# Stevens Pass March 17-24



## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

It's no secret that this has been a bad season. This is pretty much going down to the worst one I have seen in Colorado since I moved here in 1990. I can live with it as there haven't been very many bad years out here. The PNW this year has been having an amazing season. Record setting for many places. Having made a journey out to Washington last season at the end of January and getting amazing conditions for the first half of the trip but rain for the second, I booked my flight for a week long trip in March. March seems to be the $$$ month in the PNW and I was not disappointed. The other thing that helps is a good friend and forum member here, Ale Capone lives very close to Stevens Pass. He is also a splitboarder. He also happens to know the backcountry around Stevens Pass better than well, anybody. I'd call him the Godfather of the pass. He's done stuff there that people just look at. Couldn't of had a better tour guide.

Day 1

Stopped by the Skykomish Deli to get a sandwich for my lunch. Splitboarding makes you hungry. They also have awesome sandwiches in there. Highly recommended. Of course I couldn't leave without leaving a little Colorado stoke somewhere.








The drive up the pass got me stoked, it had snowed around 80" the previous week, and the storms were still rolling in with smaller amounts. The 6-10" range. Perfect for a refresh and keeping the avalanche hazard not too crazy.








We went to a secret spot that Ale has. He calls it Flying Squirrel after seeing one back there several months ago. The skin started by the road side. The snow bank was just a little deep.








The creek looked pretty awesome too.








And of course the trees.








This area is on the East side of the pass where they don't get as much snow. My 340cm probe barely penetrated the snow before hitting ground. It hit at the 290cm mark...








Since I don't get to play in a Maritime snow pack all that often, we dug a pit to check it out. We did find a rotten layer about four feet down. This wasn't a steep riding day, so we weren't too worried. On the wrong slope though that layer could be a serious problem.
















We got to the top of our line and Ale decided to smash some pillows.
















Cont...


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

And enjoy some sweet turns.
















Day 2

We went to Heather Ridge which is across the the Highway from the Ski Area. 

The scenery is sweet.








This time around Ale brought out his pooch Calolo(sp?) to ride with us. On our first run she got the rad pics.
















The it was back to skinning and checking out the snow pack.
















Remember that 290 centimeter depth on the East side? This is ale with my 340cm probe and his arm buried into the snow as far as he could reach. He did not hit bottom. That is over a 3 1/2 meter snow pack. That is over 11 feet folks.








Our second run went down the South Face. We figured since it had been snowing all day it would ride nice.








Cont...


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Which it did. Further down though the temps warmed while I was riding a spine. Stuff started sluffing hard and I pulled up hard by some trees due to the amount of snow that was moving around. It was a good call, as soon as I did that maybe a class two avalanche kicked off below me and filled the gully. We had a few car sized chunks in the debris field. No harm no foul though. I believe I have video of this, I will hopefully get to edit everything next week. Further down Ale and Calolo found more pillows to smash.

































Day 3

My buddy YC who flew out with me joined up with us along with a friend of his Jonathan from Seattle. The skies decided to break blue bird for another day on Heather Ridge. 








The crew for the day.








The ski area looks fun, but I'll take the other side of the highway any day.








More stellar scenery.








And more killer drops. Ale playing with the white room.
















Cont...


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

YC getting after it.
























Jonathan (lone skier on this trip) made good on his turns too.








The stuff down lower gets a little more serious. Ale sizing up his line.








And going for it.
















Screaming out of the chute.








YC's turn.
















Cont...


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

And out...








After that we skinned over to Angry Face.








This was one of my favorite drops of the trip. I hope the video is good. YC eying it up.








Ale screaming out of the chute.








and taking one of the best Tomahawks I have ever seen.








































YC faired a bit better.








Cont...


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Of course with 40 yards on either side of me, YC somehow manages to clip me, here is the last shot I took before protecting myself and my camera.








Fortunately, I wear a helmet and the blow was glancing.

More pics to come after the weekend. I've got a bunch more to post and maybe some video...


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Very nice and great selection of a week to come out!


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

Some nice lines on those cliff-ridges, looks like the trip was worth the effort. That dog is awesome.


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## snowvols (Apr 16, 2008)

Gary looks like a good time! Hopefully, it made up partially for such a terrible season. Great pics and the terrain around there looks super fun.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Oh I don't doubt it. There is also awesome stuff at Baker too. In fact there is a whole bunch of awesome all over the place out there. Part of the reason for sticking around Stevens is just that I really wanted to get to know the place. After touring there for seven days, I now have a fairly complete working knowledge of how the backcountry works in that area of the pass. I doubt I'd ever be there and not be riding with Ale, but it's good knowledge to have. 

The other reason for not traveling out of that zone, was that Ale's vehicle is less than road legal. "Mad Max", is not something I'd want to drive more than an hour with. We got pulled over on our last day and the cop went over a laundry list of things that needed to be fixed to deem it road worthy. It was kind of funny, except that he was considering declaring it not road worthy, but he eventually let us go with a warning. Limiting your time in it, definitely increases your life expectancy. 

