Gluten Free Snowboarder

Yes, it was really like this - Photo: Dominique Taylor at Vaildaily.com

I know I’ve really been slacking at the blogging thing lately. My primary excuse is that I’ve been hitting mostly big powder days at local resorts where the competition for fresh tracks has been fierce so the picture taking has gone by the wayside. I did do a classic two day trip to Wolf but shot mostly video which I need to convert and then learn how to edit (yes, I know it’s my business) – I’ll post that one of these days. But if you haven’t heard already Vail had one for the ages on Wednesday (my birthday no less – thank you gods) that I need to share with powder hounds everywhere.

Who needs food when you can eat snow all day - Photo: Dominique Taylor at Vaildaily.com

First off I want to say that I didn’t take any of these photos – they were all mostly by Dominique Taylor at Vaildaily.com. I know it’s bad etiquette to post other folks photos but the world needs to see Dominique’s fine work and if you want to see more or buy these photos you can get them at Vaildaily.com in the photo section. I was too busy sucking down snow (lesson #1 – keep mouth shut while riding on thigh deep powder day) to take any photos of my own.

Hey, where did everything go ? - Photo: Dominique Taylor at Vaildaily.com

On Tuesday I had gone up with my new best friend Joel Gratz of Coloradopowderforecast.com, the hottest new ski weather forecast site on the web. We had a fabulous day riding the 13″ new they had called and sometime will post the merely great pictures from that outing. When we got back to Boulder at the end of the day we both had other plans for Wednesday which immediately went by the wayside when Joel saw they had posted another 19″ new (32″ in 48!) at 5:00 am the following morning. I was planning on maybe having a leisurely powder day at Loveland but fortunately decided not to look the gift horse in the mouth and quickly hopped in the car for a return voyage to Vail.

This isn't me but I know the feeling - Photo: Dominique Taylor at Vaildaily.com

The drive up felt more like a Saturday in March than a Wednesday in April as the word had definitely gotten out that Vail was getting hit hard. I did my finest Mario Andretti impression and thus was able to at least be inside the maze at the Vista Bahn when it opened at 8:30. I knew it was going to be good but when I got into the back on my second run and encountered thigh deep blower pow (and not just in some random drift – everywhere!) I knew that I (and several thousand of my new closest friends) was in for a special treat. When I got to the liftline the main topic of conversation revolved around pointers on how to breathe when your face is constantly covered in snow.

Doesn't look like it was too shabby at Beaver Creek either - Royal Elk Glades - Photographer unknown

The back was quickly overrun so time to move on and eventually made my way to Blue Sky Basin as the chair was just opening. This allowed me to ski the Champagne Glades which on this day was like the best bottle of vintage Moet Chandon that you could ever hope to find. I then reconnected with Joel (we had gone up separately as the lucky dog had a cat trip at Irwin Lodge lined up for the next day) and we proceeded to cement our powder relationship with several incredible runs through all Blue Sky has to offer till we started to get a little tired and began to go through trees instead of around them.

The tracks say it all - Photo: Dominique Taylor at Vaildaily.com

And speaking of trees I decided to give myself a little momento from the day and managed to catch a branch right in the nose on my last run down to the village through Riva Glade (and yes, it was well worth it). Joel got a nice picture of my face afterwards but I don’t think I’ll be posting that here. All in all an absolutely amazing day with perhaps the best snow conditions I’ve ever seen at Vail – who says April is the cruelest month…

Staff photographer and ski sherpa Kevin Edwards taking in the incredible views from atop Knife Ridge at Wolf Creek

In my endless pursuit of powder I’ve traveled all over North America and sampled many a ski area but the one place that has rewarded me the most and feels like home is definitely Wolf Creek, located in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. It’s more than the just the fact that they average 465″ of snow a year, the most of any ski area in Colorado, or that it typically falls several feet at a time. It’s the whole vibe of the place, from the totally backcountry feel of the terrain to the incredible effort that ski patrol does to keep it all open to the reasonably priced and very tasty food they serve, Wolf Creek always does its best to always make you feel like your a special guest in a winter wonderland. I’ve been going to Wolf for over 15 years now and as I always say — the Wolf never disappoints.

