Happy Holidays

It has been a few months since my last post but the snow has been rough and adventures tough to find. With holidays and a pocket book not as large as I would like going into winter things are a little slow right now but the tides are about to change. It looks like La Nina is drifting from the south up to Northern Colorado finally and the Holidays have gone. Before I stare into the rear view mirror at the holidays to much, I would like to wish every one a Happy New Year. I hope between now and the end of the Mayan Calendar you all can have a awesome and well lived year. I have a few crazy plans and hope to see how they start to unfold, ideally with no hospital visits!

A few weeks ago I was able to make it down to Wolf Creek for some blue bird powder hunting. It was the best snow in the country for a while and it only makes sense to travel to the snow. It was a great trip that involved catching rides with friends, whoring myself out to multiple partners (No not orgies, snowboarding!!), and hitch hiking around southern Colorado. It was a awesome trip that involved the first cliff huck of the season, a high risk ski line, and some beautiful tree skiing. Attached are a few pictures of the trip.

I hope all had a wonderful Christmas and onward towards 2012 we venture with high aspirations and ambitions. Oh, I am heading to Wolf Creek again in about 6 hours and hope to have some sweet pictures of the trip. And Ullr if you are reading this please bring me more snow . . . . I will bring you more smiles and laughs and excitement and . . .

Kode Series Ski Pack Review

In 2009 Osprey Packs introduced the Kode Series of Ski Packs. Entering the third year these packs are now one of the more popular ski packs, at least in Colorado. It can be seen in the lift lines at Wolf Creek, on the backs of skiers at Berthoud Pass and on Snowmobile riders. This line comes in three sizes for the many different users in the Backcountry. The 22 Liter version offers a sleek design for the side country and the short trips in to the backcountry. The 30 liter splits the middle to cover most users who are out for a moderate day tour. The 38 liter is for the Backcountry user that needs to carry the first aid kit, snow study kit, bivy kit and kitchen sink. Not only does the Kode series come in three volume sizes it also offers three sizes of fit in a small, medium and large. If you can not find the right day ski pack with these 9 options there might be some other issues. I have taken the Kode 22 out on multiple adventures as my main low volume splitboarding packs last year and have also used the Kode 30 once. Not needing the volume of the Kode 38, I have not used this model.

One thing about choosing the right size is the features that these packs offer. The features do very between the Kode 22, 30, and 38 but all three offer some of the basics. The avalanche gear compartment an all three packs is a separate easy to access pocket that prevents any snow and water getting into the main storage area. This is great for after you have dug a pit and do not want snow getting the puffy wet. All the Kode packs offer two ways to carry skis. The diagonal carry and the vertical A-frame carry. With the vertical carry the lower straps are a fixed size, if you have one of the many wide skis on the market today it will limit the pack to only a diagonal carry. For snowboarders, they are limited to a vertical carry. So if the boarders must hike downhill watch those heels from kicking the end of your deck.

The best feature in my opinion is the insulated hydration sleeve. If your hydration tube freezes then your day must end really quick, no water means no turns. This pack offers a sleeve that is in the shoulder strap to help prevent the tubes from freezing. I do not think it works as well as the BCA design, that has the vents under the shoulder which uses body heat to warm the pocket, it does work well enough. If one has a long bladder tube it is a pain to pull it out and try to stuff it back into the pocket. The osprey bladder designed by nalgene seemed to be the best in the pack but a camelbak bladder will work fine.

Also all the packs offer a ice axe carry on the back that keeps the sharp points away from stabbing you when you ski and hip pockets that will carry a small camera, compass, snacks or any item that one may need close by when hiking. As the packs get larger, Osprey was able to add more features to them. The Kode 30 and 38 offer a fleece lined goggle pocket for easy storage of the expensive eye wear, preventing them from getting scratched or smashed. Also both the larger packs offer a helmet carry that secures them tightly and prevents them from swinging and filling with cold wet snow. The Kode 38 offers a brain that closes on the top of the pack with additional storage but can make the pack top heavy when loaded.

One of the features that you do not notice until the pack is taken in to the field is the SnowShed(tm) back panel. After taking the tumble in the powder some previous packs would form ice between my back and jacket that would become uncomfortable and must be scraped off. With the snowshed back panel I have not had any issues with the Kode packs, which involved many different snow types and environments.

