20 Search Results for ""mount rainier""

• News: 2013 Ouray Ice Festival News: 2013 Ouray Ice Festival This Weekend in Colorado

  • From: mikehardaker
  • Description:

    
    LOWA Boots is planning a very visible and strong presence at the 2013 Ouray Ice Festival that will take place January 10-13 in Ouray, Colorado.  Earlier this fall, LOWA announced their sponsorship of the Hari Berger Speed Climbing Competition to honor the legendary climber who won three Ice Climbing World Championships while wearing LOWA boots.  In addition, four-time World Ice Climbing Champion and LOWA athlete, Ines Papert, will conduct a clinic on moderate-mixed climbing and host a multi-media show entitled “Rock and Ice.”  Amid the festival-like atmosphere will be the LOWA boot tent, stocked with demo product for ice climbers to test drive.
    
    Friday afternoon Ines will host her clinic in the LOWA tent followed by a session on ice.  She will have posters in hand to autograph. Later that evening, Ouray attendees can enjoy her presentation of “Rock and Ice,” a thrilling journey into her world.  Afterwards will be an autograph session of her book by the same name.  The event will be held in the Main Street Theater (630 Main Street) from 8:30 to 10:00PM.  Admission fee: $15
    
    On Sunday she will award the women’s prizes for the Hari Berger Competition. Ines has worked closely with the LOWA design and product testing teams over the years and was instrumental in the design of the Ice Comp IP. A champion of many climbing competitions, including those at the Ouray festival, she will be competing there again this year.
    
    Hari Berger was an all around champion competition ice climber before he lost his life in 2006 in an accident while climbing in Austria…but his legacy lives on.  LOWA’s sponsorship of the event doubles the Festival’s cash prize opportunities. The Competition will be held on Sunday, January 13. There will be individual men’s and women’s classes, each with $2000 in first place prizes, second place of $1000 and $500 for the third place finishers.
    
    Colorado climber and LOWA ambassador, Jim Davidson, will be on hand periodically throughout the festival. Jim’s book, The Ledge: An Adventure Story of Friendship and Survival on Mount Rainier, was a 2011 best seller for adventurists across the country.
    
    In addition, LOWA invites both male and female festival participants to demo their world-class German climbing and mountaineering boots including the Weisshorn GTX, Mountain Expert GTX and Ice Comp IP GTX models. The boot tent team will be led by Chad Gallwitz, LOWA’s experienced sales representative in the Rocky Mountains. Representing the LOWA factory, Rolf Eberhard, a veteran of numerous summits including one on Mt Everest, will be in the tent and on hand to award the men’s Hari Berger Competition prizes. Assisting Chad and Rolf will be Christian McConnell from LOWA’s U.S. office.

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  • 5 months ago
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• Epic Sturgis: 5 Athletes, 16 H Epic Sturgis: 5 Athletes, 16 Harleys, Dozens Of GoPros, 1 Hell Of A Ride

  • From: ericseymour
  • Description:

    The author, Eric Seymour, rides a Harley Davidson Softtail Blackline toward Mount Rainier and, ultimately, to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.  

    Words by Eric Seymour.

    Photos courtesy Harley Davidson and GoPro.

    
    Passing a semi-truck, 100 miles from Sturgis, South Dakota, our 16 motorcycles were in a tight-staggered formation drafting one another at less than one car length. I looked down at my speedometer and the gauge read 120 mph. I was surprised at my speed. The Harley I was riding was ready to pull ahead even faster. Everyone always says, “it’s the journey, not the destination,” but pulling into the motorcycle rally, I thought it might be the destination in this circumstance.

    TGR, GoPro and Harley Davidson rally through Mount Rainier National Park with five elite extreme sports athletes.
    
    Teton Gravity Research was invited to cover an epic 1,500-mile motorcycle journey from Seattle, Washington, to Sturgis, South Dakota, sponsored by Harley Davidson and GoPro. The trip was in celebration of Harley Davidson’s 110th anniversary. Joining Max Kuszaj, one of the voices of the Freeskiing World Tour, and four other elite GoPro athletes including three-time X Games gold medalist BMX rider Chad Kagy, kayak freestyle champion and Olympian Eric Jackson, mountain bike film star Aaron Chase, and four-time world mountain bike champion Brian Lopes.
    
