Okay people, I need some ideas. I've worked a lot lately and am bored as fuck living thousands of kilometers (or miles, take your pick) from the nearest snow. So, I'm going to head to Europe and make use of my savings the way they are meant to be used, skiing. I need some Mountain time.

I've got nothing holding me down over here, I have the gear; both ski and mountain kit, and I have as much time as I want. If I need to I can probably get a working holiday visa for France or Italy. I can leave anytime from the start of November onwards. And I was thinking of a stop over in Gulmarg before Europe if I were not to leave till early December, but I'm not too fussed.

So. If you were me, what would you do? Hell, or what would you do?


Dave.

Hope this is in the right forum. Seems about right from the other threads I've read over the years.
Edit: this old Cham thread got me thinking too. But whatever. http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...Cost-of-Living

I think this has been talked about before, but I couldn't find the thread.

Any word if the mountain will still be open to the public?


http://www.npr.org/2013/06/18/192674...buy-a-mountain

It's not your everyday real estate deal. A team of young entrepreneurs persuaded about 50 deep-pocketed investors to help them purchase a mountain. The deal just closed in April, and development on Utah's nearly 10,000-acre Powder Mountain is now underway.

"When we made those first phone calls, everybody's like, what? That being said, they know that we aren't kidding," says Jeff Rosenthal, co-founder of Summit, the group that led the purchase of the peak.

Summit is a company that until now has specialized in putting on invitation-only-event experiences, gathering boldfaced names from across various fields. It started as a way for young tech founders to get together and share ideas, but it's grown to include leaders in business, entertainment and philanthropy.

By buying a mountain, Summit's going beyond building conferences. It's now trying to build a permanent place. The team wants Powder Mountain to be a new creative center to incubate ideas, host events and let smart people come together in a place where they can let their guards down.

Enlarge image
Jeff Rosenthal, co-founder of Summit, in front of Powzilla, an open-top Suburban turned rock crawler.

Elise Hu/NPR
Spending time with Summit can feel like being at summer camp for grown-ups — the highly produced convenings mix serious talks with ideas and adventure. It's like Davos for millennials.

"If you were at our Summit at Sea event you could have gone tagging tiger sharks with University of Miami scientists and your friends. If you were at our DC10 event, you could have gone off 20-foot waterfalls with some gold-medal-winning kayakers," Rosenthal says.

Now these thrill seekers have a year-round playground. The deal for Powder Mountain closed in April for the reported price tag of $40 million. Summit says it's not a bad price for such a well-preserved pocket of natural beauty. Located in Eden, about an hour north of Salt Lake City, the largely untouched Powder Mountain is a skier's paradise, boasting 500 inches of snow a year in a largely rural environment.

For decades, Powder Mountain was owned by sheep farmers who barely put up ski lifts on the mountain, much less a resort. Skiers and snowboards do enjoy Powder Mountain, but it's been a well-kept backcountry secret that's not as easy to get to as other Utah attractions. You can only get to Powder Mountain by winding through two-lane roads and canyons. No fancy amenities are available. On peak days, the number of people who ski Powder Mountain don't even make up a tenth of the skiers who take to Telluride. Locals like it that way.


All Tech Considered
Don't Like The Government? Make Your Own, On International Waters

Looking Up: Pockets Of Economic Strength
On Utah's 'Silicon Slopes,' Tech Jobs Get A Lift
"They're scared of it being Aspen or Vail and getting priced out of this unique rural environment," says Mike Caldwell, mayor of Ogden, the closest city to Powder Mountain.

Summit's development plans call for 500 home sites, a retail village and rotating residences for artists. While that may be more than some locals would like, Caldwell says the mountain's most recent owner, a consortium called Western American Holdings, planned for much more. Bloomberg Businessweek reported that the former owners "had plans for thousands of housing units and motel rooms spilling over both sides of Powder Mountain in two counties." Caldwell says efforts by the equity group to incorporate the mountain community into a town to open up development so riled the locals that they got the Utah Legislature involved. Then the real estate market went bust.

"I think [the equity group] got tired of the fight, and I don't think the model quite hit what they were hoping to see, and so they were happy to back away and let a different group come in," Caldwell says. Calls to representatives of Western American Holdings were not returned.

Rosenthal says the Summit team loves the natural setting and aims to do sustainable, limited development to maintain the mountain's peaceful feel.


A walk up near the peak of Powder Mountain, which is about 9,000 feet elevation.

Elise Hu/NPR
"We're certainly not traditional developers. Return on community is our No. 1 intention, followed by the return on investment [for] the people that backed this project," Rosenthal says. "We were inspired by the core concepts of the Sundance Film Festival and the Aspen Institute. You can build place around a shared ethos. We look to build the coolest little mountain town in the world."

Count plenty of cool kids among the mountain's 50 investors: PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Olympic-level snowboarder Danny Davis, the founders of Wired magazine and pop music hit maker Dr. Luke, responsible for songs like "Since U Been Gone" and "I Kissed A Girl," each pitched in anywhere between $500,000 and $2 million to invest in the mountain purchase. In return, they can opt to build a mountain home.

"I believe in them," says Lukasz Gottwald, who goes by Dr. Luke. "I do have other real estate in other places, but this is a unique opportunity and a unique place. I hope that when my house is done ... I can ski and snowboard straight out of it, on this beautiful mountain."

The slopes will stay open to the public to enjoy. On a clear day, you can see four states from the peak of Powder Mountain, and a limitless horizon line. Nature seems to send a message.

"I don't think anybody in our community has felt like they've achieved what they're going to in the world and now they're done. We are looking to continue to create great things in the world as we move forward," Rosenthal says.

Many of my ski friends are moms and dads. Probably in their experience and certainly in mine, when you first become a parent, your skiing days go way, way, way down. I know that for about 2 years I didn't get hardly any days or so it seemed. But then the kids get old enough to ski and your ski days start going up. Then you realize the secret to more ski days for you is getting the kids skiing and loving it as much as you do.

Fast forward 16 years. You have accomplished your goal. Your ski days are way, way, way up and the kids are there with you on many of those days. They are old enough and skilled enough to ski anywhere. You have begun there avalanche training and it's time for true indoctrination into the tribe. So you pull the trigger on the big trip, in a big snow year.

This is the story of a bunch of 40 something year old kids teaching teens and 20 somethings year old kids what the life can be like if done safely, with a positive attitude and a never ending hunger to have fun and stay kids themselves.

Welcome to the tribe.

This May and June I had the opportunity to join a trip to try and ski some high peaks in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. This report is from the first part of our trip: the journey from Switzerland to Huaraz Peru, and our adventure into the Quebrada Ishinca.



Piramide de Garcilazo. These are the sorts of peaks that can be found in the Cordillera Blanca.


I entered this trip with some hesitation, for a couple of reasons. First, while I certainly don’t mind hiking for my turns (and have even been known to don crampons from time to time), I do not consider myself a climber by any stretch of the definition. Not only does the Cordillera Blanca have the reputation for being a center for alpinism, but it also contains a number of peaks in the 20,000 foot range, which is considerably higher than I had ever been before.



Long valleys lead to big, glaciated peaks. The Quebrada Ishinca with Tocllaraju at its head.


With these reservations in mind, my personal goals in joining this trip were to learn as much as possible about climbing in truly high mountains, to enjoy a new experience in this incredibly varied world of skiing, and to come home safely. Any other achievements as far as summits or ski runs would just be an added bonus.



The team: Petter Meling, Juan Rivas, Lee Lyon, assorted donkeys.


Our group consisted of myself (Lee Lyon), Petter Meling, and Juan Rivas. Juan and Petter both live in Verbier, and I was able to spend the springtime leading up to Peru training and preparing with them in the Alps. Personally, I left Verbier in the best shape of my life, with rising hopes about what we could achieve in the Cordillera Blanca.



Training for Peru. On our way to the Petit Combin. Val de Bagnes, CH.


After an incredibly smooth and uneventful trip from Switzerland to Peru, and a few days of logistics and acclimatization in Huaraz, we were ready to embark on our first adventure into the mountains.



Acclimatization hike near Laguna Churup.


In Huaraz, we were staying at the Casa de Zarela. Zarela came recommended to us by other friends, and I would like to pass that recommendation along here. She took care of all of our logistics and preparation; from taxis, to donkeys, to information on camps, to recommendations for places to eat. I have done a fair bit of traveling with skis in the past few years, and have become quite used to the ups, downs, and stresses of it all. While this trip could have been a logistical nightmare, it might have been the smoothest trip I have ever done, almost entirely thanks to Zarela. So… thanks!



Changing transport modes at the base of the Quebrada Ishinca: taxi to donkey.



Beginning the long approach hike to Ishinca base camp. Con burros.



Home sweet home for the next 9 days. Ishinca base camp.


Our destination was the Quebrada Ishinca, with three peaks in mind: Urus Este, Ishinca, and Tocllaraju. We planned to spend 9 days in the valley, acclimatizing and learning about what it would take to ski from summits in this mountain range.



