The Daily POW

Blue-Bird Friday

Altafarian — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:06:39 +0000

Friday February 26th was another blue-bird powder day up in Alta. The Backside, Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder and Devils Castle all had 18″ of untouched powder from the previous 2 days. The patrol let us at ‘em in that order, although we didn’t break out the camera until we got into Ballroom. This first clip is of Johnny getting freshies on the Ballroom/Shoulder rope line.

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These next clips are of Johnny and Timmy’s run up in Eddie’s High Nowhere. You can see that the fracture line from the avalance several weeks ago has filled in nicely, but there’s still a bit of a drop off so be careful.

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Tim finishes up the Eddie’s run by ducking into Suzy’s trees:

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And on the next run in Suzy’s, we bumbed into Drew and she jumped at the chance to be on The Daily Pow:

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It looks like it may be a while before the next big storm comes rolling through so I hope you all enjoyed Friday. Keep praying for more powder!

Lazy-Mans Devils Castle

Altafarian — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:25:47 +0000

Yesterday morning was another beautiful day up in Alta. While there was only about an inch of snow overnight, Devils Castle hadn’t been open in a few days so the snow collected nicely in there. Not wanting to freeze our ass off, we decided to take a couple laps on Sugarloaf until the castle was opened. Rob “to the wall or not at all” Rowley of course was waiting at the front of the gate for over an hour. Yet, our timing was good and we got off the sugerloaf lift just as the gate opened and must have been about the 10th and 11th people through the gate.

Rather than wipe ourselves out with the sidestep all the way to the wall, Steve and I decided to drop in early and take the easy powder that was right in front of us. I dropped first to test the snow and get set up with the camera. This first clip is Steve’s first few turns on this Lazy-Mans castle shot.

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After Steve’s run, I gave him the camera to film me coming down the rest of the shot. Even though he got a bit distracted by another powder skier, he managed to get me coming off the little cornice and all the way to him.

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As you can see, it doesn’t take long for the Castle to get tracked up, but it was still soft in there for several more laps. And if you’re not lazy and willing to go to the wall, you could even find untracked powder late in the day.

The Day After Presidents Day

Altafarian — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:46:17 +0000

Presidents Day was a great day of skiing, yet not so great for filming. However, the day after presidents day was sunny and beautiful with plenty of powder to be found. These first few clips are from the first run of the day out on Thirds. Johnny, Fred and Steve found some smooth turns up there.

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This next clip is taken on the left side of High Rustler. High Boy was skiing great that day and there were still pockets of powder to be found on that left side. For this shot, Johnny perched himself up on one of the cornices while Jesse swings in below.

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This final clip was taken towards the end of the day in one of the last lines of untracked pow above the traverse. It was Steve’s first time using the camera (well second as he actually missed some shots earlier). Johnny hiked up and got the goods with Steve yelling confirmation that the camera is rolling. Classic…

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Happy Valentines Day

Altafarian — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:27:52 +0000

What a beautiful day up in Alta today. With a good wind, 2″ overnight and 10″ in 24hrs, the skiing was, dare I say it, romantic for valentines day.

This video clip is of the first lap of the morning on west rustler. Piney gets himself some fresh cream for his coffee…

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At about 11A, the sun came out and just lit up the mountain. The next 2 clips are of Andy Couch and Johnny B enjoying the sunshine and low angle pow on Greely Hill.

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This final video is of JJ getting some turns in the Ho. Since it was valentine’s day, I let her get an extra run in the bus run and picked her up on the road.

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Not a bad way to spend Valentine’s Day! I hope you all had as wonderful a day as we did up in Alta…

February 2010 Pic of the Month Winner

Altafarian — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:58:07 +0000

Congratulations Jonathan Tadje on winning the February 2010 AltaCam Pic of the Month Contest with this shot taken at Snowbird:

Black Diamond Guide Glove

Altafarian — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:44:21 +0000

The Black Diamond Guide Glove is the warmest glove made by the fine folks at Black Diamond. It features the best possible materials available to keep your hands warm and dry, including Gore-Tex XCR, four-way stretch Schoeller nylon, Pittards goatskin leather and PrimaLoft insulation. To make the guide gloves extra bomber, BD even capped the fingers with Kevlar-reinforced stitching. And while they may be warm, they are still remarkably dexterous, allowing a firm grip on your ski poles, or ice axe if you are an ice climber.

