The Bad, The Ugly and the Good Idea

Ski Mountaineering in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah (February 2023)

Bryan:  Well, we’ll find out pretty soon…

Me:  If this is a bad idea?

Bryan:  Yep.

We had been assessing the snow quality for the entire two hour approach to the base of the climb up to the couloir. As we skinned from the car along a wide road that suddenly narrowed to a hiking path, the snow progressively got deeper and “better”. Sure, there was some nice, fluffy, fresh powder from the snowfall overnight. But only about 5 inches below this delightful powder was an undeniable crusty layer. And that crust varied from mildly crunchy to rock hard depending on where we stabbed our ski poles. That’s a very quick and dirty and non-scientific way to determine snow quality and how much “fun” our impending ski turns are going to be. To understand what I mean about this, think about baking brownies. When the timer goes off to signal that the brownies are done, you stab the brownies in the middle of the pan with a toothpick. When you remove the toothpick, what does it look like? If it’s clean with no gooey, unbaked batter spindling off of it then the brownies are finished baking. This is a “good” assessment. If the toothpick is a gooey mess, this is “bad” because they’re not finished baking. Now let’s apply this to snow evaluation. If you stab the snow with your ski pole and it comes out clean when you remove it, that means the snow is dry and fluffy and your ski turns are going to be so tasty that you’ll be salivating for the rest of the day just thinking about it. If, on the other hand, you stab the snow and your ski pole removes a crunchy crust or gooey slush, then you are going to have a very memorable day but for very different reasons. In short, rather than a smooth, creamy ride down the mountain you are going to feel more like you are riding one of those mechanical bulls in a cowboy bar. Does this sound like fun to you? Hold that thought.

Now let’s get back to the couloir. On the climb up we were increasingly hopeful that we would find some “good” snow in this narrow chute. After all we did find some great pockets of fluffy powder in places as we zigzagged our way higher and higher up the steep slope. We also found a lot of nasty crust but why dwell on the negative, right? I guess we figured there was just as much chance of finding powder as there was of finding crust in the couloir. And the sun was shining so bright that it cut right through the cold air as it warmed my face and hands. It was a beautiful day. So why not just take the chance and go for it? What’s the worst that could happen? As it turns out, it was both a bad idea and a great idea. How could it be both? Well, there’s a simple answer that explains this very clearly. Perspective. 

The pure, raw sensory input that we were getting from the snow conditions was objectively bad. Actually, it was downright horrible! As we entered the bottom of the couloir we immediately realized that we had to remove our skis. The snow was so steep and hard that our skins could no longer “bite” to give us any grip. It was like trying to walk up a sliding board that was just freshly greased with wax paper (remember doing that as a kid?). So we took off our skis, attached them to our backpacks and started kicking steps up the steep, snowy funnel. And this is where things got really interesting. One step would plunge us to the depth of our hips while the next step would feel like kicking into concrete. Unable to find any sort of rhythm we simply decided to drop to our knees and pseudo-crawl-kick our way up the slope. After about 50 ft of this nonsense we managed to burn about 5000 calories while going exactly nowhere. We barely got a quarter of the way up the couloir and the snow just kept getting worse. The snow was so bad, in fact, that we realized that we would have to slide down much of it. Imagine trying to ski down a concrete sidewalk. Just turn to one side and scrape and slide on your ski edges. That’s what we were facing. So we decided to stop climbing any further and survival ski back down to the powder immediately below the chute. 

The initial ski down the couloir went exactly as expected. It was ugly for lack of a better word. Scrape, scrape, slide, jump-turn, scrape, almost fall, scrape, stop, curse and regroup. Repeat as many times as necessary. Then we actually found some nice powder turns from the base of the couloir all the way back down to the skin track. For good measure, however, the mountain was perfectly booby-trapped with randomly placed solid ice chunks just below the snow surface. Were these the best snow conditions for skiing that I’ve ever had? No, not by a long shot. But it was a fun and very memorable day. 

Now I ask you, was our decision to ski the couloir a good idea or a bad idea? That depends on your perspective. If you only care about the quality of the snow and the resulting quality of your ski turns, then you would likely say that it was a bad idea. But for me, the actual skiing part of skiing is of secondary importance. I really enjoy spending time in the mountains, especially with friends. And I really enjoy pushing myself to do new and challenging things. And I really love to take photos. If we had simply given up and decided not to try to ski the couloir due to imperfect snow quality then we would have robbed ourselves of a very fun and memorable experience. I also happened to get a few really great photos that I would not have gotten otherwise. 

So was it a good or bad idea? I answer that it was unquestionably a terrible idea to ski that couloir in those conditions. The snow was garbage and not even capable of skiing. The external sensory input from the mountain told us that very clearly. But we decided to do it anyway. By pushing past our negative expectations we were able to create a positive experience out of imperfect conditions. Simply stated, we used the power of perspective to turn a negative into a big positive. The mountains provide endless opportunities for fun and personal growth but ultimately the mountains do not care about your day. So it’s entirely up to you to find your own bliss. And I promise you can have fun in the mountains every single day if you’re willing. The decision to go is always a great idea.

Alaska 01: Solitude

Click, Like, Tweet, #Hashtag, Post, Follow, Stream, Comment, Meme, Selfie, Selfie, Selfie, Hustle, Hustle, HUSTLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoa there, Slow Down. STOP. Breathe. Relax.

Imagine a place where there is no Social Media, no Influencers, no mobs of people taking Selfies, no Internet, no 4G. In fact, your phone just won’t work outside of airplane mode. Sounds like a fantasy world, right?