Hopefully next year, we'll get around a bit more. There is a lot more bc riding I'd like to check out in the state for sure.


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## mixie (Mar 29, 2011)

thanks for the rad pics and what a cute doggie!!! :laugh: at the mad max car. I know exactly what you mean. My car runs fine but it's beat up enough to where I get hassled often. I think I only need to fix three things to make it "legal"


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

"Dog" and ford falcon with a blown v8...Ale's dog should have not even let the officer out of his patrol car .


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

I did promise more pics right?

After doing three days straight, we took a rest day for Tuesday and got back after it on Wednesday. A lot of snow had fallen Tuesday-Wed morning so avalanche danger was a bit of a concern. We decided to look for more tree protected lines and stuff to screw around on. Our day began with a skin through the bustlin' megalopolis of the town of Yodelin. We made a quick stop by the old train tunnel to do a little "urban" snowboarding. YC eyeing up the tunnel pillow line.








and sending it.
















We then continued on up the drainage that loops around the back side of Heather Ridge. Ale crossing a snow bridge. 








Not wanting to push our luck we chose a short skin to a low consequence line to check out stability. Plus there were more pillows to smash.
















There were tons of pillows lower down too.
















We found another feature to play with on our next lap.
















Cont...


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Then we got into the "Lost Helmet" couloir. Why is it called lost helmet? I lost my helmet on the skin up. Fell out of the carry on my back. Make a note, if you are using a helmet carry on your pack, make sure to clip the helmet so that it can't fall off. Not a huge deal except that I lost my helmet cam mount. Fortunately I did pack the goggle mount that I got to use for the rest of the trip. We lapped the couloir one more time to try to find the helmet, but the steep terrain took it to who knows where. If you are hiking behind Yodelin this summer and find a helmet that has a sticker on it that says "Telemarking is Stupid" please shoot me a pm...

Lost Helmet Couloir was powdery goodness though.


















































Thursday, the Duke of Delridge joined up with us for a tour on Heather Ridge. The avy danger had dropped down considerably since the day before, so we got a little more aggressive with our terrain choice. 

We shuttled a vehicle to Yodelin so that we wouldn't have to return to the ski area or hitch hike at the end of the day. So while waiting YC and I had some time to kill. Did I mention the snow is ridiculously deep there?








YC made some fine snow art while we were waiting...








Cont...


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

The Duke with the point.








The group making their way up the steep skin.








Then of course we got back to snowboarding.
















The duke...
























Ale started to creep out to the spine line we had done earlier in the week. The snow really started moving up top and was sluffing hard off of the cliff.








Kicking off another slab avalanche below.
















cont...


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

That was enough warning for us. Ale and YC both took a more conservative line down the spine.








The apron below was nice though.
















Then it was another skin and a group photo from a nice sunny spot on top of Heather Ridge.








The scenery was okay once again.








Then we did that snowboard thing again.
















The exit out to Yodelin was long. I also managed to get some first hand experience with a tree well. Those things suck. I didn't have quite enough speed to trough it. Fortunately YC was there to give me a hand getting out. With out his help, I might have been in trouble.

Friday was just Ale, YC, and myself. We decided to take the ridge out over moonlight bowl. Made for a nice skin.
















Plenty of surface hoar had been growing with the clear nights and cold temps.








Cont...


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

The ridge out was just fantastic.
















The snow was even better.

































After some serious billy goating over some some scary cliffs, we found our opening and made some of the best wide open turns of the trip. Ale, plowing the powder trail.
















It was out through Yodelin one more time after that. We got one more day in on Saturday, but the light broke flat, and the temps had warmed up. This was the only day where pics just didn't come out great. If it had of been at the beginning of the trip, I would have considered the conditions good. Being at the end of the trip and all of the blower we had, it was just "meh". We did a one and done and closed out a great trip.

Big thanks to Ale for being an awesome tour guide. No way my trip would have been nearly as excellent without his services.


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## turbospartan (Oct 27, 2010)

Awesome trip report, thanks for that. 

Can I ask what kind of camera you have?


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

I'm shooting with a Nikon D5100 SLR. I have a tele photo and the standard 18-55 lens that most camera kits come with. It also shoots 1080 vid, but I barely used that function on this trip.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Snowolf said:


> Nice pics! Again, wish my schedule would have worked out to coincide with better avalanche conditions. It was dicey that Thursday.
> 
> Reading this description, I have that scene from "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" when John Candy and Steve Martin get pulled over by that cop in their burned out car.....:laugh:


The funny thing is that Max is not far off from that car...:laugh:


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## lernr (Feb 3, 2012)

Seems you had great time!

I've been around Yodelin a couple of times, and it seems a 'safer' choice in sketchy conditions but still lots of fun...