Suggested Retail Price of the Guide Glove: $160
Check Price & Availability From Backcountry.com (Men’s)
Check Price & Availability From Backcountry.com (Women’s)

You can buy these ski gloves from Backcountry.com, and have them shipped free if you live in one of the lower 48 states.

Browse the entire product line from Black Diamond.

The Backside & More

Altafarian — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:26:17 +0000

Between Sunday and Monday Alta racked up about 11″ of snow. With only 4″ on sunday, we went looking for some low angle pow, since it was still a bit hard underneath. Mark, Jesse, Christian and JJ found just what we were looking for on Race Hill.

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Then on Monday, with blue birds chirping and 11″ on the ground, the Backside finally opened after noon. Here’s a clip of Christian in the High Notch soon after the rope dropped and Titus let everyone in. We were probably #30 or so in the lineup but still managed to find the goods. Had to be careful down low though, as there were avalanche chunks buried underneath the pow. And I was pretty out of breath while filming so I apologize for the shaky hand and heavy breathing in the background.

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The North Face Redpoint

Altafarian — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:01:33 +0000

I reviewed the The North Face Redpoint Jacket back in 2005. I loved this insulated jacket then, and still love it now. I am happy to report that even though my Redpoint is now 5 seasons old, it still looks good, and most importantly, is still warm. This jacket is the first thing I grab out of the closet when it’s cold outside. It must have over 750 days of wear and tear on it. Yet, the Primaloft insulation is still perfectly in place and all the zippers and pockets still function as they should. The new Redpoints are made with the same care that The North Face used way back when. You can still stuff it down into the big hand pocket. The only difference with the new jacket is an addition of a touch of fleece on the coller. I think I may have to buy another one just for that touch of fleece, as well as to add another color to the repertoire. A couple years ago, I also added a Redpoint vest to my collection and I wear that under my ski jacket on the coldest days. Just like the jacket, it works great and I plan to use it for several years to come.

Suggested Retail Price of the Redpoint Jacket: $150
Check Price & Availability From Backcountry.com (Men’s)
Check Price & Availability From Backcountry.com (Women’s)

Suggested Retail Price of the Redpoint Vest: $100
Check Price & Availability From Backcountry.com (Men’s)
Check Price & Availability From Backcountry.com (Women’s)

You can buy these Redpoints from Backcountry.com, and have it shipped free if you live in one of the lower 48 states.

Browse the entire product line from The North Face.

Stormcycle Video Clips

Altafarian — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:24:06 +0000

Over 80″ fell in this last Alta storm cycle. Below is some footage of the gang getting some POW on the last 2 days of the cycle.

Jesse and Johnny get some turns in the Ho on January 23rd:

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Here are 2 clips of John Murphy crushing the fresh pow on January 24th:

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Here are 2 more clips of Jesse and Johnny from the 24th:

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We couldn’t resist the untracked powder on Goldminer’s Face above the gmd bus stop:

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And finally, Tim Couch finds the last couple of face shots in the afternoon of the 24th:

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The Blessing and Curse of Little Cottonwood Canyon

Altafarian — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:10:32 +0000

It’s been dumping all week. Alta has recorded over 80” in the past 6 days, with 19” in the past 24 hours. It’s going to be an epic day. Well… maybe later on it will. With all this snow in a steep canyon, there’s no guarantee that highway 210 will open, let alone the Alta ski lifts. Today is a day that usually means “country club” skiing for those that spent the night in the Canyon. (That means that they have the resort all to themselves while the powder slaves in Sandy wait and wait and wait for the road to open.) But today, not even the folks in Alta will get their share. Alta is interlodged until at least Noon.

Is too much really never enough? When it comes to powder in Alta, too much can unfortunately shut you down. No matter though, when we finally do get out on the hill, you know it’s going to be good and deep. So keep praying for snow, but be sure to include a prayer or two for a stable snowpack.