    Starting in our hotel parking lot in Seattle, we began getting outfitted with our leathers and checking out our Harley motorcycles. We had 16 big, badass motorcycles that showcased the 2012 line.
    
    I was anxious as I sat in the hotel parking lot getting ready to begin the ride. The mission encompassed riding 1,466 miles, 29 hours of saddle time, and four days to travel from Seattle to Sturgis. Could I ride a Harley? Could I ride this many miles? Was I crazy to embark on this journey with only dirt biking and commuting in Jackson, Wyoming, on a 650cc duel sport as my experience? All doubts vanished as I twisted the throttle on the1500cc Blackline in Mount Rainier National Park, heard the bike roar, and felt the bike accelerate. Riding the Harley was easy. The bikes are big, but they have a low center of gravity and a predictable clutch that instills confidence. I knew I was going to experience the trip of a lifetime. 

    Entering the Lochsa River Corridor.
    
    The organizers of the journey planned a phenomenal route that took us through national parks, along river drainages, over mountain passes, and the majority of the ride was on two-lane twisty highways. I cannot think of a better way to see the country. Riding by bison in Yellowstone National Park made me feel so small and at the same time very alive. My highlight of the trip was riding over Beartooth Pass in Montana. The road is magnificent with tight turns that zig and zag for a perceived eternity. Huge drop-offs exist on the edge of the road. I was able to release my aggressive nature as I pushed the Harley Sportster in and out of curves with speed and a determination to go faster. At the end of the day, feeling a release of endorphins, I was content knowing that I am going to be a motorcycle rider for life.  
    
    Max Kuszaj of the Freeskiing World Tour loves to ride. 
    
    Riding a motorcycle gives a person a sense of freedom that is very comparable to skiing. The wind is in your face and accelerating through a corner feels like railing a turn.
    
    “The nicest thing about motorcycles is that it allows me to clear my mind and get on the road,” Max Kuszaj said. “A lot of my ski friends are now getting Harleys. It’s great to get on the road, clear your mind and just ride.”
    
    Before heading to South America to go skiing, Max has another 2500-mile motorcycle ride planned out with his buddies. Max really likes motorcycles.  

    Riding through a wheat field as the sun sets in Idaho.

    Getting to Big Sky, Montana.
    
    Trading our Harleys for downhill mountain bikes at Big Sky.

    Four-time world mountain bike champion Brian Lopes sending at Big Sky.

    Wind in the face never felt so good. Riding the Sporster Seventy-Two.

    The team goes for an early morning bridge jump into the Gallatin River in Montana.
    
    Where the buffalo roam: Yellowstone National Park.

    Riding out of Cooke City, Montana.

    Beartooth Pass. The highlight of my trip.

    Sunset on Beartooth Pass. Life never felt so good.

    Riding into the sun on Beartooth Pass

    Arriving at Sturgis, I was amazed at the pure magnitude of the festival with over 600,000 bikers the town was packed. We had arrived at the motorcycle version of Burning Man, a biker’s Shangri La. Zip lining over a massive crowd with Journey playing “Don’t Stop Believing,” and bikers revving their loud pipes, I felt like I had entered a new world.
    
    “Sturgis is wild,” Max Kuszaj said, “I was not mentally prepared for the madness and the amount of people that are here. It’s something that you need to experience at least once in your lifetime. It’s the best people watching that I have ever seen in my life.”
    
    For me, Sturgis is about seeing the culture and history that has encompassed Harley Davidson for so many years. I appreciated all walks of life. There is a new breed of Harley rider that is young, fit, and wants to ride. As fun as Sturgis was, it was not my highlight of the trip. The winding roads, amazing sunsets, and freedom felt on the bike were my Shangri La. It still is the journey not the destination.

    Welcome to Sturgis.

    The streets are lined with bikes in Sturgis, South Dakota.

    X Games gold medalist Chad Kagy and pro mountain bike freerider, Aaron Chase check out the bikes in Sturgis.

