Season Recap with Durtschi

I spent the entire ski season in the Western states skiing in Utah Wyoming and Montana. With travel restrictions tight, I decided to form an "athlete bubble” and spent all my time with the same crew this season. The bubble included Kai Jones, Parkin Costain, and friends around Jackson like Veronica Paulsen and Jimmi Ryan. Kai invited me over to Grand Targhee for some resort shred and we even did some filming in the Targhee sidecountry.  It was a busy season and we got after it as usual, it takes alot of film days (hit or miss) to come out with the shots we need for a full length TGR film!

When in trouble tuck for a double. Photo: Nic Alegre Location: Grand Targhee

Gondola laps at Jackson Hole.

Nic Alegre captures a Nose-butter in the wild.

I got the chance to make a 2-week road trip to Cooke City Montana with Parkin Costain and Kai Jones. We stayed at the Big Bear Lodge just outside of town.  This was the perfect location to enjoy cabin life with Sleds parked out front ready to go.  After 2 weeks of cabin life, we had completely forgotten about the outside world.  With Wifi access minimal we untied from the happenings of the rest of the world.  We spent our days exploring the Sled access around Cooke city and looking at the maps to see what we could access. I taught Kai Jones how to play poker, that was a highlight of the trip for sure!  He is a natural, I can see him winning some coin in the future!  

Nights at the Cabin spent playing poker and relaxing.

We also enjoyed some Apre ski and the Miners Saloon!

I had not been to Cooke City since 2010.  It felt like a completely new experience for me since I was riding a brand new Polaris 850.  Back in 2010 I was on run-down Ski-doo from the early 2000s.  It was a piece of work!  Not much has changed in old Cooke City.  I remember being barely old enough to order a drink at the Miner's Saloon last time I was in town. It looked exactly the same and the town has kept the same feel.  Driving up and down main street on the sled never gets old. 

Some of the lines we found!

Waking up early or going to bed late? It's easy to lose track of time out here.

Always goofing around and not taking skiing to seriously.

Party Shred with Kai Jones.

Sleds loaded with our luggage for the 2 week stay!

Finding short lines in the Cooke City sled areas.

Another rock line captured with the Gopro.

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort was open all year and I was able to finish the year with 103 days! Smashing my way into the 100-day club! 

I made it to 100 I promise!

I also had time to ski some lines that included ski mountaineering and ropework.  These are extracurricular ski missions for me that won't be featured in the film, but are still a highlight of my year and are super memorable.  I often find myself skiing most days during the winter.  No matter if I am filming for TGR or not I am always challenging myself and trying to do something creative and fun.Myself and Tami Razinger, a rope and some TVS poles!

I was excited to check this off the bucket list and happy to be able to spend so much time in-bounds and skiing a ton of side-country. Jimmi and Veronica did a bunch of filming all season long with a film crew based in Jackson. We linked up for a cody session with Veronica to get her some big lines to finish up her segment.  Veronica was sending all season long and it was cool to watch her step to some hefty cliffs.  I have always loved skiing with Veronica, I met her before she was crowned the queen of Corbett's and love her drive to send it big!  Really looking forward to her debut in a TGR flick! Along with some great sessions on Cody Peak up high.. we spent some quality time on the Sublette lift.  The cliff bands along Sublette offer great sends as well as a show for all the chairlift riders.

Nightmare shot, this was my favorite photo of the season by Chris Figenshau. Location: Jackson Hole

Nice untracked Cody Line, had to be early!

With the Tram runnings at 25% capacity we spent most of our days doing Thunder laps.

We have spent a ton of time filming in this area.

Some of my favorite runs this season were in this early season pillow section.

Here is a classic shot from Nic Alegre.  I was not sure of the take off on this one, it was a cowboy line for sure.

     Filming around Jackson we were able to ski some new lines in the Casper bowl that I have been looking at for years. Kai and I watched some old TGR movies to get inspiration for new lines at the resort. I recommend watching movies like “The Continuum” and “The Tangerine Dream” for great segments filmed at Jackson Hole. Every single TGR film has a Jackson Segment in it.  That theme has kept on going for 25 years and I do not see it changing anytime soon.  I still have so many classic lines on my list to ski around the Hole.  There is a lifetime to ski here and some lines are better one year or the next.  I have hit the smart bastard cliff annualy for the last 3 years but this year it was never "in" while I was around. 

Tram laps with Sierra Nevada.

     The fire was stoked all season long and even though my ski circle was tight I think it was one of my most enojoyable seasons ever.  I look forward to each ski season, no matter how I feel emotionally or physically.  I know that skiing is going to bring balance to my life and look forward to it for that very reason. I cannot wait for the new film to be released this fall! Keep tuned to the TGR Instagram to see the teaser for the film and all updates.

Polaris 850 charging through the pow.

Oh the places this bad boy will take ya'.

My favorite part of the season is picking up my new skis sometime in January.

Classic Backflip shot by the talented Luke Gentry. 

A classic line near the Sublette lift.

A huge thanks goes out to TGR production for keeping the stoke alive during a year of uncertainty.  Thanks to Jackson Hole for all the support as well as Ski-doo for getting into the mountains.  A huge thanks to all my sponsors, especially Atomic Skis and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company for beleiving in our vision to create the best vibes in the mountains and capturing it all for our veiwers at home!  Teton Gravity has allowed me to follow my dreams and document it along the way and for that I could not be more grateful and stoked!

Huge Thanks to this crew, it takes a team like this to get the job done! TGR production rocks!