Patagonian Summer – 141 Degrees SSE by Miles Clark
Posted on 31 August 2010 | 1 response
BCA Ambassador, Miles Clark, checks in once again from south of the equator.
Patagonian Spires
This summer continues to be un-summer-like…..which is the point down here, I suppose. Yet, the relentless lack of girls in bikinis is beginning to take it’s toll. Thank God the skiing has been good!
During the first two weeks of August a big high pressure system came in and sat over us for about a week. We used this opportunity to get deep into the backcountry. Two different groups headed to refugio Frey (a backcountry hut here) and got after it for a few days each. The rest of us were doing long single day backcountry trips from the top of the ski resort everyday. The temps stayed cold and good snow was found on all the south and east facing aspects with 141 degrees SSE being the money spot. I’m now sorta obsessed with this number and constantly bust out my compass to test potential backcountry terrain against it.
"Little AK"
We had some real fun and I got to ski my favorite line down here which I generically call ‘Little AK’, (in the video Pete Connley skis parts of it) even thogh there really isn’t too much little about it. That line already has me dreaming of an AK trip this April.
We are getting hammered with snow again right now and the forecast is showing a huge amount of snow, then very cold temps. We’re lining up some bigger lines that those conditions would be money for. I’ll keep ya posted.
Here’s a video edit that Garret Russel put together for us of Session 2. Shredding Session 2
KC Deane- Down, but Rising Up!
Below is an email that I received today from BCA athlete KC Deane. Amidst a breakthrough season, the Tahoe based freeskier suffered a broken neck and back while filming deep in the Tahoe backcounty. He is on the road to recovery and hopes to be slaying untapped lines by the time the snow starts to fall. Check out KC’s blog for a full account of his accident and the days, weeks and months following. He also has some great photos and stories that highlight his season leading up to the short landing.
“Hey,
So as all of you know I broke my neck back in the beginning of May while filming here in Tahoe. I broke my C2 in two spots. I just had my 3 month check up a few days ago, and I am now out of my brace! My CT scans showed that the vertebrae is 80-90% healed, and although it is not 100% it is now stable. PT started yesterday and I should be 100% in 3-4 weeks.
I can’t say thanks enough for all the support. The doctor said less than 3% of the people that break their C2 or above live, or are paraplegics. I still feel beyond lucky to soon be 100%. I also wanted all of you to know how much it meant to have all of your support. Every day I got an email or a phone call it made me so grateful, and helped me get through the days. It also made me realize how much I love working with the people that I have met, and worked with in the ski industry.
And another good note, I will be back 100% by mid September. I also found out I have two ads coming out in the Freeskier buyers guide, as well as the first issue of Backcountry! Stoked to get things coming out in the mags early.
Hope you all have had a great summer. Thanks again!
KC”
Saved by a Tracker in Bariloche, Argentina
Here’s a guest blog from Randall Stacy, an 18-year-old sponsored snowboarder from Vermont. He was rescued with a Tracker DTS two years ago this time of year at Cerro Cathedral, Argentina. These are the kinds of e-mails that make our jobs at BCA extremely rewarding:
Hi, my name is Randall Stacy. Tomorrow will be exactly two years from the day that I was caught in an avalanche and a BCA Tracker beacon saved my life. I was a 16-year-old kid who knew very little about powder and backcountry snowboarding. I was very ignorant and didn’t understand the full power and danger that avalanches posed. The avalanche I was caught in still remains the largest one I have ever seen. It was 60 to 70 meters wide and had a crown that varied anywhere from 10 inches to 3 feet. This experience changed my life.
I was buried for 8 minutes and was dug up by friends whom I consider family today. Since then, I have developed a new respect for backcountry skiing and snowboarding and also for the guides who know more than anyone. Last year I decided I wanted to learn as much as possible about the backcountry and I am well on my way to that. My goal is to eventually become a guide so that I will have the ability to protect people like my former self who have no knowledge of the backcountry and the danger of avalanches.
Right now I’m interning at South America Snow Sessions in Argentina with two of my guide friends from Silverton Mountain, Colo. While I may not have an avalanche 1 or 2 certification, I have learned more from just riding with these guys than I could anywhere else. However, I’m taking my avalanche 1 cert. next week. I feel more than comfortable using my beacon and I would trust myself to save someone’s life if they were fully buried. However, I never cease to practice.
My backcountry kit consists of all BCA gear. It is top quality gear and I use it every day. Anyway, I wanted to thank you for both saving my life and giving me inspiration.
Randall loves building kickers, but his ultimate goal is to become a guide. It's amazing how fast you grow up once you've survived an avalanche. You're an inspiration to us too, Randall!