    Shotgun!

    Don’t stop believing. Journey rocks the house at Sturgis.

    Get on the road and enjoy the ride.

    "The top of the pinnacle is a Harley. It’s the American horse, the American legend.” - Max Kuszaj.
    

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  • 10 months ago
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• Riding through Mount Rainier N Riding through Mount Rainier National Park

  • From: ericseymour
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    Riding through Mount Rainier National Park
  • 10 months ago
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• The author, Eric Seymour, ridi The author, Eric Seymour, riding the Softtail Blackline in front of Mount Rainier

  • From: ericseymour
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    The author, Eric Seymour, riding the Softtail Blackline in front of Mount Rainier.
  • 10 months ago
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• News: Mount Rainier National P News: Mount Rainier National Park Climbing Ranger Dies During Rescue Attempt

  • From: media-75233
  • Description:

    

    A climbing ranger at Mount Rainier National Park died during a rescue attempt on the Emmons Glacier yesterday afternoon. Ranger Nick Hall, 34, fell from the 13,700-foot level to about 10,000 feet on the mountain's northeast side as he was helping to prepare other climbers for extrication by helicopter.

    At approximately 1:45 p.m. on June 21, 2012, a party of four climbers from Waco, Texas, fell at the 13,700-foot level of the Emmons Glacier as they were returning from a successful summit attempt on Mount Rainier. Two members of the party slid into a crevasse. A third member of the group was able to call for help using a cell phone. During the subsequent rescue at 4:59 p.m., as the first of the climbers was being evacuated by helicopter, Mount Rainier climbing ranger Nick Hall fell, sliding more than 3,000 feet down the side of the mountain. He did not respond to attempts to contact him and was not moving. Rescuers reached Ranger Hall several hours after the incident began and found him to be deceased.

    High winds and a rapidly lowering cloud-ceiling made rescue efforts extremely difficult, but with the help of Chinook helicopters from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, three members of the original climbing party were lifted off the mountain by about 9:00 p.m. and taken to Madigan Hospital. The remaining member of the party spent the night on the mountain with climbing rangers from Mount Rainier National Park, and rescue options were reassessed this morning. All four suffered non-life threatening injuries.

    Nick Hall was a 4-year veteran of Mount Rainier National Park's climbing program and a native of Patten, Maine. He was unmarried and has no children.

    Photo via www.nps.gov

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  • 1 year ago
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• 15 Volcanoes In 14 Days - Skii 15 Volcanoes In 14 Days - Skiing The Ring Of Fire Part 2

  • From: jessmcmillan
  • Description:

    The Spyder crew of Ian Fohrman, Jess McMillan, Chris Davenport, Christy Mahon, Ted Mahon, Scott Rinckenberger, and Jon Burrill celebrates on top of Mount Saint Helens. Photo By Richard Hallman.

    The Ring of Fire Volcano Tour started in the parking lot of the Whole Foods Market in Reno, Nevada.  Chris Davenport, Daron Rahlves, and myself were ready for the ultimate road trip.  We had great food, the Spyder Land Yacht, and a plan to ski as many of the major volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest as possible.  We skied 15 volcanoes in 14 days, traveled 141.32 miles, 78, 674 vertical feet, and skied some of the best corn I have ever skied in my life.
    
    
    It is hard to describe how the journey felt, but I will attempt to bring you into the Ring of Fire by sharing some of my favorite quotes and experiences from the trip.
     
    An email from a friend: “Advice for volcanoes: Get stoned. Yes, even you Jess.  Leave the beacons probes and shovels in the car. Bring an iPod. Don't ever stop — just keep walking. Bring ski crampons. Wear a helmet if you're near any rock whatsoever. When you get weather windows, recent precipitation totals mean very little — wind and freezing levels are everything. “
     
    “Just keep walking, don’t ever stop” turned out to be some of the best advice anyone could have ever given me. “Just keep walking” was my mantra. It was volcano season in the Pacific Northwest.  The weather was perfect.  The corn cycle was in prime condition.  It was time to ski some volcanoes.
     
