Here is a little video from the weekend.
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January 26, 2010
Cuir Moustache 2!
Posted by dongshow under Uncategorized | Tags: cuir moustache, mustache |Leave a Comment
and this is a special World of Warcraft version for Usau
December 10, 2009
This will be my new response to people speaking badly of the dark season. Max made a brief time-lapse of the colors we are treated too on an average cloudy morning this time of year.
November 17, 2009
The skiing was pretty icy and cold this weekend. But despite the firm conditions looking out my office window to see the view above makes me wish I was out skiing anyway. I forgot my camera this weekend so I’ll post a couple pictures whenever Max gets around to putting whatever he took online. Hopefully we get some more snow soon. In the mean time enjoy this video of an Alta powder day from 1974, that I found over at The Ski Bum Poet. It brought a smile to my face to see how the Wildcat terrain looked almost identical to how I remember it from my years at Alta almost 30 years after this video was filmed. Have to say I didn’t expect to see so many tracks in the early 70s, but I guess Utah was and always will be Utah. I guess they’ve delayed their opening too.
UPDATE: Max has a CHDK timelapse of a saturday morning drive to Girdwood in the style of Don Pablos fateful voyage to Hope, (also chronicled here) I think these all need a fair bit more work.
September 12, 2009
Cuir Cuir Cuir Moustache!
Posted by dongshow under Uncategorized | Tags: cuir moustache, mustache |Leave a Comment
August 30, 2009
This post is only an excuse to use the picture above. I’ll be in France for the next few weeks, but will be returning to Alaska for the beginning of ski season. There may be a few updates (possibly even in French) between now and then, but I’m not promising anything.
July 25, 2009
It’s been an incredibly boring week around these parts, luckily it’s begun getting colder, with clouds and rain to remind me that winter is on the way. When I haven’t been shopping online for a boat, I’ve been drooling over some skiing material, and since my posting has been rather slow the last couple weeks I’ve decided to post it all here. First off, the Arête de Peuterey – Couloir Eccles route off Mont Blanc has been skied multiple times this summer. One group, including Glen Plake, became the first Americans too ski the route, although they twice needed helicopter assistance. While on that subject, there is also a video of flying over the route in a wingsuit.
Staying in the Chamonix area I also wasted a considerable amount of time watching the following split board descent of the Benedetti Direct off the west face of Mont Blanc
Excellent pictures of both the route and the approach (from a different trip) can be found here. And while I’m at it I really should mention Tobias Granath who’s kept me entertained with his Chamonix pictures all week. Check out his hit list, Aiguille du Plan North Face, Les Courtes (check out the route shot at the bottom!), the Whymper Couloir, and the Aiguille de l’Encrenaz. I really need to get back to over there soon.
The picture above instantly caught my attention, after a some research it appears to be from the North Face of Mont Blanc de Cheilon in Switzerland (Arolla) and was skied by whoever it that posts at the excellent Gilles Les Skieur blog.
Yesterday my cousin Jim pointed out he’d posted a short video with a nice mix of Washington and Michigan footage:
And finally, the always excellent Piste Hors pointed me in the direction of an article on a man who survived an avalanche, won the lottery, and then gave all the winnings to his rescuers.
February 23, 2009
With the Champions League starting tomorrow (I ignore the tedious group stage) I’m going to take the opportunity to look like a fool by offering some predictions. The snow is horribly wind affected right now, so I don’t plan on doing much skiing the next day or two. But luckily 6 of the 8 games are fascinating so the next two days should be very entertaining.
- Athletico are playing horribly, having failed to beat anyone other then Recreativo since December, but Aguero just had a kid with Maradona’s daughter, and I still think they’ll get past Porto.
- Roma looked to have been slowly improving since their horrible start, but then they go out and lose 3-0 to Atalanta. Arsenal are looking tough to beat, but struggle to score goals. I think Arsenal will take it, one Van Persie free kick over the two games could be enough.
- Both Inter and Manchester United are running away with their respective leagues and have been coasting for weeks. I think Inter will be more able then United to bring their play up to another gear. I caught the way Inter came back against Bologna and I was impressed by the ease with which they stepped up their play after the equalizer. ManU is facing a defensive injury crisis, so I’ll guess that Inter will win.
- When the draw came out in December I thought Liverpool would win this tie easily. But since then Liverpool have looked to be on the decline, and Real Madrid have look both motivated and sharp the last couple games. Real Madrid hasn’t made it past this stage for the last 4 years. Torres, in his Athletico days, struggled in games against Real Madrid. I wouldn’t be surprised either way, but I just have a feeling Liverpool will win, this competition is Benitez’s specialty.
- Before Hidink arrived Chelsea looked to be ready to implode. I guess they’ve won two games since, but they haven’t looked great either. Juventus hasn’t impressed me this season, I always took their high position as a sign of Serie A’s weakness this year. Trezeguet is back, and I hope Juventus win, but I think Chelsea will. I think Chelsea can play poorly and still squeak by.
