But, there’s other faces of SIA too. One of them is education of retailers. With many skiers and snowboarders taking the leap from the resorts and into the backcountry, it’s essential for retailers to help promote a consistent message to their buyers. The Avalanche Project is working to have retailers educated about the potential dangers that are inherent in the backcountry.

And if you’re a retailer, you’re invited for this important training, which will be unveiled at SIA by the Avalanche Project during their Retail Ambassador Program presentation at 4 pm on Thursday January 28th.

If you’re in the outdoor retail industry and don’t have tickets to SIA, you can get them for $20 by attending the Avalanche Project’s Retail Ambassador Program presentation. You’ll get a ticket for the whole show for Thursday! But, if you already have tickets, then plan on joining the presentation and becoming an influencer that may help save people’s lives.

The Avalanche Project will have several educational events Thursday through Sunday at SIA, all of which look great. Those events are shown below:

So, if you would like to attend SIA and you’re in the outdoor retail industry, here’s your chance. And if you’re already going to be attending SIA, please stop by the Avalanche Project’s booth. It’s always good to learn something new and important to keep your avalanche knowledge fresh!

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Not all of the Olympic skiing venues currently exist. The largest ski area in the region is YongPyong, which is also Korea’s oldest ski area, opening in 1975. The resort boasts respectable vertical, at over 2,000 feet, but it doesn’t have quite enough to qualify for a FIS- level Downhill course. So, the Olympic organizers are developing a new area for the downhill and Super G, called Jeongseon. So, we didn’t get to ski the next Olympic downhill course. But we did all of our skiing at YongPyong, which will host the Slalom and GS at the Rainbow lift, seen here:

It’s actually a pretty good, steep slope and will work well for races. The area only receives about 100″ a year, but racers are generally pretty happy with firm man made snow conditions anyway.

Just a couple of miles away lies the resort of Alpensia, which will host the Nordic events and also a new Bobsled/Luge course. The resort itself isn’t inspiring- we originally planned to ski here one day but it didn’t seem worth it once we saw the area:

On the other hand, the village was nice. The weird thing is that Alpensia and YongPyong are right next to each other, with the top of Alpensia clearly visible from the base area of Yongpyong, but there is no shuttle or other easy form of transportation between them. Base area:

The Nordic ski jump is visible from the base area, though it’s behind the alpine resort- maybe a mile or so.

We drove over to it. The area surrounding the jump currently has Nordic trails, and that’s exactly where those events will be. Nordic jumps are so impressive looking in person.

The skating and hockey events will be in the larger city of Gangneung, a couple of hours away. Pyeongchang is about 125 miles from Seoul, and they are also building rail access. The freestyle events will be held at Phoenix Park, another small area which we were not able to visit. We can’t wait to see the Olympics in 2018, and see all the places we’ve been!

Skiing in South Korea Series

If you liked this post, please take a look at the other posts in this series:
YongPyong Part 1
2018 Winter Olympics Preview
A Cultural Look at YongPyong Amenities
Korean Food
Night Skiing and a Night on the Town
Enjoying Sunny Days at YongPyong

The Dakine ski bag is the only way to fly. Literally.

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Yesterday, Matt summited Snowmass and skied into the history books becoming the 11th 14erskier/snowboard finisher- Quite the feat for someone who is about twice the age of many of the other finishers!

During my own fourteener skiing project, I met some of the most amazing people and continue to maintain strong friendships with them. Bonds experienced in the mountains cannot be broken. I didn’t meet Matt until near the end of my project, on peak # 47 to be precise.

I was sick as a dog. I shouldn’t have been climbing a fourteener at all. But, there I was, climbing Little Bear, with Frank and my good friend Pam. Somewhere amidst the rocks and snow mix before the couloir, I turned my head back and saw two wandering hikers, also with skis on their backs. Eventually they caught up to us and introductions were had – it was Matt and his partner, Ben Conners.