    Chris Davenport skis perfect corn on Mount Baker. Photo by Ian Fohrman.
    
    I found myself counting my steps.  I would not allow myself to stop until I had walked 100 steps.  And if I walked 101 steps, I wouldn’t allow myself to stop until I reached 200.  It is amazing how easy it is to trick yourself into walking when you are at 13,000 feet.  This little trick of counting turned out to be a benefit on the Three Sisters Traverse just outside of Bend, Oregon.
     
    The Three Sisters Traverse is comprised of three separate summits: North Sister (10,085’), Middle Sister (10,047’), and South Sister (10,358’). Here, Jess McMillan and Jonas Tarlen summit the South Sister. Photo by Chris Davenport.
    
    The Sisters Traverse was the most challenging day of the trip for me.  Chris Davenport and I hiked and skied an 18-mile traverse of over 10,000 vertical feet in just under 12 hours.  It was late in the day and we were on our final accent, the south sister.  I was busy counting my steps when all of sudden I just stopped walking.  I could see the summit, but couldn’t bring myself to take one more step.  I stood staring at the summit wondering why the hell I was doing what I was doing when Dav’s head appeared from the summit and said, “Are you coming?”  “Yes, I’m coming.”  “Well then keep walking.”  Luckily, I laughed because I could’ve cried as took the final 1000 steps to the summit.
     
    Jess McMillan traverses the North Sister. Photo by Chris Davenport.
     
    The best aspect of ski mountaineering is that all of the mental and physical anguish of the accent is erased by the pure joy of skiing down.  Every step feels worth it when you are ripping perfect corn.
     
    “Isn’t it amazing to push your body past your breaking point?” Chris Davenport said.  “Once you have pushed past your breaking point, everything else seems possible.”  Dav told me this as we fell asleep that night in the land yacht.  I thought he was crazy until I found myself on the summit of Mount Rainer.
     
    The Spyder crew climbed and skied Mount Rainier in a day. Photo by Ian Fohrman.
     
    Rainier in a day?  “Don’t most people take two days to ski Rainer?”  I asked Dav as we entered Rainier National Park.  “Yes, but wouldn’t it be cool if we did it in a day?”  Dav replied.
     
    Climbing up Mount Rainier. Photo by Ian Fohrman.
     
    We started up in the dark at 4:20 a.m. The Nisqually Glacier was well covered, with just a few major crevasses to navigate. By 9 a.m. we were up through the classic Fuhrer Finger Couloir and 9,300 vertical feet later we reached the summit.  We were back to the land yacht in 11 hours. It felt good to have skied Rainier in a day.
     
    Jess McMillan and Christy Mahon boot up the Nisqually Glacier on Mount Rainier. Photo by Ted Mahon.

    I have to admit that I truly had no idea what I was getting into when I decided to join Chris and Daron for the Ring of Fire Volcano tour.  I had dabbled in ski mountaineering, but had never really understood what all the hype was about.  I learned so much.  Ski mountaineering isn’t about reaching the summit.  It’s about skiing without boundaries, rules, and people.  There is freedom in ski mountaineering.  I will never forget standing at the top of Mount Jefferson.  I could see my past, present, and future. It was awesome to see the peaks I had skied: Mount Bachelor and the Three Sisters.  My future was just north of me: Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood, Mount Rainier.  Everyone has heard of the saying, “Live in the present.”  We definitely were living in the present as we ripped 8,000 vertical feet of the best corn I had ever skied in my life. 

    Mount Jefferson, looking so, so sick. Photo by Jim Morrison.
    
