Outside Features

Living the high life at Pioneer Peack in B.C.If I could look into a crystal ball filled with a snowman and snow
flurries abounding after a good shake and dream up the perfect
backcountry skiing adventure, it would contain the following: fly into
a backcountry hut with several psyched powder lovers, ski all day -
every day - for a week in untracked terrain among jagged peaks and
glaciers, then head back to the hut for lots of good cheer and gourmet
cuisine while basking in the glow and tales of the day's adventures.
This
fairy tale came true the first week of the New Year as my wife Molly
and I drove north to Golden, B.C., After meeting up with the
enthusiastic group in Golden, 20 of us gathered our gear and food at
the helicopter loading site. It was a clear day with great visibility,
perfect for a heli ride. I was fortunate enough to ride shotgun on the
first of five trips our group took to get all our bodies and supplies
into the hut. We flew along the Columbia Arm of Kinbasket Lake, the
headwaters of the Columbia River, before swinging west into the Adamant
Range of the Selkirk Mountains. My eyes bulged as the views became
better with every minute. The heli set us softly down just below the
Bill Putnam (Fairy Meadow) hut in a hanging valley surrounded by
picturesque B.C. mountains.

The best part of competing in the Great Nordeen Nordic race is the stories and tales formulated before, during, and after the event. Everyone has a story about how well, or not so well, their wax worked; how the person in front of them augured into the bank going down the first steep twisting downhill; or how they bonked on the last grueling uphill.

Although the angry hordes of beanie-topped ski bums, ski junkies, and ski snobs were bitching (even more than they normally do) a month or so ago about the somewhat late arriving snow this season, the snow has arrived. With one dump after another coating the mountains and foothills, there's not too much else to crow about.
Well, there's always something to bitch about - wind, lift lines, irreverent Sno-Park etiquette, and my favorite: too much snow - but now there's an excuse for the boarders and skiers of all variety to step down from the "Snow's Never Good Enough" soapbox and get out in the snow.
And if these complainers are so skilled that they require the most "epic" of conditions, then it's high time they come out for some good ol' fashioned competition. Whether you're a downhill shredder, a boarder with some sick steez, or a Lycra-clad Nordic buff, there's some fierce competition at your fingertips this weekend in Central Oregon.

My winter sport of choice as a senior at Whitefish High was basketball. I worked incredibly hard in and out of season, but found myself on the end of the bench come game time. My gluteus maximus was the only fatigued muscle on my body after the game due to the prolonged time 'riding the pine.' Maybe I wasn't strong enough or tall enough or physically mature enough - or maybe I wasn't the coach's favorite - but in the end I wasn't even given much of a chance to compete. If I could travel back in time and reshuffle the cards, I would choose to be a high school Nordic racer in an area like Central Oregon. Home to some of the most outstanding volunteer Nordic coaches anywhere, Central Oregon is a mecca for young cross-country skiing enthusiasts.

The future of backcountry skiing.By Nov. 30, I had not yet made one alpine turn. I scratched and scraped
around on nordic skis in November, but I was holding out before
subjecting my freshly stone ground skis to the light dusting of snow
covering the Central Oregon lava rock. Finally, I could no longer hold
back. Jonas phoned and reported thin, but good skiing from the summit
of Bachelor. Chris and I set out from the parking lot and were treated
to another stellar Central Oregon sunrise. A clear, cold cell separated
low lying clouds in the valley from higher, wispy clouds capping the
peaks. There's nothing like hiking up a mountain while catching the
first rays of the day. The skiing was better than expected, with 8
inches of fresh over the top of a base ranging from 0 to 14 inches. The
turns were sweet and well worth the minor rock hits taken by my
perfectly tuned edges and bases.

We are in the middle of La Niña
and, as expected, had a slower than average start to the ski season. La
Niña, preceded by the 2006-07 El Niño season, results from a 0.50C
lower than average sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean. La
Niña pushes the polar jet stream further south, causing below average
temperatures and above average precipitation in the northwestern and
midwestern states from December through March. All very important
things to consider and understand for Central Oregon powder lovers.

Too often a local sports program will go virtually unnoticed or unheralded because it’s so good, leading people to forget about or be totally unaware of the program’s long and illustrious history.