Silverton Mountain, Colorado

SILVERTON--WOOOOOOOO!!!

PART ONE
We arrived late to our third and final destination, Silverton, after driving through one of Colorado's scariest roads in the dark. Red Mountain Pass was a scary road in the summer, and doubly frightening in the midst of winter. Countless squiggly markings on road signs warned drivers about hairpin turns with no guardrails, panning hundred-foot cliffs below. Our high beams spotlighted multiple layers of snowpack--cut better than Vail's halfpipe--which lined the roads like an ice luge; avalanche debris piled on the side.


(The drive was even more impressive in daylight on the way home.)

Around 9pm, we finally arrived in the sleepy town of Silverton, a Victorian mining town in San Juan county, Colorado. There was only one restaurant was open tonight, The Pickel Barrel. It was quaint and charming, with an old fashioned cash register and worn wooden walls. We kindly asked our waitress if she'd heard anything about the weather for tomorrow and if it was going to snow. "Not much," she said, "just a foot."

We awoke the next morning and Gergz and I ran to the living room like children at Christmas. How much snow fell overnight? "This much" we gestured with two hands spread wide apart like we always do. It was going to be a powder day after all!

It was puking all day, and Mansey, Gergz, Kylie, Stu, Chris, Baden and I couldn't be more excited.

Despite the freezing temperatures and high winds, we were able to enjoy six hardcore runs on this backcountry mountain: Every run was different; Every run was pow (minus a few wind blown icy sections at top). Silverton is unique because it's 100% advanced terrain, which means there's no easy way down. The easiest run here is similar to the steepest run at most resorts, measuring in at a 35-30 degree angle. And, the place begins at an elevation as high as Eagle's Nest (10,400)! Cheers to that! But, don't be fooled, there's a price to pay for fresh lines every time. Hikes and traverses are to be expected. So is avie gear--probes, beacons, and shovels!

There was no time for lunch. No time for potty breaks. No coco breaks. No chance to unfog the goggles. Just riding.


We shredded the gnar and the gnar was good. Knee to waist deep in pow, we tore up some open fields, frozen waterfalls, tree runs, and rock drops, making our way back to the one chairlift via foot, van, and ex-UPS truck.



For a place with only one chairlift, no running water, and a red zip tie for a lift ticket, I was very impressed.

The snow was incredible.

Too bad it wasn't a bluebird day...NOT.

PART TWO

The next morning, we realized the sketchy twisty twervy topsy turny road we drove in on was now closed for avalanche control.

We refused to take a four hour detour through Durango to get home to Vail in time for tomorrow's bookings. So, we waited it out, hoping the pass would open shortly.

We wandered around the town, which was like a ghost town; very little was open, and many storefronts on the side streets were completely baracaded with snow.


So, what do you expect a bunch of snowboard instructors on a snowboard trip to do?
Go SNOWBOARDING, of course! Well, we missed our only opportunity to ride Silverton again under bluebird conditions. So, we looked for urban signs and rails to jib or places to build a kicker. But, Silverton is a town without stairs. After listening to a few insane ideas, we decided to humor this one: jumping off the roof of an old mining building.


Only one was ballsy enough to do it: Gergz!



You're gonna see him in a snowboard video one day.

,

Telluride, Colorado

We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather while visiting Telluride for two days in Feburary.

The mountain would have been better to ride with a bit of fresh snow on top of it's abundance of steep black runs, but the bluebird skies and picturesque views were a worthy trade.

Though only a third as big as Vail, Telluride had much to offer--including a wonderful little town with no chain restaurants and hotels, a chondola (part chairlift, part gondola), and PlumTV Telluride!

Some of us spent the majority of our first day around Chair 14 Gold Hill, hiking outside the ropes to make fresh tracks below some awesome cliffs,



while others climbed Palmyra Peak (open for the first time in many years).


The next day, Bade and Gergz strapped on their beacons and disappeared for a big backcountry experience, while Kylie and I hooted and hollered racing down hairbag alley-style East and West drains by Chair 9 (thanks Supergirl & Maverick). Mansfield, Chris and Stu spent the afternoon in the terrain park.


We had so much fun, we forgot to eat, though we did stop at Giuseppe's, Colorado's highest restaurant at 11,850 feet in elevation, minutes after closing.


Apres beers and nachos never tasted so good!

Powderhorn Mountain, Colorado

With high hopes for another amazing road trip--with places like Telluride and Silverton up ahead--we all seemed to have the same idea in mind when we rocked up to Powderhorn Mountain: "Who's idea was this?"

With only fifteen cars in the parking lot at 10:30am, we wondered if this could be Colorado's best kept secret or a total flop. The map previewed three two-seater chairlifts and an overwhelming number of blue groomers. We hesitated to begin the day with low expectations--sometimes it's these little podunk local places that turn out to be one hell of a time...