Patagonian Summer – Pretty Damn Sweet by Miles Clark
Posted on 9 August 2010 | 2 responses
BCA ambassador and SASS Guide, Miles Clark, checks in from South America.
Bariloche, Argentina – The past three weeks down here with SASS have been pretty damn sweet. And by pretty damn sweet I mean that we’ve been ripping through old growth forest, hucking perfect granite cliffs, bushwhacking bamboo underbrush, getting twisted off backcountry booters, drinking free fernet & cokes, dominating rail jam comps (SASS took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place), and oh yeah…..skiing DEEP POW in the middle of summer! Crazy, right!? Wrong. I’m now realizing that I should have been doing this a long time ago.
The SASS crew has been down here since July 14th, and we’ve gotten a lot done: a week of avy (we all rock BCA trackers, shovels and probes), medical, and guide training, two weeks of ripping pow with the clients at Cerro Catedral, full-day backcountry missions, and we even have a team that is deep in the backcountry at Refugio Frey right now. Bariloche is having a stellar winter this year and we can’t find any good reason to let it go to waste.
Skiing here everyday with James Heim has been pretty sweet. Trying to keep up with him has already affected my skiing for the better.
Check out this helmet cam video from the past two weeks here in Bariloche:
Miles Clark slaying Cerro Catedral during SASS Session 1 from Snow Sessions on Vimeo.
A Little Dose of Winter in July…
Posted on 30 July 2010 | 1 response
Here’s a guest blog from the Beck’s, a passionate snowmobiling family who put on quite a show at the recent parade in their town:
“The parade was to celebrate Pioneer Day in Utah on July 24th. Early in
the morning we headed up Fairview canyon with 2 snowmobiles on a trailer
to find some snow before the parade. We found a good snowbank at just
over 10,000′ elevation on skyline drive. We shoveled for over an hour,
piling snow on the trailer. We headed back down to Fairview to line up
for the parade and had a steady stream of water running off the trailer
(the temperature was over 90 degrees, so the snow was melting fast!).
Cade and I suited up in our full snowmobile attire; bibs, coats, boots,
helmets, gloves, balaclava…..everything! We pulled the float with
Cody’s Chevy Avalanche (gotta stick to the Avalanche theme!) and rode
through the parade, sweating like crazy in our cold-weather gear,
throwing snowballs and candy to the crowd.
Roasting in the July sun!
When we rode through a big
crowd, I pulled the ripcord on my shoulder strap and deployed the Float
30 airbag! It scared all the little kids that were close by, but
everyone cheered when they saw it inflate. We also had our BCA beacons
(Tracker DTS and Tracker2) strapped to our side where everyone could
see. It was a hot parade for us, but everyone loved our float!”
Snowmelt...
Off Season MTB with BCA
Posted on 27 July 2010 | 1 response
So, it’s summer here at BCA, just like everywhere else in the Northern Hemisphere. While we usually have Trackers in our hands 24/7/365, there are small amounts of time here and there when we put ‘em down and get out and enjoy what Colorado has to offer in the summer months.
It’s been a warm few weeks around the Front Range. A/C’s are cranking and rivers are overflowing with rats trying to beat the heat. Sometimes the heat is so great that the cool AC at BCA HQ is enough to provoke a few extra hours behind the desk in an effort to stay cool. But, when you have limited time get out, you ignore the heat and as long lightning isn’t crashing down, it’s time to get lost in the woods. Below is short video and some GPS data that I tracked on Saturday. Remember, the riding in Boulder is pretty poor, but we do what we can. Enjoy.
Conscious Grizzy RedRum 100 from Andy Wenberg on Vimeo.
KGZ Plan and 40 Tribes Gets Callout from offpistemag.com
Off Piste Mag has always done a great job representing the backcountry ski junky. So, when they wanted to do an interview with Ryan about the KGZ Plan and the 40 Tribes Backcountry initiative’s we were stoked to say the least.
I think it’s safe to say the KGZ Plan captures the soul and core of backcountry skiing and culture as represented by Off Piste Mag and dirtbag skiers worldwide. Skiing in KGZ is a raw experience. There is no guide book, no ski or mountain guide, and no local avalanche knowledge. So you look at maps, figure what areas might have the goods and plan a strategy to access these far way peaks and ranges. You never know what you are gonna get when you show up, sometimes you nail a hot zone, and sometimes you get skunked. But, that’s the reason we backcountry ski, right? Having the goal of bagging a specific peak or to ski a sought after line act as nice motivation, but in the end I always feel like the time leading up to and time after the “goal” is what defines many influential excursions. It’s the adventure, the planning, the unknown that drives backcountry skiers and is what drove our crew to experience Central Asia’s Tien Shen Range.