Meeting on a 14er creates an instant bond. And that bond has carried through years. Matt and I have shared some of the most grueling 14ers together – Pyramid and Capital. But, we’ve had some other great adventures too – Ice Mountain, Mount Hood, Mount Adams, and St. Helens are only a few of the places we have ventured together.

It was Monday morning that I got the email. Matt was going to finish his project the next day. He invited Frank and I, but we could not drop our commitments on such short notice. Matt and Jordan White began in Marble and camped at Geneva Lake. At 2:00 am they began their ascent. They skied the west side of Snowmass and good turns were had.

Matt finished his 14erskiing project two years, exactly to the day, after I finished my own project. I am sorry I could not be there to join him on this celebratory day, as he was there for mine. But, my congratulations could not be any bigger.

Congratulations, Matt! Now, let’s go have some more adventures

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We at 14erskiers extend a huge congratulations to Carl, and we wish the the best of luck to Marc and Matt in completing their fourteener skiing endeavors.

Carl made a video from the Needle, check it out:

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Lassen is the southern most volcano in the Cascade Range. With an easy 2.5-mile trail leading directly from the road to the summit, Lassen is a big hit for tourists and many skiers.

Lassen was named after Peter Lassen, who was a Danish person who guided immigrants into the area in the 1830’s. Just like Mt. St. Helens is known to the general populous today for it’s eruption, Lassen was known to many for the same reason. Lassen became famous during series of eruptions that occurred starting in 1914 and lasting about 7 years, with the most explosive eruption in 1915.

Kim and I had intentions of skiing Lassen after skiing Shasta. But, as Kim was investigating campgrounds the day we were set to leave for Lassen, she uncovered the fact that Lassen Peak was closed. Yes, it was closed. A NPS update posted on June 15th stated, “Lassen Peak Restoration Continues. Lassen Peak trail restoration has resumed for the summer season. The trail is closed at Grandview (1.3 miles from the trailhead).”

At first we assumed that just the trail was closed. Surely a whole volcano couldn’t be closed. But a phone call to the Park Service at Lassen proved us wrong. Indeed the entire peak was closed, even to snow travel.

I find this frustrating – not just the fact that it is closed, but many other aspects. For example, public awareness of this closure seems scant. While we sat on top of Shasta, we discussed skiing Lassen with two people from Salt Lake City who had skied it earlier in the week, and also a National Forest Service Ranger. None of them mentioned any sort of closure of any kind, and believe me, they were the type of people who would have mentioned it to us had they known. Second, after learning about this closure, I wanted to know more about it. As it turns out, the name for the program closure is “Reach the Peak”. Does anything about that name imply a closure of any kind? No wonder why there is so much confusion.

After investigating, it seems that Lassen is being closed for rehabilitation. Specifically, they want to rehabilitate Lassen Peak trail, which takes people to the summit. But does this warrant closure of an entire peak? No, it warrants closure of a trail- NOT an entire peak. If you dig deep on their website, you can see that they say the entire peak is closed because they are scared about rock fall by trail workers. However, I doubt that while trail workers are working on the south side that they would trigger rock fall on the north side. Parts of this closure seems very silly to me.

The closure is largely a summer/fall closure. The peak had closed the day before we wanted to ski it. There are a few days here and there where the peak is going to be open this summer. You can find this information on Lassen’s website, however dates I’ve found are conflicting. What I can confirm is that this is a multi-year project that is set to finish in 2013. Until then, make sure you contact the NPS before trying to ski Lassen!

