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

Extreme Ravine - Charlie (Waldo) does Mount Washington

2010-05-06 14:44:07

This weekend a group of friends and I, decided to head down to New Hampshire to hike up the Tuckerman Ravine of Mount Washington for some spring snowboarding. Following the recent late April storm, we were hoping to find some good snow to shred without undue risk. Although we did find what we were looking for, we also found much more; sometimes the things you don't plan to see are what make road trips the most memorable. Best of all, now and again you even learn stuff about stuff in the process.

The plan to go to Mount Washington had been in the works for quite some time. However, due to the effects of this year's El Niño cycle, which resulted in a much shallower than usual snowpack, we weren't sure if we would find the conditions we were hoping for. But just when we thought Ullr had completely turned his back on the north-east, we were blessed with a late season storm cycle that dumped up to 60cm of snow in 36 hours on Mount Washington. Some of you, at this point, may be thinking that 60cm of new snow in 36 hours is a clear red flag when it comes to avalanche danger, and rightly so. In fact the avalanche advisory for Tuckerman Ravine posted the danger level as “EXTREME” on Thursday, which is unusual this late in the season. In spite of this, Dana, Lindsay, Elodie, and I decided to make the trip to New Hampshire and see if we could find some terrain that would provide the right amount of fun with a tolerable amount of risk.

We left for New Hampshire on Friday evening. At this time, the avalanche danger in Tuckerman Ravine was posted as being “considerable”; an improvement over the previous day's “extreme” rating, but still more dangerous than what is generally acceptable. To make matters worse, the forecast was calling for warm weather which was expected to make the new layer of snow very cohesive and very heavy; it seemed as though April couldn't decide if it wanted to be a part of winter or summer. In spite of this, we decided to go anyway and take the chance that the snow pack would be stable enough for us to ride on Saturday.

We lazily made it to Pinkham Notch late Saturday morning. The avalanche danger was still posted at considerable for most of the Ravine (with the exception of the lower snowfields). To make matters worse, there had been recent natural avalanche activity (within the last 24 hours) in Left Gully which had run all the way to the Tuckerman Ravine trail in the bowl; another clear red flag. However, the volunteer ski patrol was there to offer advice, and their advice was to ask the Forest Service staff at Hermit Lake since they were updating the danger level hourly. So we loaded up our packs, and started up the Tuckerman Ravine trail to Hermit Lake 2200 feet (667 meters) above us. The current safe plan was to, from Hermit Lake, take the Boott Spur trail up the ridge to the summit of Boott Spur mountain and see if we could ride Hillman's Highway or Cathedral Gully from there.

On the way up, we crossed a few people who had already been riding that day so I decided to get their input on the conditions. As it turns out, Hillman's Highway was likely going to be our only option. In fact, I was told to stay away from Cathedral and the volunteer ski patrol guy at the bottom had already informed me that it was unwise to venture into the bowl (due in no small part to the recent natural avalanche activity). Armed with this new knowledge, we continued on to Hermit Lake with our sights set on Hillman's Highway, but we also revised our plan to stay away from Cathedral.

We got to the base of Hillman's Highway and Dana, Elodie, and I decided to boot pack right up the barrel of the gun (Lindsay didn't bring her snowboarding gear so she decided to head back to Pinkham). By this time this was a safe option and a much more direct route to our objective (the US Forest Service and Volunteer Ski Patrol also agreed). We left most of our extra clothes and gear at the base area – I learned last spring, a**holes don't hike this far so there were no concerns that it would be stolen – and started up the gully. It took about 45 minutes to an hour to reach the ridge line where we were exposed to pretty strong winds which chilled us significantly. For that reason, we opted to not take too long of a break at the top. We took a few photos and got our gear together to prepare for the ride down.

Although it felt cold at the top of the mountain, it was still warm enough to cause the snow to be wet and heavy. This obviously took Dana by surprise as he faceplanted to a stop no farther than 20 feet after dropping in; welcome to Tuckerman Ravine. Once we got used to the heavy, and soft, mashed potato like snow, it was much smoother sailing on the ride down. In spite of the on-going challenges in temperature control and the general fatigue, I think everyone was pretty excited to be snowboarding; I know I was.