Since leaving Kyrgyzstan in April, the country has seen some tumultuous time. A corrupt political system and civil unrest have created a very unique environment to try and launch a tourist based backcountry ski initiative. But, 40 Tribes is moving forward with hopes to be skiing again in KGZ this upcoming winter, based out of a traditional Krygyz yurt in Ichke Jergez (try and find that on a map). Click on the link below for a full update from Ryan Koupal, who is currently spending his summer planning for the upcoming winter, playing cubb and taste testing the finest IPA’s known to man in Victor, ID.
Ullr kicks back with a smoke and cold one after logging some serious vert in KGZ.
Great Canadian Heli: another core operator goes Tracker2
Another core BC heli-ski operator has committed to a Tracker2 fleet for next season: Great Canadian Heli-Skiing, based at the Heather Mountain Lodge outside Golden, BC. Great Canadian specializes in guiding small groups of four skiers each, using light, powerful A-Star helicopters, similar to those used at most AK operations. Here’s a sampling of their goods, featuring Dan and Dave Treadway (Dan’s a big friend of BCA: his life was saved with a Tracker a few years ago):
The nice thing about heli-skiing in small groups like this is that you can ski with your friends–and not risk riding with strangers that might be outta shape, slow, or hungover (or vice-versa, making everybody else wait for you!). With big Bell 212′s carrying 12 riders each, you’ll make compromises in terrain and vertical to accommodate the wide range of abilities in your group. But not in an A-Star packed with your best buds! Great Canadian’s got it going on. Check them out at http://www.canadianheli-skiing.com . Yum, those scallops look tasty!
First 2010-11 Float 30 deployment: Bent Gate Mountaineering
Here’s a sneak preview of the 2010-11 Float 30, which is now being assembled in our newly expanded headquarters in Boulder. This video was taken at Bent Gate Mountaineering in Golden, Colo., where BCA co-owner Bruce Edgerly dropped by yesterday to visit with Tom Mason (left) and Dan Fiore (right). Pulling the trigger is Bent Gate customer Jordan Lipp:
This year’s Float 30 has several nice improvements: 1) Higher quality materials, including 420 denier ripstop and smooth-operating stormproof zippers; 2) a fully cinch-able and stowable diagonal ski carry system; 3) insulated hydration sleeve and interior bladder hanger; and 4) a few beefed up parts that showed some little wear-and-tear when giving hundreds of demos last year. Oh yeah, and a HUGE new BCA logo on the airbag!
Wow, this store has gone ballistic since my last visit a few years ago. These guys are smart, aggressive, and passionate, just the kind of retailers we like. They should have their first shipment of Floats in on Sept. 1.
To find out where else to get your Float when it arrives, give us a call at (800)670-8735. We’re stoked to start shipping!
Whistler Heli-Skiing goes big with Tracker2
The world’s third-largest heli-skiing operation has ordered a large fleet of Tracker2’s for use beginning next season. Whistler Heli-Skiing (WHS), based in Whistler, BC, ordered 70 Tracker2 avalanche transceivers from us this week. The new beacons will replace another digital model the company has been using and will supplement an existing fleet of 25 Tracker DTS now being used mainly by private groups.
Now owned by ski industry giant Intrawest Corp., WHS has been operating since 1981, accessing over 1,500 acres in BC’s rugged Coast Range. The company focuses on day trips and provides all guides and their guests with their own transceiver (all guides and one guest per load carry a pack with shovel, probe, and radio). This makes ease-of-use and durability top priority, according to Whistler Heli-Skiing general manager Mike Sadan, whose guides tested the T2 last winter.
“We chose the Tracker2 because of the simplicity of the operating functions,” Sadan said. “Given the level of experience of our clients, that was the highest priority.”
Tracker is the most widely used avalanche transceiver in the U.S. heli-skiing industry. The majority of U.S. operators–and 90 percent of Alaskan heli-ski operators–use Tracker DTS or Tracker2. Generally speaking, Tracker is most popular at smaller operations with only one guide per ship, as there is a possibility the guest might have to take part in a transceiver rescue (this has happened several times that we know of). For this reason, the guides have a very vested interest in knowing that their guest can pull off a rescue with minimal training.
We’re extremely excited to be such a big part of the WHS safety plan. They guide lots of ”skier days” and their decisions are based on field experience and reality. So we think this purchase makes a strong statement about our new beacon.
