May 2-4 Unfrozen Ocean - observing the water cycle.

2010-05-26 20:30:01

Last weekend was the Victoria Day long weekend in most of Canada; except for Quebec where it is observed as la journée nationale des partriotes. In either case, the end result was that most of the residents of the Great White North had the day off on Monday. Some of us, therefore, decided to take advantage of it and try to both surf and snowboard on the same weekend. So we packed up the necessary gear, made our way to Mount Washington in New Hampshire to snowboard on Saturday, then to York Beach in Maine to surf on Sunday.

The idea for this road trip actually came to me when I saw a commercial for a 2009 Pontiac Vibe in which a girl goes skiing and surfing in the same day. I thought to myself: what a good idea! However, snowboarding and surfing in the same day seemed a bit ambitious in the northeast, so I decided to limit the scope a little, and do both activities in a single weekend instead. Not only would this be a great way to spend the long weekend, but the nerdier hemisphere of my brain also realized that it would also be taking advantage of two extremes of the hydrologic cycle, which I think is pretty friggin' cool.

The crew for this adventure consisted of Mat, Winnie, Dana, Lindsay, Elodie, and myself. We piled into two cars (of the four cylinder variety) and made our way to New Hampshire early in the evening on Friday. The plan for the weekend was as follows:

1. Wake up early on Saturday morning and head to Pinkham Notch to start our trek up Tuckerman Trail to do some snowboarding in the Ravine. Then spend the night in nearby Gorham.
2. Leave Gorham early on Sunday to head to the York Beach location of the Liquid Dreams surf shop in Maine to secure gear to surf for the day.
3. If the swell or weather didn't cooperate on Sunday, wake up early on Monday to surf. Otherwise go wherever the wind takes us.

Saturday: snow day

Mat, Winnie, Elodie, and I made it to Pinkham Notch around mid-morning on Saturday (Dana and Lindsay decided to try and cycle around Mount Washington instead). For Mat and Winnie, this would be their initiation to snowboarding in the ravine. For Mat, this was also a big milestone considering that he only started snowboarding this season. As his teacher, I wasn't sure it was a great idea but I figured that if he made it back in one piece, he'd have no fear of any terrain within resort boundaries pretty much anywhere (and to think that CASI accused me of not pushing my students hard enough). Besides, since he is related to me, I knew there was no way that I would be talking him out of this (he did have his first ever surfing lesson near pipeline in Hawaii after all).

We made it up to the bowl in Tuckerman Ravine at around mid-day. Our options were somewhat limited due to the undermined snow and exposed rocks in the trail run outs. We decided that our best bet was to head up Right Gully which had the longest run out and fewest crevasses we could see. After choosing a suitable rock for setting up camp, Winnie, Mat, and I got geared up for the hike up the gully. (Elodie, having hurt herself during our previous Tuckerman Ravine outing, opted not to snowboard).

We did two runs in Right Gully before calling it a day. We made it back to Gorham shortly before 7PM and were all looking forward to getting cleaned up after having spent nearly 8 hours outdoors. A swim in the ocean would have been amazing, which made me wish we actually could go surfing that day. However, the coast is still several hours away from Gorham.

The hotel pool would have been an acceptable alternative to swimming in the ocean, unfortunately by the time we were expecting to be done eating, it would have been closed. We would have to wait to get to the coast before going for a swim.

The final, and most practical, option was the hotel room shower. Once we were cleaned and up and fed, we turned in for the night, ready for an early departure to Atlantic coast of Maine the following morning.

Sunday: Surf day

Following a late start out of Gorham and brief stop in Conway for supplies, it was already mid-day by the time we made it to the Liquid Dreams surf shop in York. The weather looked rather dreary with overcast skies and a mist which basically prevented us from seeing very far. However, the waves looked decent and, with the wind coming out of the west, were breaking close to shore so we bucked up and paddled out.

