EARL'S BACK COUNTRY TELESKIING PHOTOS
At Mt Rainier
She's back in the backcountry after recovering her injuries.Click the above link to see a happy skier
Video of skiing down a 7th Heaven run at Stevens Pass.
Video of skiing down Hogsback Ridge at Stevens Pass.
Tena above Mazama Ridge.
Cowlitz Rocks
Climbing to Cowlitz Rocks, Little Tahoma in the background
On the Paradise Glacier
A few years ago with long poles and double camber skis
Paradise Glacier ice cave - a few years ago when the cave still existed
Climbing the upper Paradise Glacier. Cowlitz glacier below
Coming out of the clouds on upper Paradise glacier
Tena does a free heel Christie
Tena teles too
Above Paradise, Mt Rainier
Above Mazama Ridge. Tatoosh Range in Background
Tele skiing at Mt Baker, Mt Shuksan in background
Tena stepping off at Mt Baker. Border peaks in background
Near Paradise, Mt Rainier
Where's the snow? Spring skiing in Eastern Washington
Above Washington Pass
The trumpet hails your start at the Hogloppet.
We look hopeful at the start of the 20 mile Mission Ridge to Swak Pass XC event called the Hogloppet
The finish line at Swak Pass
Tena Christies accross the finish line
Hoodoos. Heavy snows have plastered timberline trees near Pinnacle/Castle saddle
Paradise glacier with Muir snowfield beyond
HERE'S WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO LATELY BR>
April 30, Back country skiing again! finally! It's been two years since we've done this. We start at Paradise, Mt Rainier, with Son Brian and his wife Wendy. They are on snowshoes. We hike up past Alta Vista to Glacier Vista at the base of Panorama Point. Tena is using her Atomic Outback skis with fish scale pattern for climbing. I'm on my old Tua Big Easy skis with the new VP II binding and release safety binding. I'm also using my Crispi CX 2 boots for the first time in the backcountry. Everything works fine, except maybe my old narrow skins. full width skins would be better, but these are ok for this easy hike. Tena is using her Garmont Excursion boots for only about the third time and she still likes them. Low clouds at Paradise allow only partial views of the mountain until we gain some elevation. We climb 1,000 ft to Glacier Vista and luckily the clouds settle into the valley to give us good views of the mountain. As we start down the clouds come up to meet us, so we ski mostly in the fog. The snow isn't the best for easy skiing, but we enjoy it. This easy hike was just right for us being out of shape. It was fun to do it with Brian and Wendy. They took us to a neighborhood Pizza Pub and treated us to dinner afterward. It was a wonderful day all around.
Jan 31, 2004, XC skiing at Snoqualmie Pass Nordic Center. We ride the chair up to the trails. There is about a foot of fresh snow, so I get in some good telemarking under the power lines and between the trails. The snow and terrain are so easy I ski some of it with the buckles loose on my T-2s. It snows all the time we are up there and there is lots of fresh snow on the run back to the base.
Jan 10, 2004, XC skied at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympics. Not the best snow. Short hike with some short straight runs on the trail. Tena loves her new Garmont boots, comfortable and lots of support.
Dec 30, 2003, XC skied at Snoqualmie Summit. Good snow and good skiing.
Dec 16, 2003, Skiing at Stevens was glorious - deep powder snow. Dumped all day, 6 inches at least, plus a few inches of fresh when we got there. Ungroomed runs were excellent, though they could use another foot or two to smooth things out and cover the small trees. Mogul skiing was excellent today. I finally got into the swing of it on tele skis. Took a couple of runs with 3 tele skiers on Tye Mill. It's good to ski with others now and then.
Dec 9, Skiing at Stevens Pass again. Another good day for early in the season. The snow is excellent, though not much new until late in the day. Skied hard, including bumps. Exercise calss is paying off with better early season performance.
Dec. 3, 2003, first day of skiing this year. Stevens Pass has 4 inches of fresh powder. We have a great time skiing Hogsback, Backside, Tye Mill and Skyline. Found unpacked powder on at least part of all runs. Skied hard, got wasted, enjoyed it. Dec 31, 2002, We skied at Hurrican Ridge under blue skies. Views of Mount Olympus, the Bailey Range, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Victoria were magnificent. It hadn't snowed up there in several days, but the snow was pretty good underfoot. Trees were covered with textured rhime. We only went a short way to see if Tena's foot could stand up to back country skiing after several years of nursing it from surgery. She did ok. The massage therapy has helped. Saved her from a second operation. I found a few places to crank out some turns and was pleased to find that I can still ski on light weight gear after a few seasons limited to lift skiing on my heavy tele outfit. We had a good time and expect to do more this season.