    Click Here To Read About The First Part Of The Trip

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  • 1 year ago
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• Jess McMillan and Christy Maho Jess McMillan and Christy Mahon skin up Mount Rainier

  • From: jessmcmillan
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    Jess McMillan and Christy Mahon skin up Mount Rainier
  • 1 year ago
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• Jess McMillan Climbs Mount Rai Jess McMillan Climbs Mount Rainier

  • From: jessmcmillan
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    Jess McMillan Climbs Mount Rainier
  • 1 year ago
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• Interview: Behind The Lines Of Interview: Behind The Lines Of Ski Mountaineer Seth Waterfall

  • From: dankostrzewski
  • Description:

    

    December 2, 2011

    — Dan Kostrzeski

    Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. guide, former Crystal Mountain patroller and serious ski mountaineer Seth Waterfall spends his workdays guiding clients up massive alpine peaks in the world’s highest ranges. But on his days off, Waterfall sets his sights on deep overhead days or big vertical lines such as the first and unrepeatable ski descent of the Nisqually Ice Cliff on 14,411-foot Mount Rainier. Tetongravity.com caught up with Waterfall between guiding seasons for his recap on no-fall conditions, serious rockfall and skiing some of the world’s biggest lines.

    Teton Gravity Research: Describe the Ice Cliff line you skied on Mt Rainier last spring?

    Seth Waterfall: There is a feature on the mountain called the Nisqually Ice Cliff and it’s part of where the Nisqually Glacier comes off the summit and runs south and actually runs around this rock ridge. As you are descending the left side drops off a huge rock cliff so with the ice and the rock it’s probably a good 1,000-foot tall cliff. But last year with all the snow from La Nina, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen it, but there was a strip of snow that ran continuous between the rock ridge and the ice cliff. 

    If you skied down above the ice cliff, you could get over into this snow strip and ski down that. So two friends of mine, Tyler Jones and Andy Bond who both work at RMI with me, on April 21 we decided to go up to Camp Muir. We actually had another route in mind but this was our back-up plan.

    

    TGR: Why did you pick that line?

    SW: There are just a few routes on Rainier that haven’t been skied down. A lot of them are what people used to think of as really steep ice climbs, but now people are skiing down them — which is one of the coolest things about living in the Northwest, that you can ski down people’s favorite ice climbs.

    So we went up to Muir in a storm, but we had a good forecast so we went to Camp Muir woke up in the morning and had blue skies. We headed out from Camp Muir, which is at 10,000 feet elevation and went up to the summit in about 3 1/2 hours and investigated our line on the west side of the mountain that we wanted to ski. But we found lots of rime ice and water ice and not good snow. So we came back and decided to give the Ice Cliff a try, since no one had ever skied that, we believed.

    It went pretty straightforward, we were able to locate the entrance, ski down and the skiing was really exposed but not terribly steep — maybe 45 degrees and one small pitch of 50 degrees. But it was really firm so it was definitely heads-up skiing, no hip checking or anything like that. We skied it in about ten small pitches then just a little jump over the bergshrund. Actually, the trickiest part was weaving through the crevasses below the route and trying to get out of the Nisqually Glacier and onto the Muir snowfield.

    We popped out on that took a little break and decided to ski all the way down to the Nisqually bridge, which is about an 11,000 vertical foot run. 

    

    TGR: So was it a first ski descent of the Ice Cliff?

    SW: Well, a couple weeks after we did the trip I ran into a friend who said that Mike Hattrup skied it back in the nineties. I know Hattrup so I sent him an email and he said “no way”— that he’d never heard of anyone ever skiing it before. So I’m pretty confident that no one had ever skied it before.

    And now the whole thing has fallen apart — there’s about two miles of rock debris underneath. The whole cliff we skied down is detached and collapsed and totally changed forever, so nobody is ever really going to do it again. 

    Sounds like it was a super inspiring line?

    We were pretty psyched on it. Then just to have it fall apart after that is pretty weird.

    

    TGR: What do you think caused the cliff to crumble? 

    SW: I think it was all the snow that was sitting on it. Once it started to melt it was undermining the rock. It was obviously super unstable to begin with. Stuff like that happens every fifty years on Rainier — some big rockfall.

    

    _____

    Part 2 - Antarctica
    _____

    TGR: What was your most inspiring trip this past winter?

    SW: My most inspiring trip last winter was my trip to Antarctica with Peter Whittaker and Ed Viesturs. It’s a place I’ve wanted to go for a long time and it’s such a cool continent to go to. The terrain there is like nothing I’ve ever seen in my life and there are huge ice caps as far as the eye can see and then the Ellsworth Range sticks right out like a buzz saw —just a super straight line of craggy peaks. It’s a magic place and I’d love to go back.