Although not very experienced, most of us have surfed before. In fact, Mat and Winnie recently got back from a surf camp in Brazil so they became the resident experts. Elodie, on the other hand, had never tried surfing before, so we did our best to teach her. I was impressed with her sense of adventure in coming all this way to try something new, but a little bit worried that she would not like it. As it turns out, my worries were misplaced as she seems to have enjoyed surfing quite a bit and even managed to catch a few waves on her own.

Our session lasted only a bit more than one hour. One thing about surfing this early in the season is that the Atlantic Ocean is pretty cold. Even though we all had wetsuits (a must this time of year), that didn't prevent our un-bootied feet from getting cold. The cold, rather than fatigue, was the determining factor in the decision to run for the shore. That and the fact that Dana cut his foot open on a seashell and required some first aid. Once we were dried off, warmed up, patched up, we went into town to check into our hotel with designs on spending the afternoon in the hot tub.

Monday: Chill day

In the plan, Monday was supposed to be the weather day in case we couldn't surf on Sunday. Since the weather was warm and the skies were clear, we had considered hitting the beach for a second surf session. However, we decided to be lazy and just chill on the beach instead. Besides, the wind was coming from the east, so the small waves were breaking far out.

I was initially surprised that the beach wasn't busier than it was considering the weather. But then I remembered that it wasn't a long weekend in the US, therefore the usual beach goers were probably at their day jobs. Of course the down side to the non-existent crowds is the unmistakable noise of worklife, including construction. But that noise was easily tuned out by the sounds of the crashing waves.

We hung out on the beach until around mid-day before we decided to make the long voyage home. I realized at that moment that we had about 800km of commuting yet to do. At which point I began feeling slightly guilty for having driven all that distance just to be able to snowboard and surf on the same weekend. Having seen the two extremes of the hyrdologic cycle, I couldn't help but feel slightly responsible for the oil leak in the Gulf Coast which poses a threat to that very cycle which makes surfing and snowboarding possible. The only consolation that I have is that we did carpool, and use fuel efficient vehicles; something that should be taken into consideration if ever you decide to undertake a road trip of this kind.

Environmental considerations aside, this trip was a great success. There were a few casualties — Dana sliced open his foot, and I wrenched my shoulder when the undermined snow I was standing on collapsed beneath me — but that didn't prevent us from enjoying ourselves. Some of us even got to experience a few new things — Mat and Winnie have developed a taste for backcountry snowboarding, and Elodie expressed interest in doing more surfing this summer — Some of us got to check another item of their bucket list — surf and snowboard in one weekend — and best of all, I learned a new appreciation for the water cycle and how it affects the activities that I enjoy doing.

I find it truly amazing that a road trip inspired by a television commercial could prove to be such an enriching experience. When you consider that I don't get broadcast television in my house (no cable or aerials), it's amazing I got the inspiration at all. Perhaps the powers of reason were trying to tell me that inspiration can come from the most unexpected places.

If you're feeling adventurous enough, I highly recommend doing a similar road trip. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that there is no free parking near the beach in York between May 15th and October 15th. If your not staying close to the beach, make sure you bring plenty of change for parking meters. The good news is that there's no apparent limit to how long you can park so you can continue feeding the meter and 25 cents gets you about 15 minutes. If you want to be sneaky, the meters also accepts Canadian quarters, believing they are US quarters, which can save you money in times when the Loonie is less valuable than the Greenback.

Also, bring water shoes. We found a lot of open clam shells on the beach which can result in pretty nasty cuts to the bottom of your feet (just ask Dana). This can quickly put an end to your surf day so the reduced feel of the board is more than made up for by the reduced risk of bleeding wounds. Besides, the extra layer of insulation will keep your feet from going numb in the cold springtime Atlantic waters.

Most importantly, don't forget to consider how you're impacting the water cycle that gives us a reason to want to do such road trips. If you want to find someone to blame for the environmental disaster that was caused by the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform, we have but to look into the mirror. So make sure you use energy efficient driving practices and have properly maintained your car before taking off. Even though that oil slick is nowhere near the northeast right now, it still affects the greater hydrologic cycle which brings us blower pow in the winter.