Kevin enjoying more than just the view - the Dog Chutes, Wolf Creek

This trip was no exception to the rule – having missed the last several storms at Wolf I was determined not to let another one pass so when Wolf called 8″ and snowing hard Sunday morning, we hopped in the car and headed down. At any other ski area, I would never consider arriving at noon on a powder day no less during spring break but Wolf is different. While there were a ton of Texans in the parking lot, cafeteria, ski school and on the groomed runs, there were none where we were headed  – in the trees and on the ridge lines and bowls. In fact, the tourists seemed to have scared away the locals so there were lot fewer folks than normal on all the prime terrain.

Don't believe it when people tell you Wolf is flat - behold Knife Ridge

Now if you don’t like to hike at a ski resort, then Wolf Creek is a fairly small mountain with slow lifts and a lot of flats. However, if you don’t mind earning your turns, Wolf is as fun as it gets. Their terrain is situated on the Continental Divide and the ridgeline trails you hike are actually part of the Continental Divide trail that you can hike in the summer. In the winter though, they lead to exciting steeps and powder filled bowls. We immediately started climbing and found ourselves virtually alone atop Knife Ridge which soon lead to face shots galore – and the best was yet to come.

On the long...

and winding road...

to Horseshoe Bowl

If you look at a map of Wolf Creek, you’ll notice that on the eastern most point of the mountain, as far away from the base area as you can get, there’s a big wide open bowl named Horseshoe. Now on a normal day day, the hike to Horseshoe is at least 20 minutes, but since this was the first day of spring break, the wonderful folks at Wolf Creek decided to run a cat out there, and since none of the tourists were venturing up on the ridge, it was like having our own private cab; whenever we showed up it was there, empty and ready to go. On top of this, also because it was spring break and the first day of daylight savings time, they kept the ridgeline open till 4 and the mountain open till 5 (!) meaning that although we only got there at noon we didn’t get off the mountain till 5:15 making for an epic half day.

Enjoying the fuits of our labor in Coyote Park, Wolf Creek

By Monday morning they called another 8″ making for 16″ total, a relatively small storm for Wolf but more than enough to make us happy. The cat was not running today so we reverted back to the old fashioned way, hoofing it up Knife Ridge and going out further and further each time till we finally hit the boundary line and nirvana at about the same time. The hike without cat to the farthest point is about an hour loop but worth every minute as the stunning views make you forget how tired your legs are and the run down makes you want to do it all over again.

The happy camper on top of Horseshoe Bowl - that's Alberta Peak, which is also hike to terrain, in the background

On the one hand, I’m very reluctant to publish this post as I want to keep Wolf a secret and uncrowded for as long as possible. On the other, the word is already out and I feel I owe it to all the great folks at Wolf (including the snowboarding owner Davy Pritchard who I’ve met numerous times on the mountain) to give them a public shout out for all the fantastic work they do that’s led to all the incredible days I’ve had there. So as I said more than once this weekend at the top of my lungs while slicing through knee deep snow in a beautiful untracked glade – I LOVE WOLF CREEK!!!

Lifts? We don't need no stinking lifts...knee deep in the 80's at Berthoud Pass, Colorado

There were a lot of surprised front range skiers and snowboarders yesterday because despite all the weather reports calling for a few inches tops, Monday mornings ski totals included 11″ at Loveland and 16″ at Winter Park. According to the CAIC’s morning avalanche report, Berthoud Pass received 5″ in one hour Sunday night and 12″ in three – that’s some serious snow coming down which no one anticipated. I, unfortunately, did not discover this until it was too late to get to either resort but knowing there would be plenty left at Berthoud on Tuesday helped ease the pain.

First one to the road wins - looking down the 90's, Berthoud Pass

Because of all the new snow, the CAIC  issued a avalanche warning for Monday which means natural and human triggered slides slides are likely – not the kind of day I want to be out on the pass. By Tuesday, they had lowered it to considerable which in layman terms means you can go out there but be really, really careful. Thus on the ride up I was very surprised to see tracks way out in Floral Park which is not only steep and exposed but it also has heating/freezing issues as it is southern facing. We immediately decided to pass on that and later talked to a very shaken snowboarder in the parking lot who got caught in a slide out there and was lucky to escape with only some ripped pants and some very bad memories.

The crappy view on the way up to Hell's Half Acre, Berthoud Pass

We decide to opt for the Hanging Meadow in Hell’s Half Acre which is lower angled and treed thus making for a less risky proposition. The snow was beautiful – deep and relatively light, making for some fabulous riding. While there had been plenty of visitors before us, there were still huge swaths of untracked which we took immediate advantage of hooting and hollering down to the road. We got a ride as soon as we hit the road and got dropped off at the ditch trail so we could do some Current Creek runs.