    TGR: What surprised you most about the environment down there?

    SW: What surprised me the most was the reliance you have on technology down there. The reliance you have on your planes and fuel to get you in and out. Without the logistics set up down there, there is really nothing. And the feeling of remoteness, if I go to Africa or if I go to Asia I always feel like there are other people around, there are cites and all these other things — you feel remote when you are in the mountains, but you can basically walk out of any of those places. And in Antarctica you can’t walk out, there is no place to go.

    

    TGR: What is different about skiing in Antarctica?

    SW: It’s interesting because Antarctica is both the highest continent on earth and the driest continent on earth so they don’t receive very much precipitation at all, but what they do receive stays as snow. And it gets these really cool light effects and the snow blows around so it looks like diamonds hanging in the air. But the ski conditions were typically just a few inches of snow over a firm base and sometimes ice, so it’s way different than what I’m used to skiing in the Northwest, which is just tons and tons of sick powder.

    TGR: Anything different from an avalanche perspective down there?

    SW: Yeah, it’s funny from an avalanche stability perspective, because even on flat terrain you get this whompfing sound. Up here it would totally freak me out, but down there it’s really common — even on flat terrain that won’t avalanche, you get these big air pockets trapped in the snow and you can hear it rolling along for like a quarter mile. It would last forever. Then you could hear it moving down the valley, it was totally insane.

    But as far as avalanches, especially ice avalanches and cornice falls, they just don’t have them because the glaciers move so slow and it’s so cold there that you don’t really have seracs that collapse. We saw some debris and the guys that work down there said it was from two years ago. Where in Alaska or on Mount Rainier that stuff changes day by day. Down there it’s on the year-to-year program.

    

    TGR: What did you wind up skiing in Antarctica?

    SW: We ended up skiing some moderate stuff. The less steep stuff was really glaciated and there was lots of crevassing around. We actually got on some stuff around Union Glacier Camp, which is the main logistics base that you fly into. Around there it’s really variable from really sun affected and really hard snow to just a few inches of powder over really firm base. It could be good skiing but it also could be really bad skiing.

    And the wind goes to work on stuff pretty quick down there. It will blow snow from one side of the mountain to the other. Depending on the way the winds blowing the powder will either be on one side of the range or the other. 

    _____

    Part 3 - Denali
    _____ 

    TGR: Antarctica, the Ice Cliff and you’ve skied off Denali as well?

    SW: Yeah, one big ski descent on Denali. That was in 2009 right after I got back from Mount Everest. I met up with a my friend Tyler Jones and he had camp set up at 14,000 feet so we did one day from the airstrip to 7,000 feet, then to 14,000 feet, rested a day, then went to the summit and then skied back all the way.

    A lot of people down-climb the West Buttress, but we ended up skiing down it and spent another rest day and then skied all the way out.

    TGR: What was the toughest part of that trip?

    The toughest part of that trip was that I actually had Giardia from Katmandu and didn’t realize it. I was super sick up there. By the time I got done with that I’d just come from Everest, spent a few days with my folks and then went right up to Denali and every three days or so I’d be violently ill. By the time I got back home I’d lost twenty-five pounds. I was pretty weak by the time I’d got back.  

    TGR: Anything on your hit list for this winter that you’re excited about?

    SW: So this winter I’m excited to see La Nina coming back because I’m a Northwest guy. I’m pretty excited for a good ski season. I might get a chance to go back to Antarctica with Dave Hahn, so that’s in the works. That’s just one of the coolest places on Earth and I’d love to go back. In the springtime I’m possibly heading back to Everest — after a year off I’m ready to get back on the big one. And that’s it, that’s my horizon right now.