Lastly, don't forget to have fun. After all, what other reason would you choose to do a road trip? Now get out there and ride.

Categories: Snowboarding, Travel, Ride Journal | 0 Comments

Skin To Win - Applying new knowledge in the Gulf of Slides

2010-02-26 00:02:24

On the weekend of February 20th, I was in the White Mountains of New Hampshire to do the AIARE Level 2 avalanche course. It wasn't that long ago – December to be exact – that I had done the level 1 and I was keen on becoming an even bigger snow geek. This time, as I understood, we would be spending a bit more time in the field looking at snow grains, making weather observations, and just generally playing in the snow. I was also hopeful that this time I'd have the opportunity to do a little backcountry snowboarding while I was at it.

In preparation for the possibility of touring in the backcountry around Tuckerman Ravine, I had to set up my newly acquired Prior AMF splitboard. The board had been sitting in my garage since I received it the day after I returned from Colorado. I hadn't yet secured any bindings for it and a splitboard is pretty much useless without them. Fortunately my new Ride Betas arrived on Wednesday which allowed me to set them up before I was scheduled to leave for North Conway NH on Thursday.

The course was to be administered by Eastern Mountain Sports, and the course provider was Marc Chauvin of Chauvin Guides.

Note: The difference between the course administrator and provider is somewhat political but essentially amounts to EMS taking care of the paperwork while Marc Chauvin doing all the actual work.

The class size was much smaller than it had been on the level 1 course, although still large – five strong including the instructor – for a group planning on touring in the backcountry. The class consisted of two skiers, Malcolm and Ben, and three snowboarders: Mark, Kathy, and myself. It didn't take long for the gentle ribbing of the skier vs. snowboarder rivalry to begin.

The first day was basically a review of the level 1 material, so we spent it all in class getting a refresher on the decision making framework and making jokes about skiers and snowboarders at every opportunity. Marc Chauvin pulled out a good one about snowboarders, and what they had in common with vacuum cleaners: they both have attachments for dirtbags (sometimes humour is a means of holding a mirror up to the face of society... don't fret knuckle draggers, this wouldn't be the last word).

Over the next three days, we proceeded to geek out on snow with discussions about vapor pressure, metamorphism, temperature gradients and other nerdy sounding things. Marc was very good, however, at not letting us lose sight of the fact that all these things amounted to a very minor data point in a much more global decision framework for safe travel through the backcountry.

The big test for our newly acquired knowledge came on the fourth day of the course: tour day. The plan was to seek out the best riding conditions with the least danger of avalanche. Although there isn't much snow right now in Pinkham Notch, orographic lift has been contributing some precipitation at higher elevation. Combine that with strong north-west winds and you're likely to find wind-loading on south-east aspects. The plan therefore, was to head up the Gulf of Slides trail which, being on the second ridge east, would not be dangerously loaded but could still provide good snow for riding. With a plan set, it was time to take my brand new splitboard on its inaugural run.

The first leg of the trip involved skinning up the Gulf of Slides ski trail which was also a learning experience for me as I was figuring out the exact mechanics involved in skinning. It took me about an hour to get it dialed, however, these new skills came at the expense of my touring poles which got pretty mangled (it probably didn't help that I forgot the baskets in Ottawa).

It took a little more than three hours to make it up the Gulf of Slides trail to the South Snow Fields. This is where we had to decide on the next leg of our tour. We proceeded to make some weather observations to provide some data to make an educated plan. We finally agreed that skinning up the snow fields, then riding down gully #3 back to the ski trail would be the best plan. The alternative involved boot packing up the gully itself, putting us right in the barrel of the gun, so to speak, as this would likely be where the most unstable snow would be found. Besides, the gully is very steep limiting the chances of being able to boot pack up it with snowboard boots and no crampons; the odds of making it to the ridge via the snow fields were much higher. Even though we all had ice axes, these can be a double edged sword: they can get into as much trouble as they can get you out of.