I assure you this place is very real. It DOES exist. This is Alaska. It is a land so big, so vast, so wild, so remote, that most of it is undeveloped wilderness. We live in an age of constant chatter and noise. Our smartphones are always on, the internet is consuming much of our daily lives and we’re seeing more and more of the world through a digital lens in a maddening hustle to maintain our online presence.

One of my favorite things about Alaska is that I have the opportunity to disconnect from my phone. My digital self if forced to take a break when I am exploring the mountains and glaciers in America’s Last Frontier. Don’t worry, there is internet and you can use your phone in Alaska! Nearly all of the most popular tourist destinations have a cellular signal of some sort that allows you to navigate, search for lodging or restaurants and, yes, even post your latest and greatest masterpiece on social media. However, many of the most sought after recreational areas have limited or no online access. You can hike on a glacier, backpack through the mountains, float a river or take a scenic flight through scenes that look otherworldly. In fact, you have probably only seen places like this in movies, while flipping through the pages of National Geographic or while surfing through your favorite social media platform. But here’s the catch. You may not be able to take a photo and post it to social media immediately. Sorry Influencers!!! You may even have to wait several days depending on where you are or what you are doing. But that’s ok. I’ll bet you won’t even care. You will be so thrilled to simply be there and enjoy this impressive landscape that you will actually be relieved to have no pressure to do anything but smile.

Alaska is one of the few truly wild places left on this Earth. As the world population continues to climb and urban sprawl extends further and further, we are losing more and more of our wilderness areas every year. Fortunately, we still do have places of natural beauty that force us to disconnect from the digital world and reconnect with the earthly one. We are animals, not digital avatars. We need to step on a 2000 foot deep block of ice, hop across giant car-sized boulders, walk barefoot on the sandy shores of a river or hike miles through a kaleidoscope of brilliantly colored wildflowers. And we need to watch a thousand pound grizzly bear chomping on wild berries (from a distance!), walk among a herd of dall sheep grazing high in the mountains or witness the magical grace of a herd of caribou prancing through the tundra.

Solitude is becoming a rare thing in the ever increasing hustle and bustle of our everyday lives. Sure, we are social animals and need to connect with other members of our tribe. But we need to step off the grid once in awhile to reconnect with our planet. Reconnect with ourselves. We’re spending more time looking down at our phones than looking out at the real world around us. We’re investing more time in our digital lives than actually exploring the riches of our natural world around us. And simply put, this is stressing us out and making us less happy humans.

Go to Alaska just once in your lifetime. I promise it will change your outlook on life. It will change your life!

There's a Place for Wild Spaces

Taking a break while backpacking through Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

I’m back!!! The past two months have been so busy that I haven’t been able to pick up my camera much or even get outside and enjoy the mountains as I normally do. But now the smoke is finally clearing and I am gearing up for Spring and Summer travels. As my excitement is brewing I thought I would start by spotlighting Alaska since it has been such an integral part of my life for the last decade.

As I am planning my next Alaska adventure I realized I have only revealed a handful of my photos from last summer. So I am going to start finally showing off the many reasons why I think that 1) Alaska is one of the most special and incredible places on planet Earth and 2) why I think that you should visit Alaska at least once in your lifetime.

To accomplish this task I will be publishing new photos every week and highlighting different yet unique features of Alaska. It is truly one of the most wild places you could imagine. Although it’s becoming more and more difficult to find “true wilderness” for various reasons, mighty Alaska is a bastion of freedom in the form of places so remote that you can go for days or weeks without seeing another person. These places are so beautiful and hostile that they will take your breath away and force you to confront the thoughts and feelings stirring in the deepest confines of your primitive brain. Simply put, Alaska is the place where you WILL lose yourself and find yourself at the same time.

We as human beings need wild places like this to exist. Join me over the next several weeks as I guide you through America’s Last Frontier and hopefully inspire you to finally buy that plane ticket to Alaska!!!

“Sunset” behind Mt. Blackburn as viewed from the Kennicott Glacier, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Reason for the Ski Season

Carly shredding with a big ol’ smile!

It is December 23rd, the eve before the eve of Christmas. This is one of the busiest days of the year. Just leave the house and go, well, anywhere. People are buzzing around shopping for last minute gifts, buying food for family gatherings and doing whatever else needs to be done before all of the holiday festivities begin tomorrow and will pretty much continue until New Year’s Day.

I try to avoid going anywhere in public on this day because it is complete chaos. There are simply too many people that are frantically trying to get what they need and go where they need to go at the last minute. This, unfortunately, causes a lot of stress and hurry that often seems to lead to frustration, anger and even nasty behavior.

Believe me, I understand. I really do understand. We all work hard, lead pretty hectic lives and have A LOT of responsibilities. And we all want to make sure that we have a happy, fun time on the holidays. So I encourage you all to slow down, take a deep breath and actively embrace the spirit of the holiday season. If you are in a hurry to get that last minute gift at Target, pause for just a second to hold the door open for the person behind you. If you need to get those last few food items at Trader Joe’s, please drive slowly in the parking lot to avoid hitting one of the hundreds of other very nice people who are walking or parking around you.

And regardless of how busy you likely are during the holidays, don’t forget to call up your friends or family and go outside for some exercise and fresh air. Trust me, you will feel so much more alive and in the holiday spirit after spending some time in the outdoors with your loved ones. Ski, hike, run, bike, walk or whatever your passion. It doesn’t matter, just GO.OUTSIDE!!!

And if you do happen to be a ski-o-phile like moi, then go hit the slopes or the backcountry with your friends. But when you do, don’t forget the most important thing. The reason for the ski season is to have fun, celebrate life with the people who mean the most to you and appreciate your good fortunes. Basically, shred that mountain wearing the biggest, brightest, happiest grin you can!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS