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The scruffy-bearded earth surfing split boarder Nick Russell has added another momentous snowboard descent to his already illustrious professional snowboarding career, PAPSURA- THE “PEAK OF EVIL 21, 180’ / 6400m, Himachel Pradesh, India. Russell got his start edging frozen halfpipe walls in Vermont at Stratton Mountain School, which churned out professional competitive snowboarders like Danny Davis, and the Mitrani brothers. However, Russell didn’t find much of a spark and had relative success in competitive snowboarding. Still, it was his move out west to Utah after high school that led to Nick’s affinity for freeride snowboarding and mountaineering. He is now widely regarded as the world’s first professional split board athlete, and not a snowboarder who adapted to use the split board, but one who primarily used it to earn significant sponsorships like Red Bull, Smartwool, and Patagonia. He’s used the tool to bag peaks in the Eastern Sierras, Wyoming, the Andes, Denali and several 20,000-plus ft. peaks in the Himalayas. We caught up with Nick to talk about his latest endeavor - Papsura.
You’d cited the late Hilaree Nelson as inspiration for this line, as she encouraged you to try and ride it before she passed, and regarded it to be one of the most beautiful lines in the world. How much do you take to heart advice from someone like Hilaree? And had the line been on your radar otherwise?
When someone I really respect and admire uses words like that to describe a line or zone, I don’t take it lightly. I knew it’d be the adventure of a lifetime to give it a try.
Hilaree put this line on the map. Papsura is literally in the middle of nowhere in the remote Himalayan mountains of Himachal Pradesh (Northern India). It’s pretty out there kinda stuff. Without her passionate quest to figure it out, we’d have no idea it existed.
And then you confided in legendary mountaineer, Jim Morrison, who’s also no stranger to the Himalayas. What was it like getting beta and encouragement from Jim on this line and expedition?
I reached out to both Jim and Chris Figenshau last fall for some beta, but also low-key looking for their blessing to give it a try. This past year Jerry and I shared some really great powder/training days at home in the Sierra with Jim and were constantly picking his brain. He was an open book and graciously shared everything he could recall from their 2017 expedition- timing, camp locations, gear, etc. His help contributed greatly to our success.
You and Jerry Mark had been “joking” about riding this line for years? How confident are you in Jerry as a partner and when did things get serious?
Jerry and I became close friends on our trip to Denali in 2019. His riding in steep terrain, climbing skills, and medical background (his full-time job is as a Registered Nurse) are second to none. Between our friendship and his ties to Hilaree from growing up in Telluride, his partnership on this expedition was a no-brainer.
You’ve summited and ridden Denali and spent a good amount of time above 14,000 feet and even 20,000 in the Himalayas. What are some of the biggest challenges riding lines at those elevations present?
I love the entire process of climbing/riding at higher altitudes. It’s so much more involved than everyday riding with so many moving parts. There are no shortcuts.
Working slowly up to altitude is crucial, especially when trying to ride something steep and technical. Papsura was a personal high point for both me and Jerry. As soon as we breached the 20,000’ mark, our pace dramatically slowed down. Generally speaking, when summit day comes around, you’re going higher than you have the entire trip. Simply breathing is a lot of work.
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How was acclimating?
We had a healthy roll of acclimatizing, sleeping at 6 different camps along the way up the mountain over three weeks. Two on the trek into basecamp, and then three higher on the mountain at 14k, 16.5k, and finally our high camp at 18k. It’s a gradual increase that is necessary when you’re moving so much gear up the mountain.
And you credited Danny Davis and Austen Sweetin for some “spot on forecasting,” what goes into forecasting for a trip like this, and how important is it to try be be “spot on?”
Danny and Austen are really close friends of ours that graciously nerded out on various forecast models for us. We’d receive their respective forecasts and compare them with what was actually happening on the ground to see which models were most reliable. Our biggest fear was getting clouded or stormed out while climbing or descending the line. We wanted to be as sure as possible that our summit day would be splitter- thankfully it was!
How were the conditions and how did it feel to feel to finally ride down Papsura - The Peak of Evil?
It was a dream come true, to say the least. I’d share more but you’ll have to wait until the film comes out this fall, in conjunction with Patagonia.
Mountaineering seems to generally be more of a skiers game, and you guys put a first snowboard descent on the peak. How does it feel to leave your mark on some of these bigger lines and mountains as a snowboarder?
That’s the goal! Hopefully, there is plenty more to come in the future.
Congrats Nick!
