Category: Skiing

Backcountry Skiing 101: Video Series

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In this Backcountry Skiing 101 Series, I’m going to breakdown all the little pieces that go into a day backcountry skiing or snowboarding. We’ll touch on going uphill, transitioning to the downhill, working with your avalanche equipment, rescue scenarios, and fun backcountry powder skiing. This series is not intended to replace official AIARE or Avalanche Safety Courses offered by professionals. This is merely a series for those who are sticking to resort touring, or might have some questions about ski touring and need some help. Please reach out if you have any questions, comments, or helpful tips that you’d like …

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Ski Touring at Night |Park City Mountain

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As you climb up the ski run, that you’ve skied downhill so many times, you begin to enter the flow state. The lights from the base area begin to disappear, and the darkness around the beam of your headlamp becomes the new normal. Without the constant alertness required when traveling in avalanche terrain, you can allow your brain to wonder. The climb begins to hit a rhythm as you find a good pace to slide over the icy surface. One foot, sliding in front of the other, and repeat. It becomes, sort of like a meditation. Only when a fellow …

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Lessons Learned from Skiing Teton Pass… like a Jerry

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No matter who you are, or where you ski, when it comes to skiing of Teton Pass, prepare yourself and have an open mind. I start by saying this not because of how technical or difficult the skiing is off the Pass, because it isn’t. I say this because I don’t want you to make the same mistakes that my friends and I made on a weekend in February last year. And we made fools of ourselves. Teton Pass is the main thru-way from Jackson, Wyoming to Victor, Idaho that crosses over the southern portion of the Teton Range. Being …

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Backcountry Skiing LCC to BCC via Days Fork

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When your friends tell you it’s gonna be a big day, and those same friends are in way better shape than you, it should’ve been my first clue. Nonetheless, we set up from Flagstaff Gully with a bunch of skiing ahead of us. The plan was to ski from Little Cottonwood Canyon, down to Big Cottonwood Canyon, where we had parked a shuttle truck earlier that morning. That in itself isn’t a big deal, but knocking out a few laps on the way was going to be where all the very really is. After climbing the sun rusted southern aspect …

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Backcountry Skiing Thunder Mountain (Lake Peak) | Trip Report

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The goal was to ski a little known chute known as Lake Chute. Tucked away below the summit of Thunder Mountain, in the Cirque that contains both White Baldy and Red Baldy, is a wide chute. So steep at some points, you wish you brought your ice axe. But of course, not everything works out according to plan. A group of 5 of us, Pete, Kyle, Mike, Brett, and myself, all met up at the White Pine Trailhead to go over our plan for the day. Once the route and backup ski plans were set, we performed our safety checks, …

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Photo Gallery | Skiing Jackson Hole

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I’ll be the first to tell you how lucky I am to have Jackson Hole located within a 4.5hr drive from me. That isn’t much further than Stowe was from where I lived in Hartford, CT. Needless to say, when my two buddies, Kyle and Pete, said they were headed up there for the weekend to ski, I jumped on the opportunity. The original plan was to ski a big line in Grand Teton National Park, but Jackson was getting dumped on the preceding couple days. With avalanche danger too high, we resorted to coughing up some $$$ and bought day passes to ski Jackson Hole (pun intended). Not a bad backup plan.

After working our way through the endless lift lines, we finally reached the Thunder Chair where we spent nearly the entire day. Lap after lap, we skied the woods under the Thunder Chair and Tower Three Chute. And the snow dumping and wind whipping, we were finding deep snow all day long! Here’s some of the photos from the shoot.

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Preparing for Ski Season

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When the first morning frost hit your town, you know that ski season is right around the corner. It’s been a long summer since most of us skied last, and the first chance to ski can’t come soon enough. For those who live in the mountain west, there really hasn’t been an off season. Some of us skied the remnants of snow into August and September. But that doesn’t mean we’re all not stoked for new snow and new adventures. Whether you’re an inbounds, groomer ripper, or a backcountry powder hound, ski season is coming and it’s time to prepare. …

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Photos of the Week | Skiing Devil’s Castle… in JULY!

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7:00 AM

Depart from Park City and head down Parley’s to the valley so that we can pick up Kyle. We loaded up the truck and passed by BCC and pointed south towards Little Cottonwood Canyon.

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Photo of the Week | Skiing Main Chute

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Every Friday I will be posting a Photo of the Week. Here I’ll be sharing the details on how I got the shot, where I was, and the backstory that went into it. I hope you find this enjoyable, and helpful in your own photography.

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Why I Climb

Zachary Kenney0 Comments

It’s a question I’ve been hearing come up up a lot more often lately. Maybe it’s because I’m just listening to more people talk about climbing mountains, but still, it’s something I am always thinking about. I’ve decided to dive deep in my brain to figure out why. To figure out, why I climb. I guess the easy answer is that climbing is fun. At the same time, it’s not fun at all. Let me explain. For the purpose of this self-reflection, I’ll be interchangeably talking about rock climbing, hiking/trail running, ski touring, and lastly, mountain biking. Doing any of …

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