I feel like Osprey did a quality job in making the Kode pack. With multiple days in the backcountry my kode 22 has taken the wear and tear well. With the size options of small, medium and large one can really make the pack fit well, not allowing for any weight shifts while skiing. This does make it difficult for sharing the pack with a taller or smaller friend. Being based in the lower part of Colorado, not far from the backcountry playground of the San Juan's, it is evident that they were able to use a great deal of first hand knowledge when creating the Kode series pack. Now the question remains, when are they coming out with a airbag pack? Black Diamond as the avalung and BCA has the float airbag pack, it will be important for osprey to continue to be a player in the backcountry ski market to produce a pack with avalanche safety equipment.



Written by Y.C.  http://quixoticyc.blogspot.com

Mountain Hardwear Jovian Review

 I must admit that at one time I had a bias for Mountain Hardwear products, I have owned many of their products and a few of the well crafted items are still around. I have always felt that Mountain Hardwear has been very successful with durability but lost a me with functionality and cost. Also currently I have joined the soft-shelll fan club as I have been backcountry skiing in Colorado's dry powder, enjoying the breath-ablity and temperature versatility it offers. Recently I ended up breaking the current trends and tried out Mountain Hardwear's new fall 2011 expedition hard-shell, the Jovian. This jacket offers their new DryQ fabric with the Elite expedition version. During the spring 2011 I placed the Jovian through many of the rigors of backcountry skiing, I must say that this jacket does impress. At first glance when I picked up the jacket I could not believe how light it was at 1lb and 3oz and immediately questioned its durability and functionality.   

It is fun to play with new gear even when you are in the living room to check the features and explore the jacket before going into the field, for example to see if skins will fit inside the jacket. The skins do fit in the larger outside pockets but not inside the jacket closer to the body like some people prefer. This piece is a weight saving item and many pockets and winter jacket features are lost but with no major issues. There is no powder skirt for the powder hounds and I would imagine this jacket would take a beating if one was getting on and off a lift. If you are a alpinist or a ski mountaineer this jacket meets your needs. The helmet compatible hood allows for a nice fit when wearing a hard hat. The zippers are also easy to use with gloves due to pull tabs that have not broken yet and zippers that run up that did not open with gravity during a full day of use. The main pockets could be a inch higher to provide easier access with the hip belt engaged or with a harness. Before taking it out, the feature I was most excited about was its storage-ability, it packs down small for an alpine jacket. After checking this jacket out I was stoked to give it a harsh test out in the mountains.

What better place to test the jacket out then Rocky Mountain National Park in April with lots of wet snow mixed with warm and cold temperatures. Also the Park can be a windy place, what better way to test the DryQ breath-ablity and whether it was too breathable. The DryQ technology is new to Mountain Hardwear for the 2011 winter line. After Conduit was not that impressing Mountain Hardwear has finally developed a air permeable water proof fabric. I decided to start with a heavy layer system for my first day out as I was worried about the jacket being not as warm as my thicker soft-shell Before long I was dropping my layers. It felt like it was breathing well but it is still a hard-shell and it was April with too many clothes. I found it excellent with a light under layer and the jacket, this was where I could really tell that it was breathable but not too much. There was a few times in the wind it would have been nice to have a fleece layer in the middle but not bad enough to get it out of the pack.

The water proofing was evident immediately with the beading of wet snowflakes on the outside and no moisture on the inside. After the turns were enjoyed, exiting the line proved to be a difficult bushwhack where the jackets durability was truly put to the test. Our skin and ski out was through a thick national park forest with branches ready to rip the clothes at every turn. For the initial part I was trying to avoid a snag on a limb ready to eat my jacket, by the third hour I was ready for the celebration of a great ski day and my care slipped. Through pine trees and aspens a tear was bound to happen. With arrival at the car and inspection of the jacket I was amazed to see no rips or wear from the exit. Now granted I did not climb a chimney in the thing or wear the jacket for a month straight, but I know this jacket will survive some tough environments.  

All around Mountain Hardwear has developed a product that can compete in the market and in the field. The cost is average at $475, but this is a high end jacket where many are in the $500 plus area. It overall impressed me, the only other thing to add would be some reinforced shoulders. This would add weight but many competitors are already producing this and it is something that is needed for the many people that are wearing packs. Also this Jacket is missing many features, though it makes it light weight, I would like to see more to this jacket. I felt the mechanism for loosing the hood was hard to use with gloves on. Also allow for a zip out skirt to help keep the body heat in and the snow out. Overall the DryQ technology is a success and many people will be talking about it next year, it will be great to see what innovations companies create to compete. I might not fully leave the soft-shell behind, but thanks to Mountain Hardwear's Jovian jacket I have found a place for the hard shell again in my clothing ensemble.