I spent your last weekend in a snow cave above Paradise, and then a buddy broke his fibula so I took him home on Sunday. If I knew you are here, I would have tried to meet up with you, at least for a beer - you helped me with my NS split last year and I really appreciate it. Who are you in the picture? - to put a face to the name

Cheers
Ivo


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Dude in the red with white sunglasses holding the camera. I took about 2000 pics on this trip, yet only got that one of myself. Such is the life of having a DSLR. You take the great shots, but you hardly get any of yourself.


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## schmitty34 (Dec 28, 2007)

Awesome pics. So much stoke. 

Any vids to share?


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## lernr (Feb 3, 2012)

Wow man - just one! Such a trip and just one pic, can't believe your buddies didn't offer to snap a few more... The way I see it they owe you big time. 



killclimbz said:


> Dude in the red with white sunglasses holding the camera. I took about 2000 pics on this trip, yet only got that one of myself. Such is the life of having a DSLR. You take the great shots, but you hardly get any of yourself.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

schmitty34 said:


> Awesome pics. So much stoke.
> 
> Any vids to share?


I do have video! With any luck I will work on it tonight. It may be until next week though. Might have to go boarding tomorrow. Surprise storm and possibly the last pow day in Colorado...


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

lernr said:


> Wow man - just one! Such a trip and just one pic, can't believe your buddies didn't offer to snap a few more... The way I see it they owe you big time.


As mentioned in the previous post, I do have all the vid. So there is that. It's kind of hard to hand off a DSLR for someone else to use. My buds took a couple of pics with their point and shoots, only one came out that I saw. It's just the nature of what I'm shooting with. No worries. I bought the camera to make my buddies look good.


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## WasatchMan (Aug 30, 2011)

Killer trip report, great read!


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## DrnknZag (Feb 7, 2010)

Hell yeah, Kill! Glad you had a good time in my neck of the woods. I was probably hiking around over at Stevens while you guys were hitting Heather. Can't wait to get my split together for next season and venture out there.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

It's a pretty killer back yard you have there zag. I almost did a day of lift served slackcountry, but we opted out since the snow didn't come in quite as heavy as predicted. I am pretty sure I'll be out next year. I don't see why not.

I also finally got some video together. Had lots of fun trying to get something together. New computer, new editing programs. Sorry if it gets a little pixelated at times, but I think it does the job. Enjoy.

39950563


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## lernr (Feb 3, 2012)

Jeez, no powder cartweels?

Just kidding, great vid  NS can use a segment for an ad!


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

lernr said:


> Jeez, no powder cartweels?
> 
> Just kidding, great vid  NS can use a segment for an ad!


I did have one crash that was pretty good! I shot so much video though, I haven't figured out which one has it. I probably have enough decent footage for another 2-4 minute video, so maybe I'll scrap another together. I was thinking about doing an end of season edit, as I have some good footage from Wolf Creek, Vail, and Berthoud Passes that I haven't used yet either.


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## snowvols (Apr 16, 2008)

Gary great video! Yet again you have reminded me why this is the winter to quickly forget. Quick question though, where did you get your chest bag for your camera? I have been looking for one for awhile. It is a PITA to keep my camera in my pack.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

snowvols said:


> Gary great video! Yet again you have reminded me why this is the winter to quickly forget. Quick question though, where did you get your chest bag for your camera? I have been looking for one for awhile. It is a PITA to keep my camera in my pack.


None of the local camera stores had it but Amazon does.

Amazon.com: Lowepro Chest Harness For Topload Zoom: Camera & Photo

I'm using the Low Pro top loader AW50 for the carry bag. It's the smallest one that has four carry rings (two top, two bottom of the case) for the chest harness. It looks like you are carrying a chest burster alien but surprisingly the camera is not really in your way at all. Makes for fairly quick transitions. The only thing is you can't carry an extra lens in it. Though I just keep my other lens in my pack and switch them out before or after skinning most of the time. 

The harness is a little bit of a pain to get set, but once you have it where you want it, it's pretty damn easy to use.


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## Ale_Capone (Aug 26, 2007)

Very nice Killcimbz!!

Having you hang you for the week was a highlite of my winter for sure. Your a great freind and guest and you are welcome anytime! Some of the video is a little sideways at fist. It gets better, and footage from angrier looks sick. a nice job pole dancing after you lost your helmet. 

re all the other comments,

not only does that look like max in the photo, i thought steve martin as me?? I have slippers and pajama pants just like the hat! 

I have a good habit of leaving my little point and shoot tucked away when the guys break out with the big guns. besides, per our agreement, photographer was not one of my duties. YC should have taken more.  I suck at action shots anyways and Killz went home, phat, pow happy, and alive as promised... with no long approaches.

just got a nice print from costco. have to get a bigger slice of wood. stay tuned.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Killz very nice and Ale I have finally gotten tired of the little hill really got to get it together to I venture out...you guys are murdering me. Summer's goal...do a splitty and get my legs in shape.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Do it Wrath. Best thing I did was leave the resort behind...


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