Tales from the K2 House at Hood
It’s summer and it continues to feel like winter on Mt. Hood. Yesterday it was snowing with fast rolling fog and today it’s raining and 37 degrees. Despite the winter like weather we have had some great days with perfect spring corn.
June was busy at the K2 House. First we had a ski test followed by Kamp K2, both were wet but we managed to have fun and get things done. K2 Snowboards just finished a week of testing with the alliance team and today the K2 Ski group arrives for a week of product testing.
We enjoyed a misty 4th of July in Government Camp. The weather was beautiful on the mountain and 4 miles east of here but we were socked in here. We had to show our Australian friend Anna how we Americans celebrate the 4th so we had her dress in red white and blue and went down to Charlie’s for some horse shoes. After a strong showing by the Australian we went back to the K2 house and sat by the campfire and enjoyed some yard golf and a knife throwing contest, 2 solid 4th of July activities. Were hoping now that winter leaves and summer begins.
Come enjoy summer skiing at Timberline and stop by the K2 House and say hi.
A Month in Alaska - 1st Half
Inspired by extreme hunger for big and very remote mountains, 4 of us flew up to Anchorage on May 2nd this year and quickly found ourselves at the Ultima Thule Lodge in Wrangell St. Elias NP. We had arranged to be flown onto the Klutlan Glacier on the east side of Mt. Bona, about 20 miles from the Yukon border. Our intent was to spend 1-2 weeks climbing and skiing Mt. Bona and then spend the last half of the month in a nearby glacier valley skiing as many unnamed peaks as the weather gods would allow!
Only a few come to this corner of the park each year and we were the first team on Bona in 2010. Our gear pile included 4 weeks of food and fuel, 4 pairs of Backside skis, and 3 bottles of Whiskey (3 bottles was at least 1 too few).
On May 3rd, our pulse's raced as the glacier plane flew out of the Chitina River basin and towards Mt. Bona. In all directions we saw endless possibilities on thousands of peaks, many if not most, still without a name. The Turbine Otter’s skis glided to a stop at about 10K and we unloaded our gear in the much thinner air. Because of favorable glacier/weather conditions we had been able to land right at our intended basecamp and soon we had two tents and a cook tent surrounded by a wall of snow blocks.
The weather was nothing but stellar with no wind and mostly clear skies while temps dropped to -25F at night. On day 2 on the mountain we set our route to 12K and then on day 3, to above 14K. With no sign of wind or an incoming storm front, we decided to shoot for the summit on day 4. Originally there was to be a high camp but with beautiful weather and little desire to haul heavy packs, we opted for 6,500' of climbing in a single shot.
It was ridiculously cold at 3AM as we started our day and we all felt fatigue from the last couple of days - being totally unsure of the weather, we had rushed our acclimatization. By noon that day, we were skinning above 15K where the thinner air became quite apparent. Heavenly views encouraged us on and across an exposed and wind blown 2-mile long plateau between Mt. Bona and Mt. Churchill. Icy sastrugi made for an exhausting traverse, especially when coupled with frequent probing for hidden crevasses. It was just before the summit pyramid that myself and teammate Tony decided to call a stopping point as we were winded, still about 2 hours from the summit and facing a very long and crevasse-riddled descent. Tough call, as those decisions always are but I am here in Seattle injury-free now to tell the story and week 1 of 4 in the middle of nowhere was no time to push too far.
Adam and Eric still felt strong, so they pushed on to the top of the highest volcano in the US with gnarly snot-cicles growing from their beards. Tony and I spent the next couple of hours dodging crevasses as we skied 5,500' of nearly every snow condition imaginable. I'd call the skiing 'delightfully strategic'! Stoked to be in camp, we started melting water and awaited the arrival of our two comrades. A short while later, we heard celebratory yells as they slid into basecamp. They reported it being crazy cold up top but also crazy beautiful with views as far as one can see at 16,421'!
Rehydrated freeze-dried dinner was served in the late night sun as we all relished in the thought of a post-summit rest day!
All for now...more from the rest of the trip later!
Cheers,
Chad Beeman - K2 CS Team
climate change
Check out what Roman is doing when the snow is melting!
here some video clips
http://www.roman-rohrmoser.com/index.php/videos.html
K2 BASECAMP CHILE - K2 FREESKIING WORLD TOUR CAMPS
Join the K2 FREESKIING WORLD TOUR CAMPS - EL COLORADO, CHILE
El Colorado ski resort, in aliance with the Freeskiing World Tour and K2 BaseCamps Chile develops a new Freeskiing trainig camp.
The Freeskiing World Tour, FWT, is the most prestigious competitive big mountain skiing tour in the world. For more than 12 years countries around the globe have hosted different stops of the tour, including Chile. Among the ex champions are K2 athletes like Seth Morrison and the remembered Shane McConkey, who was not only the first champion of the tour but the founder of the IFSA (international Free Skiers Association).
For the 2010-2011 season, the first stop of the tour will be in El Colorado-Farellones-Chile from August 19-21, and then it will move to Argentina, USA and Canada. FWT has decided to start in Chile an interesting project for all of the Chilean and international skiers: Develop Camps to teach the freeskiing basis to people who are interested in getting more involved with the competitive world. The dates of the Camps will be for the last week of July and all of August. "El Colorado ski resort has the best conditions to develop this project, which will be repeated in the different ski resorts around USA and Canada that are the hosts of the different stops of the tour, that is why we are stoked about starting this in Chile" says the camp director for South America, Rodrigo Medina. The chief coach will be Griffin Post, the winner of the Crested Butte stop and one of the best on the tour. He will be one of the coaches along with others, who will develop 3 and 7 days camps for all ages.
"We are very happy that the Freeskiing World Tour choose us to start this project. We have hopes that this will be a successful project, that will put El Colorado ski resort in top class level" says Aldo Boitano, El Colorado CEO.
WWW.FWTCAMPS.COM
