.

Cannon Mountain - 14 January 2012

A weekend of changing plans - at various points I was planning on heading to Sugarloaf and out into the Backcountry, but ended up taking a day trip to Cannon Mountain on 14 January instead.  Cannon pulled in about 9 inches on the 12th and 13th, and it was in decent shape, but not really enough snow to play very much in the woods.  Also - as you can tell from the second to last scene in the video - the mountain seemed to enjoy pointing its snow guns at the chair lifts. 

Most of the actual "skiing" footage comes from the Global Warming glade (my favorite part is where I plow right into a tree) and the Taft trail, which Cannon allowed to bump up for really the first time in my memory.  The groomers were pretty icy, and some of the other trees we ducked into were pretty rocky (I almost made it two full days this season before I tried to ski something with my new planks that clearly did not have enough snow.  Typical.)  None of this takes away from my love of Cannon though - its still the best NH has to offer by far.  Just needs a bit more snow.

One other highlight from the weekend - I was able to break out my skins for the first time ... in my front yard.  Pretty cool sensation to be climing up hill on skis and not sliding backwards at all.  Can't wait to try it for real.  Was 'thisclose' to heading up to the Sherbourne trail today on my own to try them out, but Wildcat and Blackmountain only have a 16-20 inch base, and didn't want to drive four hours by myself only to have to side step down the trail because of rocks.  So I decided to run errands and do work instead.  Carpe Diem, right?

Anyway, enjoy the flick - short and sweet this time.  Played with the stabilizer this time - so I think the bouncing is significantly reduced, but I am still having some conversion issues - the resolution on the final product isn't nearlly as good as the raw HD footage.  I'll figure it out eventually.

Here is the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oRGw8vfDg4&feature=youtu.be

Jay Peak/New Years in Montreal

Headed up to northern Vermont and Montreal for the final days of 2011 and the first days of 2012 in an effort to find snow and a bar without a cover charge for New Years Eve.  We had marginal success on the first count, and although we technically failed on the second count,  it has to rank amongs the best New Years Eves I've ever celebrated anyway.

Great trip all around, and decent snow for the first time out this year.  Mother nature needs to get her act together soon though if we are really going to get Kyle to move back to the East Coast.

Enjoy!

PS: Here is the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq4j49QWrfA&context=C3ce495eADOEgsToPDskI92Pt8HULvwWXO2hoDW4cd