Frank enjoying the fruits of his labor on Vigilante, Berthoud Pass

The nice thing about the ditch trail is that after the tough hike up to Hell’s, the walk out to the Current Creek runs is quite leisurely and the rewards still plentiful. We started with a 90’s, which is pretty much a straight shot to the road with the top full of sweet deep untracked and the bottom still super soft if no longer pristine. It was so good that we immediately did another but this time moved over to the 80’s which had yet to be explored. I started getting flashbacks to the days when Berthoud had lifts and this was one of my favorite late day runs. There are some large rocks that sit atop the run (see first photo in this post) and although I passed for the most part today because of some avy concerns, I could see that the snow cover was getting to the point where some big fun could be had soon.

Not bad for 2:30 in the afternoon - Vigilante, Berthoud Pass

After a quick snack in the parking lot, it was back to the Hanging Meadow followed by another Current Creek. Both were fabulous and could have easily provided several more powder laden runs had we the time. As it was we felt blessed to have been out there at all – did I mention it was a warm, windless, bluebird day and even though the parking lot was full in the morning, by mid afternoon it was back to just a few happy campers. This was my third trip to Berthoud in the last month and each one has been better than the last so while I don’t see how it could get any better, I’m looking forward to trying to prove myself wrong…

Feeling light and gluten free

When I first started this blog I choose the name Gluten Free Snowboarder more as a joke than anything else. But because the internet has become everyone’s first choice for research, I have been getting a lot of searches for information about gluten free eating at ski resorts as well as emails about specific areas. And since I am a gluten free practitioner I have done a lot of research and thought I’d share what I know in this post.

Not a lot of restaurant choices out here...

Since my gluten allergy was diagnosed 2 1/2 years ago I’ve seen a tremendous growth in information and food choices for those dealing with these issues. That said, ski areas are a particularly hard place to eat gluten free as the standard pizza, burger and cookie meal doesn’t work for those who can’t eat wheat. The other big challenge is that the food delivery crew often has very little knowledge about what’s in the prepared items like soups and chilies. What I generally find is that the bigger and nicer the ski resort, the more likely they’ll have items marked gluten free and know what ingredients are in their food. As an example, earlier this year, I was pleased to note that the on mountain cafeterias at Beaver Creek now indicate which items on the menu boards are gluten free. Haven’t seen this much elsewhere, but once one area starts something new, others tend to follow.

Lunchtime in the backcountry - Great Canadian Heliskiing

When I’m on a heli or cat trip , the chefs at the lodge take good care of me, but the rest of the time I’m on my own so have learned to bring food with me and always pack a big cooler for multiday road trips. Let’s start with breakfast. Oatmeal, that mainstay of ski trip early morning fueling, can be a tricky one as while oats themselves do not contain gluten, they are often contaminated in the harvesting and packaging process. If you want to be sure you’re totally gluten free I recommend eco-planet organics hot cereal which comes in three tasty flavors. If granola is your thing, I’m a big fan of Bakery on Main and in particular their Extreme Fruit and Nut Granola. As far as baked goods and breads go, I think you’re much better off if you can find a local bakery that produces gluten free products – I’m fortunate to live in Boulder, Colorado where there’s numerous options but some of the best stuff I’ve seen comes from Outside the Breadbox based in Colorado Springs, which makes great breads, bagels (!) and pies among other products.

If you’re fortunate enough to have a Whole Foods near you, they have their own line of gluten free products ranging from muffins to pie crusts and seem to be adding other gluten free items on almost a daily basis. In the last month I have seen two new product lines (both Colorado based so don’t know if they can be found outside this area) that have changed my buying habits. Canyon Bakehouse makes four types of breads that are sandwich worthy along with some Cranberry Crunch Muffins that are solid enough to survive in a ski jacket pocket. The other new noteworthy addition is the Udi’s line of gluten free breads and blueberry muffins. Whole Foods also now carries the very tasty line of cookies and brownies from the Wow Baking Company, definitely worth checking out if you have a bit of a sweet tooth.

Before all these products were available locally, I used to do a lot of shopping on line at glutenfree.com which carries most of the Glutino and Gluten Free Pantry lines. You can find a lot of these products in you local store but some of the more esoteric ones like my personal favorite, premium Gluten Free English Muffins, I have only seen on-line. One of my other Glutino favorites for skiing is their line of breakfast bars which make a good portable snack for the hill. Of all the online sites, this one is the most extensive and could be your one stop shop if you don’t have a local store that carries these kinds of products.