March 1, 2000, No backcountry skiing yet this season. 12 days of lift skiing though. I've logged 127,000 vertical feet of tele skiing this year. My technique has improved a lot, mostly just from understanding what I am doing and being consistent about it.
March 8, We skied at Stevens Pass and logged over 20,000 vertical feet. This was a recort for us. I used my new Crispi CX2 tele boots and they were great. We increased our skiing by over 40%, but I was only 1/2 as tired. I think the boots made the difference. I could really hold an edge on hard snow and I could plow through the rough stuff off the runs.
May 19, 1998, I skied at Mt Rainier. It was cold and windy and the snow was awful. I went up to 8,000 ft on the Muir snowfield and had a tough time skiing down. So did everyone else. It was good to be out though and at about 6,600 ft. the snow got better and I had some good skiing to about 5,600 ft.
Oct 5 - 6, We joined 7 friends at Crystal Mtn to stack a winter's supply of firewood at a house at the top of one of the ski lifts. We will use the house in January for an overnite ski party in return for the wood. Before leaving for home we hiked the Bullion Basin trail and enjoyed the beautiful fall colors and sunny weather.
Nov 30, (Monday), We skied at Stevens Pass in great conditions. There was a little fresh powder on top of groomed snow. They have a good base and only the lower part of the backside needed more snow. Tena used her alpine skies. I tele'd half a day and switched to alpine after lunch. We had the hills to ourselves. It was great early season skiing.
Dec 7, I tele skied at Stevens with some fellow employees from REI. Tena shadowed us on her alpine skis. It snowed hard most of the day, so visiblity was poor, but the skiing was great with 6 to 8 inches of powder. Some of the REI crew are experts and they took us down challenging runs. The goal was to ski patches of uncut powder. Diane and Steve knew where to find them. Jenifer and Andrew tagged along with me. We had some terrific runs and a few spills. The great thing about powder is you don't get hurt when you fall.
Dec 10, We took our XC skis and went looking for suitable weather in the mountains. We didn't find it at Snoqualmie where it was raining, so we headed on over to Blewett Pass and skied 4 miles the up the road to Haney Meadows. It was cloudy and foggy, so the views weren't much, but it was fun to be out and we had a nice fast run down.
Jan 1, 1999, We skied the backcountry at Snoqualmie West in Spring like conditions. At this area you ride the Silver Fir chair to the top of the ridge and gain access to miles and miles of groomed XC tracks. For $9 you get two rides up the chair. There is a great variety of terrain to ski and we had a good time and enjoyed the sun the great views.
Jan 5, with friends Gary and Sharon we skied at Cabin Creek 11 miles east of Snoqualmie Pass. It was sunny and the hard base had a light coat of fresh snow, so the skiing was fast.
Jan 19 and 21, we finally got in some downhill skiing again after more than a month and at last I used my new telemark skis. They are the TUA BIG EASY with the Rotafella TRP 100 release binding. The skis and bindings are great. On the 21st we had a foot of powder at Stevens and the skiing was so good I stayed on the new teles all day. It was the best skiing we've had in years.
Jan 26, Back to Stevens for more lift skiing with old college friends Tom and Polly. It was cold and the snow was packed powder. Fog on some of the higher runs limited visibility and froze to our goggles. Off piste the snow was lumpy and a little thick, but the BIG EASYS handled it ok.
Feb 3, skiing at Stevens Pass the day after the lifts were closed due to high winds. The main parking lots were still drifted in with snow and we had to park accross the highway. The high winds had left cones and needles from the trees on some trails, but the skiing was good and improved greatly in the afternoon under heavy snowfall. By nightfall skiing was excellent.
Feb 9-ll, The annual friends trip to Crystal Mtn. We stay in a large house at the top of the Gold Creek chair. Tena was ill and didn't make it this year, but her bread and biscotti were enjoyed by the rest of us. Skiing was outstanding on Wednesday with about 4 inches of new snow on top of the foot that fell Tuesday. We got first tracks on the Gold Creek hill and a couple of the other runs. Tuesday and Thursday the sun came out and it was beautiful.