The way down was significantly quicker than the way up since the top third of the John Sherburn ski trail was still open. This meant that we could ride part of the way down from the Hermit Lake area. However, at this point, our calves and quads were protesting quite vociferously about the excess exertion. Getting into our hiking boots for the trek out was a welcome change for weary snowboarding muscles.

The next day, we leisurely got our gear together to make the trip back to Canada. However, we decided that on the way home, we would take in a little bit of history so we stopped at Bretton Woods, the site of the Mount Washington Hotel. For those of you who slept through your high-school history classes, The Mount Washington Hotel is where the Bretton Woods Agreement was signed in July of 1944 which resulted in the establishment of the the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which today is part of the World Bank Group. This agreement also mandated that member countries adopt a monetary policy that maintained the exchange rate of its currency within a fixed value—plus or minus one percent—in terms of gold and the ability of the IMF to bridge temporary imbalances of payments. For better or for worse, the IMF and World Bank are important parts of today's global economy, so I thought it would be neat to actually go to the place where those institutions were effectively created. Who says mountaineers and snowboarders lack culture?

In spite of the crappy snow season leading up to it, this trip to Tuckerman Ravine turned out to be a great success. We were blessed with bluebird skies, enough snow to challenge our avalanche safety skills, and we even got some historical perspective by visiting Bretton Woods on the way home. Best of all, this was the first Mount Washington snowboarding experience for Dana, Lindsay, and Elodie who proudly wore their gnarly boots for the occasion (although though Lindsay didn't ride, I think she got a new perspective on Mount Washington nonetheless). Hopefully they're still game to wear those same gnarly boots on the May 2-4 long weekend when we hope to ride Tuckerman Ravine on the way back from surfing in Ogunquit. Although I'm pretty sure that this time around, the avalanche dangers won't be quite so extreme.

Categories: Snowboarding, Ride Journal | 0 Comments

Tailgate Alaska: Day 14 - World Wide Freeride

2010-04-10 00:51:27

Friday was a cold, bluebird morning which was as good a day as any for my last full day in Thompson Pass. Although my heli budget was completely exhausted, I was planning on making use of the Big Mountain Taxi service as much as I could since I had to return the Spark R&D bindings to Erik, and I was too lazy to put my Betas back on the plates (and frankly not interested on going back to riding plates after trying the Fuse bindings). I was determined to make the most of my last day of snowboarding in Alaska.

I started the day with a bump up Gully One again. The snow up top from the saddle has been good for days, and I really enjoy hitting the windlip about 2/3 of the way down the run. I decided to mix things up, however, by traversing east afterward and dropping into a gully that I had seen the day before which made for a fun natural halfpipe; it was perfect for pow slashes and small airs.

I waited a few hours for things to warm up and soften up before doing a second run down Gully One. This time I decided to throw caution in the wind and send it over the wind lip and tried a backside three. However, I but checked the landing which disappointed me a little bit (but only a little). I really have to hand it to guys like Travis Rice and Mark Landvik who bring freestyle to the backcountry because it's really intimidating to approach lips blind and be able to commit to doing your trick. No matter how many times I hit that same windlip since I got here, the landing looked different everytime and I only got to see it once I was airborn.

Just when it seemed that my riding in Alaska was done for the season, some people commissioned Big Mountain Taxi to take them to Odessey. Doug asked me if I wanted to go with them, since they would have to do two trips anyway, I agreed and I was stoked to get at least one more run before calling it a trip.

We got bumped nearly to the top of Odessey and hiked up to the peak. From the bottom we could see that Odessey had a lot of exposure; the face looked like it had chocolates chips all over it. But when we got to the top, we also discovered that it was very much wind scoured. Not wanting to navigate exposure on boiler plate snow, we decided to head over to Goodwills instead which was just east of Odessey. In hindsight, Odessey probably would have been rideable, however, it might not have been much fun. Besides, I did find a wide open, untracked face to slash a few pow turns which exponentially increased my stoke. After all, I was snowboarding, and that's better than the alternative: working. Even the two mile hike back to camp didn't dampen my spirits.