One other company I have to mention is Pamela’s Products. They were one of the first companies to produce gluten free items and have in my opinion make some of the best products on the market particularly their cookies and baking mixes. Their baking and pancake mix can be used to easily make numerous breakfast items including delicious pancakes and all sorts of baked goods as the mix includes those unique ingredients (like xantham gum) necessary to successfully bake gluten free items.

Who needs food when you've been eating powder all day...

In general, my gluten free ski plan involves eating breakfast at home, making a sandwich for lunch and hoping the resort I go to has some sort soup that doesn’t have flour in it. In the meantime, I carry lots of snacks, both solid and liquid (can’t beat those Naked Juices or Odwalla Smoothies for thirst quenching and instant energy).  For dinner, there’s always meat (or tofu if you prefer) and potatoes and if you like ethnic food, you’ll quickly learn that Mexican, Thai and Indian food all can be thoroughly enjoyed without involving any flour. As for me, I’d gladly eat cold rice and beans every day as long as powder is the main course but fortunately for me, these days I can have my gluten free cake and eat it too…

Shredding the Big Burn - Snowmass

When the general public thinks of Aspen, they often associate it with the lifestyles of the rich and famous. But for skiers and riders in the know, Aspen holds another treasure trove – that of its’ fabulous ski hills. Four resorts, 5000 plus acres, the largest vertical drop in the US (Snowmass – 4406 feet) and home to the X-games, Aspen has it all. But the best part is that given its’ relatively remote location, it’s never ever crowded.

I know my skis are around here somewhere...

After a very dry start to the winter Aspen is finally starting to get some good snow with over 3 feet in the last week including two feet in the last three days. Fortunately for me, this is the week that my college buddy does his annual trip to Aspen, a tradition that I’ve joined in for the last 11 years. We’ve had many great trips but few if any rival the last two days.

The name says it all

When I first started visiting Snowmass at the start of my ski career, I thought the Big Burn at Snowmass was as good as it gets. A huge meadow with nicely spaced trees, dynamic gullys and wide open spaces, it still warms my heart but it’s now the steeps at Snowmass that really get my attention. High Alpine, The Cirque, Hanging Valley Wall,  and much much more make a day at Snowmass a real adventure with endless possibilities for powder.  The toughest decision are where to go first but it really doesn’t matter because unlike most major ski areas, the good snow lasts a long, long time. (A map of Snowmass can be found here if you want to follow along)

They don't call it Rock Island for nothing

While Sunday was a great day, Monday had people using the word “epic ” from the start. Four days of continuous snow had made everything so deep and soft that even the big bump fields skied like easy groomers if you like getting face shots all the way down the hill. We started with a couple of Sam’s Knobs just for fun, moved on to Big Burn when their wasn’t a track on it and then started to get serious. The Cirque never opened due to avalanche issues and the steep gully shots were on hold but Rock Island was open and offered a pillow filled odyssey into the heart of the Cirque gully.

All sweetness and light

My friend Guv, pictured with mouth wide open above (for hooting and hollering) is very partial to the High Alpine lift and I myself, can not get enough of the Hanging Valley Wall so like a lot of locals we tend to do laps on Reiders until the Wall opens. A short and easy ten minute hike opens up huge possibilities, all involving steep shots and deep powder as the wind blows in big time here often doubling snow totals. The Wall requires two lifts to get back to but is well worth the trip and helps guarantee that it will not get cut up quickly (that and its’ huge expanse and serious cliffs). On Monday we took our time getting there because the rest of the mountain was so good but once there we saw that as usual there was plenty left that had yet to be touched.

Yeah, powder cords would be good

On the way back from the Wall we originally decide to hike Long Shot, the 5.3 mile, 3000 plus vertical run that also has a backcountry gate leading to untracked shots available days after a storm, but it was closed like numerous other runs because of avy danger. So instead we had to suffer through a powder choked run down Elk Camp and another ride up High Alpine. This time after an obligatory Reiders run we headed in the other direction to Green Cabin and the Dikes which was outrageously good – so good in fact, that when we were done we had to do the whole routine over again – two more lifts and a hike back to Hanging Valley and then two lifts again and a hike back to the Dikes.