We got to the ridge above gully #3 right around 1PM and, as we had anticipated before heading out that morning, the skies cleared up a little bit to give us a great view of the surrounding terrain. This gave me an appreciation for how far we had traveled because the AMC visitor center in Pinkham Notch was a long way away. No sooner had the sun broken through the clouds, however, did they roll back in thus compromising our visibility. We hastily re-assembled our snowboards so we could drop in before we lost too much visibility.

We had chosen gully #3 for our descent because we had anticipated that, due to it being more sheltered than gully #2, it would have been less wind scoured and have more snow in it. We already knew that the riding conditions in gully #2 were decent by talking to people who had ridden it the day before, so gully #3 should have been really good. However, for some reason that we couldn't figure out, gully #3 was heavily wind scoured; not much powder to be found. That's not to say that the ride down wasn't fun, we just weren't getting the face shots we were expecting. This may be a good example of one of the key lessons that I learned on this course: not all bad decisions lead to bad outcomes, and not all good decisions lead to good outcomes.

Once out of the gully, we rode back to Pinkham Notch via the Gulf of Slides Ski Trail. I think everyone in the group, skier and snowboarder alike, felt that this was a successful tour. In spite of the rivalry that had developed between the two groups, there definitely was a good degree of camaraderie throughout; all ribbing was done in good humour. After all, it doesn't matter whether you ski or snowboard, you're likely to encounter good and bad riders in either case: it's not the shoes it's the dancer. The important thing is to choose your companions wisely, and not predicate that decision by what they put under their feet.

I learned a lot in this class; I now feel as though I know more about snow than any sane person should ever need to. I strongly recommend this course to anyone interested in traveling through the backcountry. Not only will this knowledge help keep you safe, but it will also help you understand how to find the good snow – even though we failed in this case, like I said, not all good decisions lead to good outcomes – that is, after all, what we're really after when we enter the backcountry anyway.

Categories: Snowboarding, Travel, Ride Journal | 0 Comments

SIA Day One - Team Moose Tech Does Denver

2010-01-29 02:28:45

Thursday was the first day of the SIA snowsports trade show in Denver Colorado. Dana, Zoe, and myself woke up early to head down to the Denver Convention Center for some shenanigans. This was the first time any of us had been to Denver (with the exception of the time I spent in the airport last year). We were all very keen on seeing how the Denver SIA show would play out.

The first order of business when we arrived at the convention center was to pick up some badges for Dana and Zoe. I already had my badge since it was delivered to me by mail, but Zoe and Dana registered later so they had to wait in line. When everyone was “badged up”, we decided to go on a quest to find some breakfast before heading out onto the convention floor. This is when we discovered Jason's Deli on 16th Street near California Street, only two blocks away from our hotel. If you're ever visiting Denver, I highly recommend it; the price is right, the food is pretty darn good, and if you're in town for SIA (or any other tradeshow for that matter), it's also really close to the convention center.

Once we were fed, and made a quick stop at Starbucks for some yuppie caffeine, we made our way back to the convention center to get the lay of the land. However, we wound up getting lost -- the signs directing us where to go were clearly not written in Canadian -- and it took us about half an hour to find the entrance. When we finally got inside, we went to the Helly Hansen booth, which had a second level, to get a bird's eye view of the entire convention floor as well as check out what HH has in store for next season.

As we were making our way through the convention area, the McDavid HexPad booth caught our attention. McDavid had focused on sports medicine related products since the early 80s, however, in 2003 they got into the business of making protective gear. I've recently grown tired of bruising my bum on steel rails so I've been particularly interested in protective gear. What McDavid has to offer in the HexPad seems to be the right combination of lightweight and padding which is what really caught our attention. U.S. Snowboarder, Nick Baumgartner, is even getting behind the product and may collaborate with them to develop some protective gear oriented toward snowboarding.