Feb 18, We skied at Stevens. The snow was good, but not as dry as last week. Took one run down the backside and a few on Tye Mill. There was deep powder in places, but mostly skied out.
Feb 25, We skied at Crystal Mtn. in fresh, heavy snow. Off piste was a challenge, but the Tua Big Easy skis were up to it. We had a good time skiing the runs off of Queens chair.
March 4, We skied at Stevens again. The snow was good, but packed until afternoon when about 4 inches dumped on us. The last two hours were excellent skiing. In fact, it was the best telemarking I have ever had. I skied the fall line in exhilerating long sweeping turns. The Big Easys would do short sharp turns too, so I mixed it up some. I have never felt in better control and even did some black diamond runs and a few mogul pitches.
March 11, Back to Stevens. This is a fantastic winter for snow, but we finally ran out of fresh stuff. However, the weather was clear and cold, so we had great views of the North Cascades up to Mt Baker. Tena was in great form and had a wonderful time. Her brace was adjusted just right and neither foot nor knee gave her trouble.
March 17, We xc skied at Snoqualmie Summit XC. The snow was great. We rode up the Silver Fir chair and skied the Sunrise Loops for a over an hour. Then we skied down to the lodge for lunch. It was hard to control the turns on the way down in strange snow that would not hold an edge. After lunch we rode the chair again and skied over to Olallie Meadows and the warming hut. They have added Sani-cans at Grand Junction and the warming hut. This is great and a much needed and appreciated improvement. On the return we found that the snow had softed and/or consolidated and would hold an edge better. It was a nice day with clouds, a little sun, light snow and a few views of the surrounding peaks.
March 30, We spent the night with our friends Gary and Sharon in Tacoma and skied with them at Crystal Mtn. It was a beautiful clear and cold day. The sun and shadows on the heavily corniced peaks and ridges was spectacular. The snow was good for skiing and we had a great time. Gary snow-shoed while the rest of us skied on the lifts. The off piste was heavy and broken, but ok as long as you didn't get into the drifts where it sucked you down.
April 4-10, our third annual trip to Big White ski resort near Kelowna, BC, Canada with a group of friend from tacoma. We had fresh snow on 3 mornings. On Wednesday there were 8 inches of powder. It was a blast. I was on the first chair up on Wed and I got first tracks on 3 runs. Great tele skiing in deep, untracked snow. When the runs got skied out we skied the trees where it was still great.
April 21, We skied above Cle Elum in Eastern Washington. It was worth the drive over the mountains for the clear blue skies. We did a little 7 mile loop near the head of Lake Cle Elum with a 1,000 foot decent. About half of the run down was on good telemarking terrain. It was fun to crank out a few turns amoung the pines, though the snow was a little grabby.
May 10, At Paradise on Mt Rainier we hiked up to Mazama Ridge. We used our skis, Gary and Sharon had their fancy new snowshoes. There was several inches of fresh snow and it was sunny with wispy clouds overhead. Paradise has the most snow I have seen in 20 years. Rainier and the surrounding peaks were spectacular. The skiing was excellent.
May 24, 25, 26, Over the North Cascades Highway with skis and Tandem rucumbent bike. Unfortunately we couldn't ski at our favorite spot on the hairpin below Liberty Bell; there wasn't enough shoulder to pull off of the highway to park. We rode the Screamer up Chewuch Canyon and back to Winthrop for 21 miles. Saw a forest fire and lots of wildflowers. Then it was on to Moses Lake to see spring waterfowl and our favorites, Blacknecked Stilts, Avocets, Phalaropes, White Herons, Sandhill Cranes, Shovelers, Redheads etc. were all there as well as many hawks and other birds.
June 3, We skied at Mt Rainier. Still lots of snow though it's kind of dirty in the trees. Fortunetly at Paradise you get above the trees quickly. We skied up Mazama Ridge to the lower Paradise glacier. The snow was perfect. One 40 degree plus slope really pulled my pucker string, which was probably good for my hemmohoids. The weather was mild and sunny. Tena enjoyed the sking and did very well, especially considering her lack of practice this year.
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