May I have another please - Hanging Valley Wall, Snowmass

At this point we were totally exhausted, but the endorphins pulsing through our bodies convinced us that we really needed to do one last run off the Sheer Bliss lift because after all it stays open till 4 and who leaves the mountain before closing time when the conditions are that good. Fortunately we made it down without hitting anybody or anything and then crawled to the car. We had been spouting superlatives since 8:30 and could barely talk but with the memories of this day now permanently etched into our minds, words no longer seemed necessary. Today will last me for a long, long time or at least till next weekend when I’ll be back in Aspen and yes, I know, I am a very lucky boy…

Don't look behind you - Photo: Adam Lau / The Chronicle

Now I know this is a snowboard blog and I’ve only surfed once in my life, but after my brother in Santa Cruz  (who has a cool photo blog of his own) sent me a link to these photos, I knew I had to post them. If you’re not familiar with Mavericks, it’s a world famous break located just north of Half Moon Bay, California. Once a year if conditions are right they hold a big wave contest (to put it mildly) that apparently this year put Hawaii to shame.

Is it too late to change my mind? Evan Slater - Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

By all accounts Saturday’s conditions produced the biggest waves ever in a paddle in contest with some estimating faces as big as 60 feet. I always consider surfing to be a cousin of snowboarding with water substituting for snow but except for when it avalanches,  snow banks 5 stories high don’t sneak up from behind and come crashing down on you on a regular basis. I don’t know if you’ve ever been washing machined by a big wave, but it only took one North Shore experience for me to develop a very healthy respect for the incredible power of the ocean.

Oh, that's gotta hurt...Chris Bertish of South Africa (the contest winner) Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

The winner of the contest, Chris Bertish of South Africa found out the contest was being held Thursday, jumped on the first plane out and three flights and 36 hours later finally landed in San Francisco after midnight Saturday – the morning of the contest  - to quickly discover that in the time honored tradition of all airlines, the thing he needed the most, his boards, did not arrive with him. So not only did he endure a nasty case of jet lag, he had to borrow boards from of all people, local legend Jeff Clark, the former contest director and original discoverer of Mavericks who recently filed suit against the current contest promoters – lots of great twists and turns in this story. And if you did happen to see some coverage of the race there’s a good chance it was this video of a rogue wave breaking over the viewing gallery. Here’s another angle from a cell phone video of the wave (and you’ll notice that the viewer thought turning the phone would turn the picture – no such luck). But if you actually want to watch the contest you can see the whole thing on Ustream.

Not the kind of air you're looking for - Ion Banner - Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

While the wipeout of some spectators on the beach looked a little scary, the photos of surfers getting eaten by waves are positively terrifying. You can see all the ones included in this blog plus many, many more at the San Francisco Chronicle’s website coverage of the event along with a print piece by sportswriter Bruce Jenkins. There are also several galleries full of photos at the official Mavericks website along with a cool point of view video shot from a surfboard earlier this year at Mavericks. The Mercury News also put together this nice slide show along with a great article talking about the day from a surfers point of view. This kind of spectacle obviously attracts a lot of photographers but you better have a long lens or a place on a boat as the wave breaks about a half mile from shore. In the end though, it all seems worth if it plays out right for you like it did for the surfers in these photos below…

Looks like fun... Josh Loya - Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

as long as you know you're going to make it out... Photo: Adam Lau / The Chronicle

and look good in the photo! Dave Wassel - Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

What would Jesus ride? Snowboard shrine atop Hell's Half Acre, Berthoud Pass

I pride myself on catching any resort powder within two hours of Boulder so was mighty conflicted when I saw Vail called 9” in 24, 14” in 48 on Sunday morning as I also pride myself on not getting trapped in weekend traffic on I-70. As anyone who has spent 5 hours getting home on a Sunday night can testify, I-70 can really ruin the buzz of a good powder day. So, since I was going solo and it was already snowing in Boulder further complicating the drive, I reluctantly decided to pass. However, I was now totally infected with the powder bug and thus by Monday had to go get some tracks and knowing the resorts would be long cut up I once again headed up to Berthoud Pass for some fresh turns.

Boot pack and skin trail up the east side of Berthoud Pass - always well worth the effort

Two weeks ago I posted a blog about a leisurely tour I took of Berthoud but since this time the majority of snow had fallen on Saturday and Monday was a national holiday, I knew the pickings would be slimmer and would require a lot more effort to find untracked. Sure enough, on the drive up I could see that Floral Park had been heavily tracked particularly where it opens up skier’s far left. Still it seemed worth a shot and decided to hike way out but cut back skier’s right into the thicker trees to get some freshies. It worked like a charm at the top, got that sweet powder feeling going and thus didn’t mind when I ran into a lot more tracks down low.  Got a ride fairly quickly and decided to head to my favorite Berthoud area – Hell’s Half acre.