The next booth we stopped at was the Lorpen socks booth. At this point, many of you are probably thinking: socks?! Eff, this is just like that one christmas. Well I believe socks are an underrated part of the snowboarders arsenal because cold wet feet can ruin even the best day of snowboarding. I'm also a firm believer in the golden rule when buying snowboarding gear: spend more money on whatever is closest to your feet. Socks are about as close to your feet as any equipment can get.

Since the Lorpen booth was in close proximity to the Atomic booth, we decided to head over to there to take a look at their 2011 gear, and to see if we could line up some boards to ride for the on-snow part of the show on Monday and Tuesday. While we were there, Ted Lohr showed us Atomic's split boards. Atomic have a unique system for their splits; the bindings are mounted in a similar way to standard snowboard bindings using four posts screwed into the insert holes. This will make a split board feel a lot more like a normal snowboard because you don't have an extra plate separating you from the board. The other interesting feature about the Atomic splits is that they are all swallow tailed. In skinning configuration, this allows the board to be used as skis, with the normal ski tips, because the tail is set up as the front of the touring skis.

In the afternoon we decided to meet up with some people from Sierra Snowboard who were in the Burton booth doing the daily giveaway. I have two comments about the Burton booth: 1) it's huge, and 2) it looks like a casino (complete with blackjack, craps tables, and Elvis impersonators). I guess Burton misses having the SIA tradeshow in Las Vegas but, instead of complaining about it, they decided to bring a little bit of Vegas to Denver.

At the end of the day, we decided to go meet up with Johan of C3 at the Capita booth. This is where Zoe and Dana discovered the effects of altitude on a person's sobriety. They had a few beers with Johan in the booth and it didn't take long for them to start feeling tipsy. This prompted us to play a game with the Union bindings in the booth across the hall: we had to go to the rack and choose what we thought would be the lightest binding, the person who chose the lightest one would be crowned champion and master of the universe. Fortunately for us, there was a scale right there to give us the answer. Zoe won by choosing the Union Trilogy so now everyone must recognize Zoe as the new master of the universe.

The highlight of the day for me was meeting Cholo Burns at the NoBoard booth. Dana and I told him about our NoBoarding Backyard Jib shenanigans and he was all over it. He also offered to loan me a complete NoBoard setup when I go to Alaska in March. Not only will it be loads of fun, but he assures me that everyone there will think I'm hardcore to boot. Cholo is an awesome guy.

All in all, the first day of SIA was a great success. We only really got lost once, got to meet some really cool people, and see some really cool gear that will be available next season. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of shenanigans we can get into on day two.

Categories: Snowboarding, Travel, SIA | 1 Comments

“Not So Lost” In the Wild - testing new camping gear

2010-01-15 16:14:34

I recently purchased some new camping equipment in anticipation of winter camping/snowboarding adventures this season. This past weekend, I decided that, in addition to going snowboarding, I would also take the opportunity to test out this new equipment in an area where, if something went wrong, I could easily make it back to "civilization" without freezing to death. The area in question: the woods around my home mountain of Mont Cascades. This experience promised to be, not only educational, but also convenient since I was planning to ride Mont Cascades on both Saturday and Sunday and not having to commute is a win!

My Saturday started out with a quick run to the Mountain Equipment Co-op to get some last minute supplies: safety matches, and snow stakes. With those in hand, I made my way to the ski hill to get my shred on. However, this weekend would prove to be extra special as my dad came out to learn how to snowboard. I had promised to teach him last year but then broke my knee cap – which compelled him to back out rather than watch me man it up – but with my knee cap now intact, it was on. The only problem was that I'd be teaching basic freestyle to some 8-13 year-olds for two hours before hand, so I was a little concerned about breaking my dad (Hey dad! can you do a 360?).

In spite of my concerns, the lesson went off without a hitch. Although after about 45 minutes, my dad was complaining that his legs were sore (yup, that will happen). In that time, however, he managed to get off the chairlift twice without a major disaster, and do a controlled side slip down the beginner hill on both heel and toe sides (who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks?)