Find more information here:
Trail Status
Reach the Peak Project Sheet

Informational Video:

Links to Other Reports from this Trip:
Volcano-Bound!
From SLC to Shasta
Shasta Ski (14 June 2012)
Shastarama Ski (16 June 2012)
Lassen Peak – Closing a Volcano
Oregon Days Off
Mount Hood (19 June 2012)
Mount Adams (20 June 2012)
Mt. St. Helens (21 June 2012)
From the Gorge to Craters

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Photo Alan Hammersmith/ Courtesy Ben White

Tell us about your ski background.
I have been skiing my whole life. I went out to Utah when I was 11 for a family ski vacation, and that got me totally hooked. We spent a lot of time not skiing on the trails, which was something we could rarely do in the east. After that, I knew I wanted to get a lot better, and fast, so I started racing at Attitash in NH. I did that for 4 years, and was an assistant coach for a 5th. Racing got boring and too much of a commitment for me to enjoy after that 4th year.

When did you start skiing the 4kers, and when did you finish?
I wanted to ski all the 4000 footers in NH in one year. I started November 26th, 2010, and finished April 24th.

What prompted or inspired you to pursue this goal?
I don’t know.

Is this a popular goal for Eastern skiers/ has anyone done it?
No, eastern hiking trails are not fun to ski down. 3 others have done it, but I am the first to do it in one year.
Sunrise on the Presidential Range traverse. Photo Alan Hammersmith/ Courtesy Ben White

Lou Dawson skied Colorado’s 14ers from the summit, often trying many times to achieve that standard. All the other 14er finishers have tried to do the same. Are you trying to match that standard?
Yup, I did. Except for Tecumseh, where there was no snow on the true summit, we dropped probably 20′ vert (I really have no idea) to the top of Waterville Valley ski area. It wouldn’t have been much of a ski anyways, it was flat. Some peaks just didn’t have any snow on top of the very highest point, they were exposed rock, so I didn’t do that, because I didn’t want to buy new skis.

Which peak was your favorite?
I’m not sure, I’ve thought long and hard about that. Hale had the best skiing, but it was pretty basic tree skiing in fresh snow, nothing too difficult. North Twin had a bulletproof slide that was about 45º+ sustained pitch which was really fun to ski down, it was a good challenge. Adams was the most epic, it was on my presidential traverse (7 peaks in a day. 20 mile tour, 9k of vertical gain, lots of rime ice crap skiing)
Mt. Madison. Photo Alan Hammersmith/ Courtesy Ben White

Which peak was the hardest?
Wildcat D the first time was hard to ski down. Wildcat ski area is on that one, and it hadn’t opened yet. They were blowing snow, and on the way down, it was a very rapid change between rocks, grass, drifted powder, solid ice and chicken heads. Most of the time, you couldn’t tell the difference between them, because the rocks and grass were just barely covered up, but there was a pow drift in a water bar right next to it, etc.

You will be attending the University of Utah next year. Any thoughts of skiing Utah’s highest 50 or some other goal while you’re there?
That could be cool. I didn’t really think about the 50 highest, I only just looked at the 12,000 footers. Maybe take 2 years to do it, there are 112 of them.

Anything else you’d like to add?
I had never done any backcountry skiing before this year, except for an annual trip into Tuckerman’s with my dad since I was 9. My ski house is a camp that has an outhouse and is the best place in the world.

I also raise awareness for YES Kids (Youth Enrichment Services). They are a local charity (based in Boston) that gets inner city and under privileged youth skiing and other outdoors activities.

I’d also like to thank my sponsors:
Lowe Alpine (Backpacks)
Flylow Gear (Clothing, specifically made for backcountry skiing)
Erin Baker’s (Wholesome baked goods, very tasty on the trail)
Green Wax (Environmentally friendly ski wax. None of the regular chemicals in it, and it smells really, really good too)

Clearance Sale at Backcountry.com

-Expires: While Supplies Last

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About ten years ago, when really fat skis started becoming more popular, you’d here the inevitable “What are those, water skis?” jokes. That gave me an idea. I remember telling people that I wanted to ski waves, like a surfer but on skis. After all, snowboarding is just some sport that took surfing to the snow, so why not take skiing to the water? Problem was, I’m made out of oil (i.e. I don’t mix with water). I’m so stoked that someone finally pulled it off, and with style, too. Check it out:

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