First peak of the trip: Urus Este



Second acclimatization peak for the trip: Ishinca. The line comes off the summit to the looker’s left, and comes straight down between cliffs to the right and seracs to the left. If you look closely, you can see pieces of my camera scattered beneath the cliffs.


At 17,783 and 18,143 feet, Urus and Ishinca are relatively low for the Cordillera Blanca, and we hoped they would be good acclimatizing peaks. I had my video camera along for these two peaks, and along with some POV footage from Juan, was able to put together a little edit that describes our approach into the Quebrada Ishinca and experiences on Urus and Ishinca nicely:






Unfortunately, I hurled my camera off a cliff just below the summit of Ishinca, so this video concludes my photographic contribution to the trip.



Moraine turns to glacier on Urus Este.



Skiing, finally! Finding some powder as a climber looks on.


We were able to summit and ski both Urus and Ishinca. On one hand, this provided some great skiing, and was confidence – inspiring for our chances on higher peaks going forward. On the other hand, we hiked through snow and rain on both climbs, which, in retrospect, foreshadowed our struggles with weather in the weeks to come.



Juan working through crevasses in the early morning sun on Ishinca.



Juan making turns low on Ishinca.



Ishinca, done.


Our last goal for the Ishinca Valley was Tocllaraju, our first 6,000m attempt for the trip (coming in at 19,790ft). Tocllaraju has a beautiful, extremely steep ramp of a west face, that is visible right down the front in this photo. It is often ice, but if it is in condition, it is the ideal ski line from the summit. If it wasn’t looking good, we would descend by the looker’s left ridge.



Tocllaraju. One of the better views of it we got the whole time we were at base camp. You can see the impressive west face coming down out of the clouds in the center of the photo.


Tocllaraju sits at the head of the valley we were camping in, so at this point we had been staring at it for a week. In that week, the summit had only emerged from the clouds for about an hour, total. Realistically, we all knew that our odds were not good for getting on top of this one. But, with our success on the trip so far, we felt that luck was on our side, and that somehow the sun would pop out just for us. Also, a local guide had managed to drag clients through the glacier and onto the summit ridge, and we hoped we might be able to follow his tracks.



Slogging it up to Tocllaraju high camp with heavy packs.


We arrived at our glacier camp with some of the best weather we had seen up high so far, and high hopes. But, when the alarms sounded at 2am, it was snowing again. We were able to find a faint track low on the glacier, but wind and snow were quickly burying it.



Tocllaraju high camp.


Midway through the glacier, the track finally became buried, and we were on our own. We were able to push a little farther, but finally found ourselves back tracking a couple of times, and unable to find the correct route to the summit ridge. When our own track began to disappear behind us, it was time to admit defeat.



Wandering around on glaciers in the clouds.


Many climbers seem willing to take the risk of stumbling around blind on these peaks in the Cordillera Blanca, but the risk is unacceptable for me. I don’t have much glacier experience, but the ones in Peru seem exceptionally open and active. A recurring theme on our summit attempts became an unwillingness to travel exposed glaciated terrain in whiteouts.



One last look back on our way back down to Huaraz.


I have two more parts I'm working on for this TR, which I'll be posting soon.


Snowbrains

Insight into TGR athlete Bibi Pekarek and Her Healthy Lifestyle @ http://bit.ly/17gK4zM

daywalker and i found a single ski, with skin and a boot still in it, and a pair of poles up in west porter fork.

sounds like this incident: http://utahavalanchecenter.org/avala...nt-west-porter

if you know this person, hit me and we can tell you where the gear is.

glad to head the skier turned out ok, there was some crazy bad energy in the air in this slide path.

cheers!

My wife and I are planning on spending next ski season living in a ski town and skiing full time. I'd love some advice from the collective TGR wisdom of where that should be.

I'm an expert telemarker, my wife is an advanced skier. Our home resort is Kirkwood in Tahoe where we do 70% resort, 30% backcountry.

We want someplace with great terrain and snow and a good town to live in. We don't need the best resort in the world and are happy to trade that for a sleepier spot where there's still powder a couple days after a storm. We'd rather not have to do too much driving to go skiing. We're open to places in North American and Europe, although in Europe we'd prefer French speaking. We are price sensitive and are only looking at a January – mid-March season so we'd need some place where we could find housing that would accommodate that.

I was interested in Revelstoke, but not sure about the town. Thoughts? Any comments on Champery, Banff, Fernie, Bozeman? Or other recommendations?

They might be rocking lycra and skinny skies, but Andy and Jason deserve mad props for knocking this out....
3:57:55 round trip.....

http://www.outdoorresearch.com/blog/...ime-on-rainier

http://www.biglines.com/articles/can...niversity-peak

Surely rog has been up there as well since the Gulf of Slides melted out.

Over Memorial Day weekend my wife and I skied the Grand.

We had a grand old time, and it was definitely the most difficult ski line to put together with all the logistics and disciplines needed.

Some pics:













TRs here:
http://comountaincouple.blogspot.com...onal-park.html
http://comountaincouple.blogspot.com...-on-grand.html

Attached Thumbnails

         

 

Here's some background:

-Girlfriend and I are looking to do some adventure traveling together for 6months or so starting this Fall
-Both have Bachelor's degrees from a solid school, her in archaeology/religion, and me in more conservation, ecology, and some policy/development work
-The job market sucks. And we both really want to gain travel experience. She has already traveled quite a bit growing up. Me, not so much, as I've been pretty isolated in the Northeast
-An advantage is she speaks a few languages, with spanish being her strongest (besides English). I know some basic spanish though definitely need a refresher
-Ideas for traveling include WWOOFing, trail maintenance, conservation work, etc.
-I've largely been inspired in the past few weeks by Wade Davis' One River

Here's what I'm asking for:

-Any advice on volunteer work, where room and board is provided in exchange for labor? Not looking to "pay" for some volunteer project to save the sea turtles for experience
-Any suggestions on cheaper, off the beaten path places to go, countries to seek out, transportation advice, how not to get killed crossing borders, etc. Probably won't be able to bring (or afford) any skiing but I would love some cool hiking or trail work in the mountains!
-Basically, any advice for a first timer looking for some cool adventures while I'm young, particularly in South America

Thanks!!!

On our drive up to Missoula we looked up at the area around Saint Mary Peak. Before leaving Montana we did hiked up to Saint Mary Peak for some views and a few turns. After driving up the switchbacks on Saint Mary Road we hiked the 3.8 miles of switchbacks from around 6,900 feet to Saint Mary Peak at 9,334 feet.

Vets and Makisha navigate a low bridge tree on the approach...


Looking up at Saint Mary Peak Lookout:


At the top we find an open air outhouse with a view:


Looking back at Saint Mary Peak Lookout where Mrs. Vets has a late lunch on the deck:


A panoramic view from Saint Mary Peak:


Enough hanging around on top, Makisha barks at Vets to get going...

...Makisha and Vets head down below the lookout...


Vets, Makisha and Penny...



Vets starts a glade run...

...continues...

...then Makisha stalks the skier...


Penny and Makisha encourage Vets to start the traverse out to the trail...

...the end of the traverse and the beginning of the trail out...


I did see some other ski tracks in a couple of different areas near the peak. If I had more time and more local knowledge it would have been fun to ski these lines. Still, it was fun to experience some new out-of-state patchskiing.

During a road trip to Montana we spent much of our day looking for access to skiable snow patches. (The areas off of Hwy. 75 in Idaho looked good, but had no idea on the access.) At around 7:00 PM we arrived at Lost Trail Pass on the Montana-Idaho border. There we saw a snow patch that may possibly have been right on the Montana-Idaho border.


I looked at the ticket prices:


Saw a sign offering a pajama discount:

However, I only had my Dr. Seuss pajama bottoms without pajama tops.

Next, I noticed that someone left a comp ticket for me:


I didn't need to use this since the lifts were not running at 7:00 PM (actually they have not been running for two months.)

So, I made the seven minute long approach.

Penny joins me on my first run...

... a happy but abrupt end to my first run...


Makisha encourages me to take another run...

... I start down from above the clouds...

... and experience another abrupt happy ending to my run...


Lacking a trail map, Penny and Makisha show me the way down...


Makisha barks encouragement on my next run...


Penny, Vets, and Makisha on another run...



Penny straightlines while Vets lines up his turns...


Vets:


Looking back up at my tracks on the snowpatch...


This was a great break during a long drive. Lost Trail Powder Mountain has a lot of potential, as well as a great vibe and feel. I have set aside $37 to buy a ticket and return in the winter. Hopefully, I will experience skiing here on a powder day.

I realise I'm a noob to this forum but I'm writing a thesis on the evolution of subcultures and am using the ski subculture as part of my questionnaire.

The survey takes less than 2 minutes! honestly

survey on the evolution of ski subculture

thanks in advance

Theo