After the lesson and a quick cup of hot chocolate, I grabbed my pack and proceeded to get "not so lost" in the wild. It was about 7PM when I hiked into the bush, and the temperature was dropping fast. I found a good place to set up camp at the bottom of a new ski trail that was cut in the fall but not yet open to the public. As an added bonus, there was a fire pit there already – I guess they had been burning the trees they cut down -- and the fire was still smoldering. So I stomped out a spot in the snow not too close to the fire pit and set myself to work setting up my tent.

After about an hour or so, my tent was set up. I anchored the base using deadman anchors (sticks burried in the snow), and staked the fly using my newly acquired snow stakes. I wasn't entirely convinced that the deadman anchors would work, but I suppose that's why I decided to do this test so that I wouldn't have to figure it out when I'm in the middle of nowhere (like Tuckerman Ravine for example).

Once camp was setup, it was time to make some food. I borrowed a camping stove and a cannister of IsoPro (an 80/20 blend of Isobutane and propane) from my cousin Mat. The Snowpeak stove was tiny and easy to set up, however, by the time I started it it was already approaching 9PM and the temperature was still dropping. My lighter wouldn't light in the cold, so I was glad that I brought safety matches. I had to re-light the stove several times; it seemed as though the IsoPro was getting pretty close to being liquefied by the cold.

Since I didn't carry any water in with me, I had to melt snow to get water to make food. For the next half hour, I went back and forth from a patch of fresh snow (untracked and un-yellowed) to the stove to refill the pot. It's amazing how little water there actually is in a litre of snow.

Once I was fed, I realized that I was alone in the woods, and had left my book back in the village. I wasn't really motivated to go back and get it, besides it was already after 9:30PM anyway, so I decided to do what I came here to do in the first place: test my down sleeping bag. So I stripped down to my base layer and slid into the sleeping bag. Because I wanted to test the warmth of the bag, I decided against using the ground mat so I could judge it in the most extreme circumstances possible (short of it being wet).

I woke up the next morning around 7:30. My face was a little cold since it was the only part of me that actually wasn't bundled up in down. So the sleeping bag was rather effective. However, I was not looking forward to getting out and into my cold clothes.

I decided to go the “quick rip of the band-aid” route and quickly jumped out of my sleeping bag into my outerwear. After about an hour, I was all packed up and ready to make my way back to the lift area of the ski hill. I was supposed to meet up with my friend Ryan to rip up some early morning groomers. I figured it was a good idea to plan to meet someone early in the morning anyway in case I had become a popsicle or cougar food at some point during the course of the night. Fortunately neither of those scenarios played themselves out. Here are a few things that I learned on this camping trip:

• IsoPro does not like being cold and does not burn well when it's liquid. To mitigate this, keep your camp fuel cannister inside your jacket for a while before trying to light your stove.
• Snow takes up a lot more volume than water. My guess is that it's about a 10:1 ratio.
• It's a good idea to keep your boot liners inside your sleeping bag overnight. This might not the most comfortable sleeping arrangement, however, it's a small price to pay for being able to feel your toes the next morning. I didn't start feeling mine until noon.
• Although deadman anchors don't seem very solid at first, just wait until you try and dig them up in the morning. They are a quite effective way of anchoring a tent, they just take a little time to set.

All in all, the camping gear test was a great success and I can't wait to get out again; it's a great way to connect with nature and avoid long commutes while getting rad. I was informed on Sunday that the temperature dropped to -20C overnight and I didn't even notice. This in spite of the fact that I didn't have a proper sleeping pad beneath me (my Big Agnes stayed in its sack). At this point, if I got a mummy liner for my sleeping bag, I'd probably be ready for just about anything short of an antarctic expedition. I even had time to take a few photos while I was at it, check them out on my flickr photo album:

Categories: Snowboarding, Travel, Ride Journal | 2 Comments