Pick a chute, any chute...Hell's Half Acre, Berthoud Pass

Hell’s has everything I want in a ski area – gladed trees, steep chutes and lots of powder that is constantly being refreshed by the wind. I usually head to North and Sentinel chutes first as the the Fingers, Choke and Knuckle need a ton of snow to be rideable and now that no one is bombing them are incredibly avalanche prone. I generally pass on the Mines as well because besides being another avalanche trap (it seems like there’s a fatality there every couple of years) it requires a several mile (7?) traverse back to the highway which is not much fun on a snowboard. Amazingly enough, there were still some cleans lines left in the chutes particularly on the edges which resulted in a major face shot that had me quickly searching my memory for where exactly the trees below me were positioned.

What lies over that edge? Only the shadow knows...

I had such a good time on the first run that I had to go back for more and after getting an immediate ride I was hiking back up the trail in no time. While the parking lot may get busy and there seem to be a lot of folks heading out, once you get to the top, there’s rarely anyone around and you can take your time getting ready and psyched for your next run. And on my next run I definitely needed to be psyched because I found a great untracked line through the trees and rocks between the chutes which had little room for error and required a total commitment and definitely got the blood pumping – what a rush! This of course lead to another hike but sadly the third time was not the charm as this time I mostly found rocks covered with a little snow (which reminded me of a bumper sticker I used to see that read “Give Blood – Ski Berthoud) so ended up doing some extra trees at the bottom to get my moneys worth and then hiking up back to the road which is always an option. All in all, another fine day at Berthoud and enough powder to keep the jones at bay till the next snowstorm…

Can surfing the internet lead to this?

In the old days (say 10 years ago) if you wanted to know, for example, if it was snowing in Vail, you had to either be in Vail or be talking on the phone to someone who was. Nowdays, thanks mostly to the internet, it’s almost impossible to not know when it’s snowing in Vail. You’ve got your Vail webcams, I-70 road reports, and Vail local blogs, not to mention emails and alerts from the mountain itself. This is both a blessing and curse – you’re never going to miss a powder day because of lack of information but neither will any of the other 3 million potentially interested parties who live in the Denver Metro area. But since there’s no going back to simpler times, you might as well embrace the new reality and man, is there a lot of it out there.

No longer a secret - Knife Ridge at Wolf Creek

Now, while I may occasionally get slightly bitter about the fact that it’s almost impossible to keep a powder stash secret anymore (and yes, I know I’m contributing to this problem by writing this blog) I’m generally thrilled and amazed by what I can discover just sitting at home surfing of my laptop. Besides the real obvious stuff like snow totals and weather reports from around the world that are listed elsewhere on this site – I’d like to point 10 websites that have really caught my fancy lately.

First, let’s talk about the compendium sites – those that aggregate data from multiple sources. My favorite of all of these has got to be (1) Western Snow Info. If I was limited to just one site to get snow info, this would be the one as they list daily and weekly snow totals, detailed weather reports and webcams from 16 major ski resorts spread out across the western US and Canada in a very user friendly layout. I will warn you, however, that visiting this site can cause severe bouts of powder envy when your local area is not doing so well. Another great compendium site specific to Utah can surprisingly be found on the (2) Salt Lake City National Weather Service page. Not sure why Colorado doesn’t do this, but this page combines snow, weather, avalanche and UDOT reports along with webcams for all Utah ski resorts – what a jackpot! For sheer reach, it’s hard to match (3) Mountain Weather which features weather forecasts from Jackson Hole, Alaska and the Himalayans. And for a great example of a local’s site that has everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask check out (4) Tahoe Loco for all the latest in what’s happening around the largest alpine lake in North America.