- Barcelona lost to Espanyol over the weekend, but I think they’ll go back to their normal selves against Lyon. I don’t think Lyon has the energy to harass and annoy Barcelona like Espanyol did. Juninho may hit a free kick, or a Benzema goal might make this interesting, but I can’t see Lyon controlling Barcelona over two games.
- And for those of you who I’ve confused with this sudden shift in scenery from an Alaskan winter to a smokey French apartment, I have this view of the Wrangells from yesterday.
February 20, 2009
It’s sunny, I’m off to ski Hatcher Pass on the way to Valdez with Graham. We’ve been skiing in the clouds for the last 5 days, and was hoping for a day off, but it’s sunny and I haven’t been to Valdez yet this winter. To keep entertained I’ve got some stuff from the Hope Office to share. McManamy got an article published in the Avalanche Review (.pdf), and Comrade Kyle, who just bought an old taxi for 800 dollars put together a little video of Hope’s Valentines Day activities. Back later.
January 5, 2009
Leaving Michigan
Posted by dongshow under Uncategorized | Tags: East Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, Statue |Leave a Comment
So I’m about to walk out the door and hop in the car with Hunter. Lazily drifting around town with has been very enjoyable, although I don’t have much to report or many pictures to post. The biggest stories since I’ve been here have been the Lion’s reverse championship, and the collapse of the large vagina sailboat statue (pictured above, partially broken) that has been disgracing my hometown for the last few years. It’s been an on going joke between Frick and myself that in a town as pretentious as ours (they once tried to change the town’s official name to a cardinal direction) the only thing worse then an extremely large anatomically suggestive monument dominating downtown would be to create a scene and admit they’d built an such a statue in the first place. So one day, after a couple mid day drinks Frick and I took a short walk to check the statue out. We noticed the whole thing was in a state of disrepair (support beams dangling, screws loosened, etc.) and figured that the city officials, to embarrassed to admit their mistake had begun to secretly undermine it in hope that the wind would eventually do it’s job, and it seems that the city got exactly what they’d asked for.
Anyway, time for me to start driving, I’ll have some comments and stories from the film festival as soon as we stop somewhere with internet access, in the meantime I’ve got a picture of another Michigan landmark I’m a little more sad to be saying good bye to.
December 22, 2008
Michigan Skiing
Posted by dongshow under Skiing, family | Tags: Cannonsburg, Leelenau, michigan, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Sugarloaf |[3] Comments
Each year when I return home to visit my family in Michigan I manage to get in some skiing, despite distractions like drinking with old friends, eating my mom’s food, and the chance surgical procedure. At Christmas Michigan usually struggles to keep snow on the ground for more then 5 consecutive days, but this year they have had snow on the ground here since early November, with three to four foot snow banks now lining each street. I am also in possession of my usual ski gear (I normally have to scavenge some boots and skis out of my parents garage) because I plan on driving and skiing my way back to Alaska, so I had high hopes for some entertaining if not quality skiing, with the ability to travel with skins a rare possibility.
Cannonsburg and the moat
Thursday, celebrating my first day of vacation, I drove to Cannonsburg with my cousin Brian to meet my cousin Jim and revisit a childhood ski scene for the first time in 5 years. Growing up I used to spend 6 days a week lapping the 135 foot vertical foot ex-sand pit, and for as long as I can remember Cannonsburg’s perpetual state of disrepair has been a constant joke, so it was reassuring to see that very little had been fixed or changed during my long absence. The collapsed T-bar that laid for years on the skiers right of the double had been removed, the quad chairs were evenly spaced (some even padded), and one of the rope tows had been removed, but the weird smell, the dysfunctional snow guns, ratty buildings, meth addict lift operators, and shady rental equipment all still remain.
michigan skiers often strugle to get off the lift
Growing up I was always constrained by having a season pass, as the threat of having it taken away by an angry ski patroller kept our antics in check. This time however I had a lift ticket which I really didn’t mind having taken away, so Jim, Brian and I started in with little fear on all the stuff that used to get us in trouble. We poached the Plunge (which was closed), skied the steep bank between the Face and the Double, and jumped over the rope tows. I even attempted to jump and grab one of the moving double chairs without a rebuke.
the Plunge, Cannonsburg's premier run
We were having a great time, but things slowly wound down so I decided to complete a life long goal and gap the creek that sits between the lodge at the lifts and functions as the area’s moat. Big Mike, who has been the area bouncer / ticket checker for as long as I can remember by patrolling the bridge, checking tickets, and providing access to Cannonsburg’s lifts, was working on the bridge, so we had to keep things mellow to avoid getting noticed or shut down, so we didn’t so much build a jump as pile up a couple ice chunks left over from the snow guns. The whole game of building jumps and skiing like an idiot while trying to avoid harassment brought back fond memories of my youth. I tucked from the Face and flailed my way across, landing happy to have something new to add to an endless list of stupid stuff accomplished at “C-burg.” Before we could go for a second round of jumping the creek, ski patrol bashed the jump with a snowmobile, which didn’t stop Jim from trying, but with the jump now just a large chunk of ice, he lost a ski on take off and landed across the creek sideways on his recently separated shoulder. Content with a good days work we headed home.