Fogged on Flattop

This last weekend I was able to get out with my roommate Shane Johnson and take our snowboards for a hike.  The plan was originally to be heading up for some snowboard turns on Ptarmigan Glacier where I skied back in August.  This plan failed has clouds moved in and visibility dropped to under 10ft.  So we got a training hike in for the up coming season and the snowboards were able to get some needed fresh air.  Shane played around with shooting some video also and you can check it out at: http://vimeo.com/30405127 Warning: Nothing rad happens but some fun film, it will get better as the winter does.  Here are some photos:

The Grand Traverse



The Grand Traverse



It feels like the summer lasted a long time, but really it is almost behind us. Maybe it was the broken finger that slowed it down. Well the finger is healed now and it is time to start thinking about riding. Only a few weeks ago in August I got about a thousand feet of vertical down the Ptarmigan Glacier in the Park.

Jacob shredding the ice

While I was at the Glacier was able to get a good photo of my tatoos

I am always thinking about backcountry snowboarding and even the summer can not detour me. Even the golf tournament I was in this summer had a ski for a putter on a hole, thanks Icelantic Boards for a great event.

Dan Fiore at the golf tourney!!

But this is all in the past, this last weekend is was one of the coolest things of the summer. So I have fell in love with this one mountain range in colorado, it is a awesome place. I have not seen an easy trail in this area and it is some rugged country. So because it is rugged and seems to get a lot of snow, I went to check out its ski potential. What better way to see a mountain range than to hike the whole thing. I convinced a friend of my initial plan, then a week down the road . . . I added more to the plan, a summit! Then about a week before the trip I decided to add the major ridge line in the range with many summits. This ambitious plan required us to hike at night for about 5-6-7 miles. With route finding in this range being difficult we were lucky not to get lost. We came to a trail divergence and needed to halt the night travel. Lucky for us it was with the most amazing view on a canyon overlook.

1st Camp



Water Purification



The View Saturday

The View on Saturday

Camp Second Night

  The next day we realized we did not make our goal distance and needed to make up ground. This was the most arduous day, with what I think to be about 16-18 miles. This day was started in the trees but ended at a beautiful alpine lake, below our route up to the ridge.  We passed three guys drinking Coors lights with classical music on one of the lower lakes, what a random scene. But these great gentlemen gave us two of those curs lights to share. It was rewarding after the long push to catch up.

The Climb to the Ridge

 Sunday was our push to the ridgeline. This involved a 2000 foot push up 45-50 degree scree. The exit had a few moves that were hairy and made the ridgeline very refreshing to obtain.

The Grand Traverse to Grand Taverse Peak

From here it was to the summit of our first 13000 foot peak, North Traverse Peak. After this summit was the Grand Traverse, a saw shaped ridge line visible from I-70. This requires some 3^rd class and if you get off route 4^th class climbing to complete.

Hiking/Climbing The Traverse

Looking Back along the Grand Traverse towards North Traverse Peak

Looking Back at the Grand Traverse from the lower saddle

 This was a very fun traverse with a few cool puzzles to solve. And it ends with a steep rocky summit on Grand Traverse Peak, another thirteener. My original plan was to take us a little further on the ridgeline, but with time we headed down to another alpine lake to camp our third and final night.

Last Camp on Sunday Night

 It was buses and rides to get back to our car, but a great trip and sick climb/traverse.  I also was able to see alot of awesome ski lines that have made me more excited about the up coming season.  I was putting together a winter tick list and it looks awesome, some a little scary.  Soon that will be around the corner with many adventures to come.

It is Summer!!

Hey Friends, it has been a few since I have last posted. I was exploring great things week after week but my life took a short tour away from the crazy. I had a few failures with some great mountains and some great days but I just did not feel that they deserved a full post. I am new at this and would like your input though. If you feel like I could spend more time on something, please let me know.