I have become quite the weather buff over the years by necessity and obviously the web has long been the motherlode for finding meteorological information. But if you live in Colorado and haven’t already seen it, (5) Colorado Powder Forecast is a tremendous new addition to the scene. Written by Joel Gratz, a Boulder resident, it is a regularly updated specific forecast for all areas of Colorado designed especially for skier/riders. Not only is it informative, funny and full of all sorts of extra goodies (and more importantly generally very accurate), but Joel will personally answer your forecast questions if you post to the comment section. Just today he’s added a video forecast and can’t wait to see what’s coming next – a definite must stop on the internet powder tour. Another interesting ski specific weather site that Joel turned his readers on to is (6) Utah Ski Weather which is run by meteorology grad students at the University of Utah. And for those of you who like radar imaging, the (7) National Weather Service Enhanced Radar Image Loop can be quite hypnotic.

Then of course, we have what got me started on all this – ski and snowboard blogs. I first started checking out what I call the industry blogs like ESPN Snowboarding, Snowboard Magazine and Teton Gravity Research which given their reach and resources often have interesting posts and videos. I soon found, however, that I prefer the smaller more personal sites like (8) Mountain Goat Ski Guides based out of Silverton or the beautiful photos that can be found in the backcountry skiing/snowboarding section of (9) Jack Brauer’s Mountain Photography site. These are kindred spirits whose souls are nutured by untracked turns in the backcountry. To access a huge variety of snow specific sites I often check out (10) Lou Dawson’s Backcountry Skiing Blog which has links to dozens of fascinating sites. And the list goes on and on with new ones coming online everyday.

The kind of surfing I'd rather be doing

In the end of course, I’d much rather be surfing some untracked slope than the internet but it’s nice to know that there are other folks as equally enamored (or should I say obsessed) with skiing powder as I am. It also helps to get through those times when there’s not a lot of new snow coming down locally (like this entire ski season in Northern Colorado). And now that the internet has answered the eternal question of “where is it snowing”, we can move on to more important matters – like how can I get there before it’s all tracked out…

Looking for love at 11,300'

Berthoud Pass has long been a favorite of front range backcountry skiers and for good reason. Steep, deep, easily accessible terrain with the added bonus of extra vertical if you don’t mind hitchhiking back up the pass. Site of the first ski area in Colorado (1937), the pass has a long and storied history of providing fabulous turns to its’ followers. You can count me as one of them as when the area reopened in the late 90’s after being closed for 6 years I spent many a powder filled day exploring the four quadrants of Berthoud Pass that have been created by the intersection of Highway 40 and the Continental Divide. After the latest in a series of financial problems closed the ski area for good in 2002 (the lifts stopped running at the end of the 2000-2001 season – there was cat skiing for a season or two) – Forest Service requirements forced the removal of the lifts in 2003. This was both a good and bad thing – it was one hell of a ski area, but the fantastic skiing didn’t go away, it just now requires more effort to experience it. (For more info on it’s fascinating and troubled history check out this article on Berthoud Pass skiing in Cyberwest magazine).

Doesn't this look inviting - Floral Park trees

Skiing Berthoud Pass is what motivated me to get my backcountry act together. While every cat and heli trip I’d done required avalanche rescue and beacon training, and in the course of producing two videos for the CAIC on those same subjects I’d picked up a few pointers, it wasn’t until I started skiing Berthoud regularly that I got my own beacon, shovel and probe. I also started paying more attention to the avalanche reports produced by the CAIC on a daily basis. Skiing the backcountry is a ton of fun but there’s no one bombing those slopes to keep them slide free and if you screw up, you’re pretty much on your own.

Frank contemplating some Floral Park freshies

On Friday’s visit, we decided to start with the Southeast quadrant better known as Floral Park. (For some good maps of the area check out this pdf of the avalanche paths of Berthoud Pass and these old Berthoud Ski Area maps). Floral Park has in my estimation the best tree skiing on Berthoud Pass but because it is south facing it gets baked by the sun so is best visited as early as possible. We hiked out as far as we could  without post holing and then started down (the farther you go the steeper it gets and of course the less tracks there are). The snow was pure sugar and as such had no base which made for some tricky skiing. However once we got a little lower and into the trees we found some beautiful stretches and ripped it up down to the road.

Notice the long and winding road - looking west from atop Hell's Half Acre

Now one of the fun and sometimes challenging aspects of skiing Berthoud is the hitchhiking required if you don’t run your own car shuttle. I have generally found it fairly easy to get a ride (and surprisingly even easier when I had my golden retriever with me although on this trip due to age issues he was consigned to guarding the car) but after the fourth empty pickup truck has passed you by you can start to take it a little personally. The people who do pick you up tend to be ski enthusiasts or those curious as to what exactly you’re doing standing by the side of the highway with your snowboard and dog. Either way, it’s a great way to make new friends and scout the terrain you want to do next.

