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!