Pray For Snow
The Seattle, Washington “Freeheel Life” Telemark movie October 17th at the Nectar Lounge at 5:30pm.
For more information about this event and for the movie’s trailer visit http://www.freeheellife.com/
Please ignore the oregon dates and refer to the Seattle date posted above, thanks!
The 2009 Reel Rock Tour will premiere in Seattle, Washington on Thursday, September 17th at 7pm at the Neptune Theatre. Tickets are $14 at the door.
This is the most beautiful place on earth.
There are many such places. Every man, every woman, carries in heart and mind the image of the ideal place, known or unknown, actual or visionary…There’s no limit to the human capacity for the homing sentiment. Theologians, sky pilots, astronauts have even felt the appeal of home calling to them from up above, in the cold black outback of interstellar space.
For myself, I’ll take Moab, Utah. I don’t mean the town itself, of course, but the country which surrounds it-the canyonlands. The slickrock desert. The red dust and the burnt cliffs and the lonely sky-all that which lies beyond the end of the roads.
-EDWARD ABBY, Desert Solitaire
The WERC program was founded by Laurie Normandeau in 2006. Known as “Women Experience Rock Climbing,” this program is a series of monthly clinics aimed at improving female climbers that is held at Momentum Indoor Climbing in Salt Lake City, Utah. The clinics are offered for two levels of women climbers. One is offered to first time climbers that are interested in learning how to belay and understand basic techniques of the sport. The other is a more advanced level that helps women improve specific climbing skills that will allow them to climb higher grades. Laurie’s vision was to get women involved in rock climbing and to provide a community for female climbers in the Salt Lake City area. After starting this wonderful program Laurie moved to Boulder, Colorado where she left the legacy of WERC to continue on with local female climbers such as Dawn Young, Angie Miske, Nancy Feagan, myself and others.
Each month a guest instructor holds a clinic on a specific climbing technique. For the Month of May I was invited as a guest instructor to teach Crack Climbing Technique. Fortunately, Momentum Indoor Climbing provides a controlled environment to learn hand jams. It has 13 indoor cracks of various sizes which are perfect for beginners to learn on without having to worry about placing gear, exposure, or rock surface. In my clinic I talked to the women about gear used in traditional climbing, how to begin to learn trad climbing, and of course safety. I shared with them what cams, nuts, and other pieces of protection are and how they are used. We then learned how to make tape gloves and the different types of jams you can make with your hands. And finally we got on some cracks (perfect hands) and the women worked on technique.
My group of women was so awesome! I knew coming into the clinic that many women were intimidated at the thought of learning how to crack climb. Because of this my group was small at about 8 women. However, this worked to our benefit because I could spend more one on one time with each climber. I had young girls about 10 yrs old all the way to older women in their 50’s. I loved the range of ages and abilities. Some women had never touched a crack while others tried more challenging jams such as ring locks and fist jams. I was extremely impressed at how fast the women learned and the level of motivation each one had! Each woman accomplished something while learning to crack climb which was amazing to see! I hope to teach a clinic again some day soon. It was a really great experience for me to share my love for climbing with others.
Jeff and I are moving to Vancouver, BC in the fall so he can go to graduate school at UBC. I am sad to leave the Wasatch behind but excited to explore the pacific northwest! Yesterday was my last day at Alta. I am sure we will have the occasional vacation to revisit the wasatch pow but I am kind of nostalgic about the good times I have had there. I do plan on touring this spring, however, the avalanche conditions are currently high because of extreme heating. Here is a photo I took of Devil’s Castle, my favorite feature of Alta.
Today Jeff, Steve Lloyd and I hiked out to Wolverine to ski Granny Chute. Origionally we were going to boot pack up the side of Tuscarora to get to Wolverine but there was no booter in yet. So we decided to skin up the ridge. The skin up was extremely steep and a little slipery which forced me to focus on my skinning technique. The weather held out for us but was cloudy and at times socked in. As we skied the chute, however, the sun decided to give us some ambiant light. Although cloudy, the weather had heated the snow into heavy, creamy pow. We each made smooth turns down the chute and then traversed out to Grizzly Gulch. On the way out to grizzly a storm moved in on us. Visibility was low and it was groppling. Traversing out there were sections we crossed a slope one at a time to reduce the chance of triggering a slide. As I was in the middle of one of these slopes a huuuuge thunderstruck and I froze in fear thinking it was an avalanche (they sound frightingly similar!). Steve yelled out to me that it was only thunder and I made it safely across the slope. Although not ideal weather, we had good turns and a good day hiking!
Steve Lloyd Photography
Skiing has a challenging learning curve. You not only have to learn how to use your edges, parallel turn, and balance but you must also learn how to do all of that in a variety of conditions. Sometimes the conditions are right and you enjoy a long day of effortless runs but other times you are fighting zipper crusts, heavy crud, spring freezes and icy conditions. It is true that are never truly consistent snow conditons so everyday or even throughout the day you must adapt to what you are given. I find myself frustrated at times because as soon as I feel confident in pow it turns to crud. And as soon as I am confident in crud it turns to ice. What has helped me the most is to look at the snow pack I am given and view it as a challenge. By presenting myself with challenges I can work through them and ultimately get more comfortable in every condition I am given.To all those learning to ski stay positive! The best way to get through variable conditions is to just experience them!
My favorite condition by far is wind affected pow… the creamy and smooth kind!!
Steve Lloyd Photography
Spring did not take its time this year. Warm temps have been plaguing Utah for the past few weeks. A weak storm cycle dropped several inches over a few days but nothing significant. Don’t get me wrong, I am stoked for the summer climbing season, I am just not ready for winter to be over. I am hoping Utah pulls through with it’s usual March and April Dumps… I do recall skiing pow in May last year. One can only hope! I plan on doing some longer tours in the near future…. The North Face of Superior is on my tick list for this week.
4:30am and an early rise.
5:30am start hiking.
7:20am sunrise and summit!
8:30am back at the car
Best day of the season! Not because it was epic snow (… although it was good) but because it was a good day with good friends. Jeffrey, Stephen, Jon and I decided to dawn patrol Cardiff. My legs are getting stronger and my skinning is improving. It really does come down to the days you put in. The east face of Cardiff was powder… making for smooth, easy turns. Skiing out, the south facing slopes were sun baked and a challenge to stay on your feet. Its a good feeling to finish a tour before half the valley was even awake!!
The storm from the day before did roll in and it was PUKING! Jeff and I decided to skin up to Patsey to get us a little pow. The weather turned foul with high winds and fast accumulation of snow. We made the judgment call to jump on the ridge (premature of the summit) and head down. Though the turns were short, they were well worth it! Happy Valentines Day babe!
