This zone was super fun… kinda like a natural terrain park… Everything from sw 1′s and 1′s, sev’s, sw 3′s, and a massive front flip (i’ll let you guess who did that). Not a single shovel came out to build anything. The best way to go…
Chocolate bow… I’m coming back.
T rains scopes some mini golf. To lookers right in this photo out of frame a massive cornice with perfect roller gap landing bellow it resided… This is where I had one of the best jump sessions of my life.
Kyle Decker, aka “sledecker” put her nose first into this tree. Getting too deadly on the sled can have it’s up’s and downs. I don’t think I ever once saw Kyle on his snowmobile without a smile on his face. Kyle made a point to get some “neckin” in on his last day in the alpine, this was the result, as well as many high marks, shit hooks, and mandatory wind lip airs… you bet Kyle!
Many of you may have already seen this but fellow 4frnt team member has put together one of the best POV montages yet…
K Malone, C Lo and 4frnt team member Nick Miles get down in Mammoth
“F*%$ this!!!” I think to myself as I watch hundreds of cubic feet of snow billow out on the valley bellow. The sight is reminiscent of a wave crashing on a beach, the white foamy snow reaching out with last of it’s momentum to finally reach it’s resting point, hundreds of feet bellow where I stand. I had just triggered the a 200′ wide avalanche with a crown as deep as 5 feet in spots. I feel like a fool, I feel lucky, I feel like I need to be punched in the face…
We are back in Canada, the coast range to be more exact. Winter is abundant up here but still having not escaped the unstable snowpack that has been haunting the lower 48 it’s in our best interest to remain on high alert. We have had success in obtaining shots, Bryn Hughes has been out with us capturing stills (http://brynhughes.photoshelter.com/portfolio), everyone is pumped. The crew consists of Freedle Coty, and Kyle Decker behind the lenses. P white, C Logan, T Rainville, and myself.
These lines have been on my hit list since I saw them last year. If you take a closer look there is no good entrance into them, a cornice blocks passage… possibly through the smaller part of the cornice but it still remains a problem. We have not attempted an approach yet, and very likely they will go un-skied again this winter for our crew.
The avalanche… if you look at the very top left of the slide you can pick out my foot path. I was hiking to some lines, some beautiful lines. I had expected wind loading the the area that I triggered, so I was staying on the rocks. The fracture split right down the right side of my right foot. It started as a large “whoomf” as everyone has heard before. I looked across valley as I expected something far away had started moving. Seconds later the snow split and slid. Leaving me to shit bricks and question my judgement calls for the rest of the winter. In hindsight, I’m doing my best to take what good I can and remain on high alert, pulling plug on lines that “may not be the best” and thinking more about every move. Lesson learned…
Another couple weeks of work to polish of my segment for level 1… looking forward to a safe and productive time.