Hell's Half Acre as seen from the pickup spot

The next stop on our tour was my personal Berthoud favorite, Hell’s Half Acre in the northeast quadrant. This area is a great combination of  avalanche chutes, steep glades and sweet trees not to mention the incredibly scenic hike involved in getting there. I find these to be the most consistently powder filled runs and because it requires quite a bit of work to get there, rarely tracked out. We headed out to my favorite chute, got some great turns above it, but played it conservatively at the bottom as the snow pack was definitely touchy and the reason you often see a beautiful untracked chute is because it’s an avalanche waiting to happen. Still a great run and well worth the effort as always.

Ye Olde Ditch Trail

If the Gods are with you and things are going smoothly on the tour you can often luck out and convince your ride to drop you off across from a ditch trail on the way back up the road. We’re now talking about the northwest quadrant which has the most skiable terrain and widest variety of options. To access all that, you need to hike up to where the old lift terminated, but you can save a lot of legs by limiting your options and giving up some vertical and taking a shortcut to the runs known as the 90’s and Rock Garden. This is the route we choose to take and because it is easier to get to found the most tracks we had seen all day. I was however, able to wander into some nearby trees lower down and was rewarded with a very nice untracked run to the bottom which I had to pay for with some post holing back to the highway but definitely a worthwhile trade off.

Sure is pretty up here - looking SW from the top of Hell's Half Acre - Berthoud Pass

After that run we decided to call it a day as we had responsibilities awaiting us back in the real world. Now for a lot of folks that would sound like a lot of time and effort for only three runs but for those of us who do this regularly, we know that one of the best parts is often the getting there. I don’t know if it’s the oxygen deprivation from the altitude, the endorphins buzz from the hiking or the great tunes playing in my ears (today Truckin’ from Europe 72) but I rarely feel as simply joyous as I do when climbing up those hills. I’m not a big John Denver fan, but when I stand on top of Berthoud Pass after a hike, I’ve certainly got that Rocky Mountain High…

Was it all just a dream or water on my lens - Snowwater 2010

In case you somehow managed to miss the news, there were some big snow totals in the US last week. For me the rumors started when I was up in Canada when Erik Roner, one of the Rossignol athletes also at Snowwater, said something about Tahoe getting a huge storm with 200 mph winds! It turned out he was talking about the jet stream but still quite impressive and as soon as I got home the calls started coming in from my friend Mark who lives in Reno and patronizes Northstar (on windy days) and Squaw on a regular basis. Mark likes to tell how they predict the anticipated storm totals in California in feet as opposed to inches here in Colorado.

At Chair 5 in Vail with several hundred of my closest friends

Sure enough Squaw called at least a foot a day on the upper mountain for 6 days in a row and soon reports from friends in Utah started telling similar tales with Snowbird accumulating 88” in 7 days. Normally, when it’s dumping like this in a southern storm track I’m headed to Wolf Creek (67” for the week) but having just spent a week away in Canada I needed to tend to the home fires so a road trip was out of the question. Fortunately for me though, after getting skunked for weeks, Vail pulled one out of the hat on Monday for my viewing and riding pleasure.

Big trees and soft snow in the Windows at Vail

A while back I posted a blog about Vail’s cloud seeding program. Now while there’s still no scientific proof that it works how else can you explain Monday morning’s snow report when its’ neighbor to the west, Beaver Creek called 4” in 48 hours, it neighbor to the east, Copper Mountain called 6” and Vail in the middle called 19”. You could attribute it to inflated snow totals except I was lucky enough to be there and no, they weren’t exaggerating. Of course, I wasn’t the only one checking the snow report as the picture two above can testify.

and even some Aspen groves for variety

I have a typical love/hate relationship with Vail Mountain. I love that it’s huge, gets lots of snow, has great tree and bowl skiing and with all the high speed quads you get a lot of riding in a day there. I hate that it’s so expensive ($25 a day for parking), gets unbelievable crowds, and sometimes feels like a total rat race just to get a few untracked lines. Monday, fortunately was one of those feel the love days as while there were still quite a few people on the mountain, there was great snow everywhere and after a while people went home and left lots of goodies for those of us who stayed. I played in the trees for as long as I could and was rewarded with run after run of untracked sweetness and even the shots on the open slopes were far from ravaged. It was a day that reminded me of why I go to Vail in the first place – because when it’s good, it can be very, very good…