It was far from the familiar family resort scene of Vail and Beaver Creek. There were no on-mountain dining facilities, no sharpshooters, no "back bowls." Rather, it was a place that was to be admired for it's quaint, authentic, "get down to business and just ski" kind of place; The kind of place where, as Kylie put it, we'd just have to make our own fun.








Near the ticket counter, a simple black and white computer print out announced that the Travel Channel was here and may use our images. Amazing news to my ears, but why were they here? Obviously not for the terrain park. Perhaps for the hilarious chairlift loading shows. ;) We'd heard Powderhorn was a surprisingly wonderful hidden gem, known for it's boulder fields and also fun tree runs. Maybe the Travel Channel was here to document the place before it booms...

This was obviously not a place many advanced riders head to at first go, so, there was actually a lot of good pow left several days after the last storm. And, once we found the boulder fields, we were golden. Four feet piled ontop of one particular boulder became the perfect feature to begin sessioning. We built a kicker and then ollied, gapped and tapped the mushroom, landing in two feet of soft pow.





The day ended at a respectable hour. We apres-ed over beers, modeling for B roll footage for the Travel Channel cam. Perhaps you'll see us on YouTube.

Tim Cochrane Talks Avalanche Danger on Fresh Tracks

Tim Cochrane, Director of Vail Mountain Rescue Team, sat down with Plum's Juliana Broste to discuss the ten year snow-pack cycle, avalanche danger and incidents we've already seen this season. Tim also provided tips you can use to protect yourself and others in the backcountry.



Copy and paste this link to see full interview:
http://vail.plumtv.com/videos/tim_cochrane_talks_avalanche_danger_fresh_tracks

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Little preparation went into the Jackson Hole trip. And that's why it was so special.


(Posing in front of the Grand Tetons)

When Chris mentioned he was driving out alone to meet the Road Trip America crew (the lucky few who skipped out on three weeks of work to ride Whistler and many other resorts on the way), I suspected a few of us might be welcome to tag along…

In a matter of days, I was packed and ready to go—not 100% sure if my boss was serious when he agreed to give me the days off after discussing the matter over drinks at Ski Bar. With fingers crossed, I was ready for my another glorious snowboard trip.

Four of us, Chris, Gergz, Cole and myself, charged ten hours in the dark to meet six others (Bex, Gav, Mansy, Stan, Nat, Josh & Stacey) soundly sleeping in a sweet ass condo in Teton Village.

We were in Jackson Hole. The name alone promised a legendary mountain experience, although, I had yet to discover why.

Four thousand, one hundred, thirty nine vertical feet of stunning terrain, including awesome steeps, glades, moguls, gnarly rocks drops and ridiculously scary cliffs blanketed under 9 inches of fresh pow (20 including the day before). It was time to shred.

After two or three runs tearing up fresh lines of pow pow not far from the in chairlifts, we began to wonder why so much great snow was left untouched. We soon realized that most Jackson Hole locals and visitors would rather hike out to a few great untouched spots than taste sweet pow accessible on the trail map. Riding up the chairlift, we watched ants hiking in a row up to find bigger, better terrain.

CORBETS COULOIR

After a couple warm up laps, we found ourselves situated at the top of the famous Corbets Couloir.


It’s a drop some say as large as 120 feet, supposedly perfect if you’re the first one down on a powder day. Unfortunately today, the snow was less ideal. Watching Gergz drop off a creatively difficult / psychotic side, falling the distance six or seven times his size, I reasoned I was smarter than that, lacking some much needed testosterone.


A handful of other friends followed, taking the slightly more traveled path, plunging ten feet before landing in a violent side slip, then having a few of the best turns after that.

I, on the other hand, followed a smaller crew around the side and enjoyed making some good turns in safer grounds.

The adrenaline kicked in, and our crew was charged.

CASPER BOWL
Hiking to the top of Casper Bowl was a gigantic workout for a woman with short legs.



But well worth it once we reached the top.



CODY BOWL




TIMBER RIDGE MILE

We stepped out of bounds and into heaven when we left the Jackson Hole boundary from the rendezvous bowl. Powderlicious! Apart from the 300 foot cliffs, it was all our playground.


Jackson Hole is a backcountry rider’s paradise.

We enjoyed making smooth knee deep turns through the glades and even found a super fun kicker to hike and throw down a few tricks.

This area is considered part of the Bridger Teton National Forest. We were stoked when we realized we could ride it all the way home to our very doorstep (which was coincidentally named Timber Ridge. Thus, the Timber Ridge Mile was born.

J HOLE NIGHTLIFE
It was a treat to casually chat over apres nachos and beers at the Mangy Moose and feel like I was truly on vacation. I think we explored a total of seven bars in Jackson Hole--though I was a little disappointed I did not go shopping...

You know it was a good night when you unknowingly leave the bar with pockets full of peanuts.



BYE JACKSON HOLE
Somehow, I survived the ten hour return trip with the boys, putting up with all things "man"--the jerky, the farts, and the porn.

In short, Jackson Hole was steep, deep, and awesome.


I think we were all a bit wiped out after that.