When I got back to camp, it was already after 6PM, so I decided to start packing up my gear. I was a little saddened when I put my climbing harness into its storage sack, took the batteries out of my avalanche beacon, and packed all that stuff in my snowboard bag. My Tailgate Alaska adventure is now winding down. I feel blessed to have taken part of it. I've met many great, and real, people from all over the world (Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria, and of course the USA), and I got to snowboard in some of the best terrain on the planet. This festival truly is a world wide freeriding event and part of me is sad that it's over. However, part of me is also happy to be heading back home, I'm finding that I miss my friends and loved ones. Dave Geiss said to me that every time he comes to Alaska to get some heli time, his favourite flight is the one out of Anchorage because it means that he made it through alive and well. I'm beginning to see where he's coming from. However, that doesn't mean that I'm not planning on returning to Alaska in the future. As soon as this Tailgate is over, the planning for Tailgate Alaska 2011 will begin.

Categories: Snowboarding, Ride Journal, Tailgate Alaska | 4 Comments

Tailgate Alaska: Day 13 - With my own two feet

2010-04-08 22:51:57

Thursday was another bluebird day on Thompson Pass Alaska. Although I had exhausted my heli budget, I was determined to get some snowboarding in. Plus I still had the Fuse bindings that I borrowed from the Spark R&D guys the day before. I had already tested them going downhill, but I figured today would be a good day to test them going uphill as well.

I took my time getting ready since I was not in a hurry to line up for a heli. First thing I had to do was to switch over to my bigger pack so I'd have room for my skins and touring poles. I was psyched about finally getting to use my split board in Alaska. However, since I didn't have a touring partner, I wanted to keep hazards to a minimum. I chose Gully One to skin up since it's seen heavy snowmobile traffic so if something was going to go, it would have gone already. I also chose Gully One because I wanted to air over a huge windlip that had formed about ¾ of the way down.

I setup my split in touring mode just beyond the Tailgate lot on the south side of the road at the base of Gully One. While I was getting set up, Doug came by on a sled and asked me if I wanted a bump up the mountain. Normally I might have said yes, but this time I actually wanted to test out the Spark R&D bindings in ascent mode. I thanked hime and continued to attach my skins for the trek up.

I started up the main face and it was easy going until I got to the first really steep pitch. I had to start doing switchbacks because it was an awkward climb even with the climbing bars up (I was actually surprised I remembered how to do switchback turns). It might have been easier to take a mellower slope but it was a longer trek distance wise. Besides, I wanted to take the most direct path to my objective.

According to the Big Mountain Taxi guys, it took me a little over an hour to reach my objective, the first roll after the windlip; about half way up to the saddle of Gully One. I could have gone higher, but I was a) not feeling that ambitious, and b) on my own and didn't want to get into too much hazard where no one could see me. Once I got to the roll, I did the switchover to riding mode which was quite quick with the Fuse bindings – they slide off the pucks a lot more easily than the plates that I have – put my down jacket back on, strapped into my board, and dropped the first cornice I could find into some fresh pow below (all hazard avoidance went straight out the window apparently).

The ride down took probably 1/20th of the time it took to skin up, but that ride down was so much fun. It really does give you a sense of satisfaction when you earn your turns. I did hit the wind lip like I wanted to, however, I pulled back a little bit because on the way down I remembered that I had an ice axe strapped to my pack and the consequences of not sticking it could have been painful.

When I got back to the Tailgate lot, I ran into Mike Basich who was just getting back from sledding, and was playing with his dog. He showed me his custom transformer truck which has a lifting ramp where he can park his sled, and underneath is a living area for himself. The truck is still not complete, he still needs to build an extension to his ramp so he can lower it to the ground to be able to load up his sled without the need of a snowbank, but it's still a very cool looking machine, and a pretty beastie truck. We also talked briefly about Area-241, a plot of land that Mike owns near Tahoe where he does all the testing for his 241 line of outerwear; something that I'll probably want to look into further.

Even though it doesn't seem like I did a lot, day thirteen certainly felt like a full day. I'm pretty much as exhausted now, if not more, than I have been at any other time during my sojourn in Alaska. This is a good kind of tired though, and since Friday will be my last full day in Alaska, I'm considering doing something even more ambitious; like possibly skin up the ridge to Berlin Wall. Then again, I'll have to see how much my body protests in the morning. Either way, I'm holding on to those Fuse bindings for another day, so I'll have to use them at least once.

Categories: Snowboarding, Ride Journal, Tailgate Alaska | 7 Comments