It can be hilarious what months of careful planning and weeks of meticulous packing inevitably lead to: four ski mountaineers standing next to a 600lb pile of the bare essentials and the lightest gear that technology has ever offered. And it’s astonishing how that pile of gear, those four skiers, and one very large pilot [...]

Significance of Kamchatka Ski Exploration 2008: The Kamchatka Peninsula is a fascinating destination. Known as the land of fire and ice – it is a narrow piece of land separating the Pacific Ocean from the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East. Its main point of entry is the coastal port and city of Petropavlovsk [...]

In May and June of 2011, myself, CJ Carter, and Aaron Rains, all of Bozeman, Montana traveled to Mongolia to explore the country’s outer reaches and, we hoped, ski some of its highest peaks. A mystical throwback to times less complicated, our experience in the Mongolia came as no less than a wild ride through [...]

We had a great trip. Cold as hell (pretty much never got above -20F for 12 days), but we tagged some good descents in great snow. Here are a couple teaser pics:) I’m writing a feature that will appear in the December issue of Backcountry. Video and trip report for the Hans Fund to come…

Summary
Project: [...]

“Too much snow.”  Accompanied by a slow shaking of the head, this seems to be the mantra of the people of northern Himachal Pradesh, for this spring of 2011.  The past winter is already gaining legendary status, as residents of the Kullu recount the fierce winds that scoured up and down the valley.  The dormant [...]

It was sweet, we were jazzed and can’t wait to go back -
May 17 – flew out of Seattle
May 18 Traveled from Tbilisi to Ushguli
May 19 we did 2 carries that day bringing supplies from Ushguli (about 7′400) up to about 9′200 Spent the night with our host family for a second night.
May 20 Left Ushguli and [...]

Big mountain skiing is elusive.  There is no other way to look at it.  I recently returned from Alaska where I attempted to ski the South Face of Denali with my friend Dan Corn.  Our attempt was just that, an attempt.
The beauty of big mountain skiing is that even if you cannot ski your objective [...]

Zach Shlosar, Neil Waggoner and I originally planned on leaving May 1st, but due to Zach feeling ill, our trip was postponed a few days. His illness ended up persisting throughout the trip. On Tuesday, we thought we had the weather window. Paul Roderick, with Talkeetna Air Taxi, tried to fly us in, but we [...]

In early June, Wrights Air landed photographer Matt Hage and I on a gravel bar along the Hulahula River, just down from Katak Creek. This would be our base camp for the next ten days. We had come to ski from the summit of Mount Chamberlin, the highest peak in the Brooks Range at 9,020 [...]

Once again the Wrangell mountains live up to their reputation as big complex mountains with mazes of undulating seracs and crevasses, topped by a healthy dose of  the weird Wrangell snowpack. In  April and May the weather pattern in the Wrangell’s was clear, cold and windy.
After waiting for the wind to calm down, Paul Clause [...]