With a resupply of food in Twizel and a night in Mt. Cook Village Shannon and I met up with Chloe and Dan from Christchurch and my friends Christina and Peter from home in the states. We played our cards right and were able to get take a ski plane up the Tasman Valley. Thought it wasn’t the plan in the end it would turn out to be an 18 day symphony on skis.
Ski Traverses
Craigieburn Traverse and Temple Basin Splitfest
Damian was kind enough to drop me off at the airport where I waited for John Blankenstein to arrive from Australia before meeting up with Chris Rayner and Pow and we stoked up for a overnight traverse of the Craigieburn Range over about 30kms and 10,000 vert going past 4 ski fields with an overnight stay at Mt. Olympus.
Fortunately I had a Licence to Chill pass so I was able to use the Nutcrackers to get to the top of Craigieburn but John and Pow had to climb the resort.
It had barely snowed throughout the season and we were almost 4 weeks into a drought but we made the best out of the situation.
Ski touring along the Wonderland Trail
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Ski touring along the Wonderland trail had been something I was interested in for years. Being late May the snowpack in the alpine was still thick and the trail was hike able down in the valleys. Wanting to show a friend the beauty of the North side of Mount Rainier I decided this would be the perfect trip. We would have a mixture of snowboarding and taking in the scenery of my favorite side of the park. The plan was to hike from the Carbon River up to Mystic lake and stay there two nights. For our final night we would camp near the 3rd Burroughs and descend to the White River Campground.
The Sunrise and Sourdough Traverse
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The Sunrise and Sourdough Traverse was something that had been in the back of my mind for years. Looking at the Sourdough Range from Crystal Mountain I always dreamed of riding the area in powder conditions. With the White River Road closed during the winter it always seemed like a logistical nightmare. But if the stars aligned there was abundant amount of terrain that could be accessed from the Sunrise visitor center.
The plan came together as my friend Rory was looking to go on a 3 day trip and the forecast was looking good. After studying the topographical map I came up with a traverse that would allow us to ride the Sourdough Range all the way out to the Palisades then back to Sunrise. If all went wel we would spend some time in the Burroughs before making a final descent down to the Glacier Basin Trail.
Patrol Race: Snoqualmie to Meany Lodge
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The Patrol Race was one of the original ski tours within Washington State that dates back to the 1930’s. Its history comes from the original ski resort in the Cascades called Meany Lodge and started by the Mountaineers. The route itself starts at Snoqualmie West and follows the forests nearly 20 miles to Meany Lodge. This was the first race of its kind in North America and ran until America’s involvement in WW2. Luckily it was started again in 2014 and I was in one of the groups to keep history alive.
This Trip would connect Crystal Mountain to Stampede Pass to the South and the Alpine Lakes Traverse to the North from Mount Rainier to Mount Baker.
Cragieburn Traverse 2014
Damian was kind enough to drop me off at the airport after our trip in Mount Cook National Park. While in Christchurch I waited for John Blankenstein to arrive from Australia before meeting up with Chris Rayner and Wiggles. We stocked up for a overnight trip attempting the Cragieburn traverse. It would be around 30kms and 10,000 vert going past 4 ski fields with an overnight stay at Mt. Olympus.
Ski Traversing from Devils Punchbowl to Temple Basin
When Ryan and Pow arrived up at Arthurs Pass the decision was made to go check out an area called the Devils Punchbowl. We would have to follow a climbers trail up if we wanted to skirt around the 300 foot waterfall. If all worked out we hoped we would find some great lines in the upper bowl. We decided it would be best to exit via Temple Basin turning it into a ski traverse.
Two Thumbs Range Traverse from Roundhill to Mount Dobson
The next two days 100 mph winds hit the mountains and barraged the Two Thumbs range. Ryan Nicols and I decided to do the Two Thumbs Range traverse from Roundhill to Dobson which was about 12 miles and 8,000 feet of vertical gain.
Monte Cristo Range Winter Ski Tour
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The Monte Cristo Range is a secluded area within the North Cascades of Washington state. While driving by the place going to Stevens Pass of to Highway 20 the area was of little attention. Though a few years earlier Scott McAlister and I had made our way out to Kyes Peak I never returned. Being earlier March we were looking through maps and trying to come up with a unique ski tour. Chatting with Scott he had checked out a route that he wanted to explore further. Soon enough we had come up with a plan to head to the area for a 3 day trip.
Picket Range Splitboard Traverse
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It all started with a near death experience. The last time I attempted a ski traverse of the Picket Range, I slept–alone– within 100 feet of a debris pile that nearly killed me. Last time, I chose, three days into a six day trip, to bail after almost losing my life to a skier-triggered slide that poured down on me from above.
Last time, I hadn’t trusted the snow. It was warm enough that things were heating up quickly, but it had been cold enough recently that the snowpack was far from isothermic. In my opinion we were toying with spring conditions on top of winter layer cake. Constantly triggering loose, wet point releases was fine, but when those had started to step down to a deeper layer, causing full-on wet slabs, things started to get scary for me. Having one such wet slab miss me thanks to a serendipitously-placed boulder, well, that was an experience that screamed, “lucky,” and I didn’t want to stick around to find out if there would be many more second chances.
My route had been slightly different than that of Jason and Forest: they were on skis, and I was on a board. Jason had said that a snowboard, “just wasn’t the tool for the job.” We snowboarders–and splitboarders– often do look at terrain differently: traversing doesn’t hold quite the appeal that it might two our two-planked compadres, and sometimes slashing and spraying is more of our style than a series of hop turns. Nonetheless, despite my slightly alternate micro-route-finding techniques, I knew that a splitboard was actually the perfect tool for the job of traversing the Picket range. But that, for everyone’s safety, it made more sense to return with a few like-minded men (or women, though is often the sad reality of my life, more men turned up eager for the job), who also happened to be on snowboards.