I would say that the craziest adventure that happened this last little while was my attempt on Pyramid Peak. This is one of the biggest and stunning mountains in Colorado. When I first viewed Pyramid it was when I was living in Aspen. Some say it is easier in the winter because the rock is bonded by frozen water. The winter brings other difficulties like risks of avalanches, weather, and a longer approach.

This mountain is number one on my list at the moment and I will make another attempt with in the near future (next season). This trip began with a 4 hour road trip after work on a friday and it ended the same with 15 hours and 18 miles of non-stop hiking, climbing, splitboarding, river crossings, bushwacking, split skiing, and pain in the middle.

It was a great day and you should check out my partner Mike Bean's website http://www.throughpolarizedeyes.com/ , he has a great write up of our trip. Following our attempt at Pyramid, Mike and I discussed a second attempt for a few weekends, but the window was too narrow.

In the last few weekends I was able to have a great ski friend arrive into town. I was amp'ed to get him out in the CO snow, especially this winter. The second he showed up into town from Seattle, I was ready to have him hiking any one of the awesome ski lines that I have hit this season. I was torn between the Silver Couloir, Cristo on Quandary, or the Berthoud tour. I had done the tour with him last year and I wanted one big line. Might as well grab a new fourteener while we were at it, so Cristo became the decision. This day was very cloudy with horrible weather and no photos. We did trigger a decent slide that caught me off guard. I knew that there was some fresh snow but I did not think it was consolidated. We were getting winds from the direction it faced so I felt no wind loading, maybe even a bit blown out. The top felt blown out and we dropped in on ice. We set up a safety zone before the location where I had witnessed a small convexity in the past. With the flat light it was hard to see any convexity but I still choose to ski cut where there was one in the past. The crown ripped through the top of the run to about a foot depth, it ran to the bottom 2500 feet below. I was able to trigger it and be above it, once it ran we had rough skiing and were required to play the game. We leap frogged safety zones and there was no opening up our ski lines. We reached the bottom and skied past a few avalanche chutes until we were finally able to be free and clear. This was a learning experience and one that reminds you that nature is still the boss. On this day a few of my friends also had issues where nature fooled them in a balancing act where mistakes can not be made. The front range backcountry snowboarding community lost a team member on Torreys Peak this same day, I would like to send my regard to his family.

As the season is winding down, there has been some hard times for friends and some awesome times with friends. I will continue riding in the mountains through the summer, but currently there are no scheduled plans. I will be getting some gear reviews up on the site for the upcoming season if you are looking to buy some gear this year stay tuned. Also there will be some rock climbing, skateboarding, ski scouting and random crazy missions. Hopefully some extreme tubing! Oh and I got some new art work on my body . . . I will show you once it is finished in a few weeks.

Just another normal high energy weekend with a bunch of good friends from the downhill skateboard community. On Friday evening we had about 6-7 members of the AZ posse show up for the Buffalo Bill Downhill blood-spill. I was able to get one snowboard day in on Saturday morning while the racers were free riding on the course. The rest of the weekend was expecting a large avalanche cycle so getting only one day was excused and the needed rest could be good for the body. Though today I feel worse than before the weekend do to lack of sleep, consumption of dehydrating beverages, and allergies.

Looking forward to a great race day and enjoying the company of many skateboarding fools was on the plate for Sunday. The heats began at 10, with stiff competition in one of the largest downhill races many of my friends got knocked out early.

This lead to much home brew drinking (thanks Curt!) at the best viewing spot, while one racer Munkae (Check out his trucks ) was still in the race.

Munkae was finished and the finals were about to start when a helicopter flew in above to get some film footage. In this day of blogging and web marketing you are nothing if you do not have sick shots to display.

It is how all extreme sports is going, hardly anyone goes to a downhill skateboard race but many watch it on YouTube. Everyone was excited about the helicopter approaching the announcers stand and the race track when things changed quickly.




Only 50ft away the rotor clips a tree and is heading directly towards us, as we all run the other direction with shrapnel flying around. I see the blades stop spinning and know that all on the ground seem to be alright. I approach for a closer look to see all in the ship jump out and then know that everyone was alive. The final heat was shutdown for emergency traffic, so it was back to beer drinking,

We were forced to leave the scene of the crash, no more party at the helicopter crash!

So the party continued late into the night. Skateboarders jumping a large fire until the ramp began to burn, ziplines, and halfpipe it was the extreme sports party of the year (to date). This weekend drained the tank more than three days of huge backcountry, some great renegade times.