The next morning I woke up on Frick’s ex-girlfriends floor, lost my hat, and wandered outside to find 18 inches had fallen, and spent the rest of the day diving around watching cars stuck in the snow with Frick. That night, hoping to take advantage of the rare Michigan powder, I drove with Hunter up to Chris Idema’s grandparents house in Cedar, where we met both Chris and Al Green, with the idea of skiing the no longer operating Sugarloaf Ski Area.
Hunter and some Michigan powder
The next morning we were up early, with vodka clear skis, Lake Michigan glowing candy blue, and views of North Manitou. We drove 5 minutes in ski boots and skinned up the resort (600 vertical feet) in a few minutes. All the lift shacks and lodges remain but were boarded up in their original location, and most of the chairs were strung on the lifts. The snow was deep and extremely light, although in places you could sense the wind crust underneath, a reminder that the area’s incredible view’s come at a price of serious gusts. We took our first run down Awful Awful (the one time “steepest run in Michigan“), took a run off the side, and then returned for our third run, again down Awful Awful.
We returned to the house for lunch, before we set off towards Glen Arbor hoping to complete our Leelenau Peninsula trip with a little ski tour around Sleeping Bear Dunes, where we found a sign (thanks NPS) warning us of avalanche danger. We had been enjoying a rare day of skinning around without beacons, shovels or probes, and decided the danger could be managed and set off in spite of the sign. We toured around, finding firm windblown snow, pockets of light powder, areas of blown sand, and a few mini cornices. There were even steep rollovers on top of the miniature slopes that I could definitely imagine avalanching. I got three steep short runs in before leaving when Al found a deer skeleton on our ski back to the parking lot. A rare day of Michigan powder skiing under our belts we returned to Grand Rapids content.
my Sleeping Bear powder turns
I’m still in Grand Rapids, and it hasn’t quit snowing. There are only a few times I’ve ever seen the town with this much snow, so I’m hoping to get out and ski a few more times before heading back to Alaska. Maybe we’ll get in a day skiing Mt Garfield, and I’m pretty positive there will be some more skiing (and cannon shooting) done when I’m up at Sawkaw for my brother’s film festival. Until then I don’t know what I’ll have to talk about, back here it’s mostly been detailed beer discussions and strange nerdy conversations amongst my friends discussing the variations in NPR programing in our corners of the country. At least I’ve got stories of Hilltop being overrun with coyotes from back home to confuse people with. Until next time you can enjoy some lake Michigan sand dune scenery.
Lake Michigan and North Manitou Island
December 11, 2008
Sort of weekly video
Posted by dongshow under Skiing, Turnagain, alcohol, backcountry, family, snowmachines, video | Tags: Alaska, Crystal Mountain, Johnson Pass, michigan |Leave a Comment
the family and my brother's sign
We got another storm this week, an additional 30″ should make it a deep weekend in the mountains. I walked to work amidst large falling flakes but it’s suddenly sunny and things are looking good.
While wasting time this morning I found a video at Skier in the Midwest of people enjoying a bunch of new snow back in Michigan at Crystal Mountain. The personal highlight is that I think every shot is from my brother’s run, Teddy’s Turn! In the 15 years I skied at Crystal I think I only had 4-5 days that were ever this good, I can’t tell you people how rare Michigan powder really is, and to have that correspond with Teddy’s Turn (previously known as Back bowl) being open. Normally you’d have to put your season pass in jeopardy by poaching the run at night, and sneaking back to the Buck chair on the cross country trail and hope the lifties wouldn’t figure out what you were doing. I’d also like to mention that I’ve been listening to my cousins whine about the current lack of snow in the northwest for a month, hopefully this rubs a little salt in their wounds.
I’ve also uploaded some of Max’s POV footage from last weekend. It’s all pretty lame, but I think it demonstrates how hungover I was. When watching it now it looks really simple, but at the time my nerves were fried from the Consumer Direct Christmas party the night before. I was freaked out the whole time, and after hitting a couple trees lacked confidence. Watching Max cross the bridge reminds me how shady that seemed to me at the time. Notice the traffic jam I caused on the trail, which takes up the entire second half of the video. More proof that I suck at snowmachining.
More to come after the weekend, and then I’ll be hading the site over to Max for awhile, unless stuff comes up while I’m back in the mitten. I almost forgot, I will be covering the Teddy Knape Film Festival while I’m home.