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  • 2 years ago
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• Mount Rainier Ice Fall Line Mount Rainier Ice Fall Line

  • From: dankostrzewski
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    Mount Rainier Ice Fall Line
  • 2 years ago
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• Skinning On Mount Rainier Skinning On Mount Rainier

  • From: dankostrzewski
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    Skinning On Mount Rainier
  • 2 years ago
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• Skiing Mount Rainier Skiing Mount Rainier

  • From: dankostrzewski
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    Skiing Mount Rainier
  • 2 years ago
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• Mount Rainier Ice Fall Mount Rainier Ice Fall

  • From: dankostrzewski
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    Mount Rainier Ice Fall
  • 2 years ago
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• Skiing Mount Rainier Skiing Mount Rainier

  • From: dankostrzewski
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    Skiing Mount Rainier
  • 2 years ago
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• Seth Waterfall Skis Mount Rain Seth Waterfall Skis Mount Rainier

  • From: dankostrzewski
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    Seth Waterfall Skis Mount Rainier
  • 2 years ago
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• Seth Waterfall Skis Mount Rain Seth Waterfall Skis Mount Rainier

  • From: dankostrzewski
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    Seth Waterfall Skis Mount Rainier
  • 2 years ago
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• Siblings John and Angel Collin Siblings John and Angel Collinson Take On Freeskiing

  • From: johnclarydavies
  • Description:

    

    October 28, 2011

    — John Clary Davies

    In May 2009, Angel Collinson realized ski racing wasn’t fun anymore. She had finished the season ranked high and had been invited to camps by the U.S. Ski Team, but decided she was ready to move on. Angel just wasn’t sure how.

    “I still loved skiing,” said Collinson, now 21, “and my brother, who had done the Junior Freeskiing Tour, was like, ‘you got to try this; you’ll love it.’  So I signed up.”

    John and Angel aren’t typical siblings. They are Black Diamond, North Face, Smith Optics and Backcountry.com teammates, and they are training, travel and ski partners. They’re roommates and friends.

    Right now, they are also both building a house, along with their parents, at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Once it’s finished, Angel and John will live there until their parents retire. In the meantime, they’ll continue staying where they grew up, in Snowbird’s employee housing quarters (though the two no longer share a bunk bed in a 5-foot by 12-foot room). When they were kids, their father worked for Snowbird’s snow safety department, while in the winter their mom taught Angel and John and four other students, from kindergarten to twelfth grade, in a one-room school. In the fall and spring, the kids would travel down Little Cottonwood Canyon and attend public school. 

    “When I was growing up I realized how awesome it was because I’d be in the valley for public school and be like, ‘man it kind of sucks down here; there are no mountains to play in,’” said 19-year-old John. “We were running around in the woods and living the mountain-man lifestyle. The setting for both of us was perfect for our endeavors in skiing and climbing.”

    

    Angel Collinson rips a powder turn. 

    After taking her brother’s advice, Angel won the 2010 Freeskiing World Tour title the winter after quitting the race team. Then, she became just the third woman to back her title up by taking it again in 2011. This season, Angel is taking time off from the University of Utah, where she was pursuing a degree in environmental law, to put all her efforts toward skiing. She says she has only been able to dedicate about 40 percent to 50 percent of her time to skiing in the past, and wants to make the most of the opportunities the sport presents. 

    “I’m changing my identity because I’ve always thought of myself as an academic,” said Angel. “Now I’m calling myself a professional athlete. When I think that’s actually what I’ll be doing and making a living off of, that’s really exciting. To conceptualize myself in that role is neat.”

    Angel says she and her brother feed off of each other’s skiing. She is a more technical skier from her background in racing, but John is better in the air.  

    “He’s a lot more playful with features and throws tricks a lot more and he’s teaching me that,” said Angel. “And sometimes he’ll be skiing and I’ll make a comment — keep your hands up more, or drop your hip — we’ll bounce ideas off each other.”

    

    John Collinson airs a cliff. 

    John, like Angel, has experienced plenty of early success. At age 4, he summited Mount Rainier, and by age 17, he had become the youngest person to climb the Seven Summits. In all, he has climbed over 200 mountains. He is also a part of the Dubsatch Collective, a group of young skiers, including Nate Cahoon, Leo Ahrens, Sam Cohen, Grant Howard, and Andrew Pollard, who came of age skiing Little Cottonwood Canyon together. John won the overall Junior Freeski World Tour in 2010 and took second (as did Angel) in this summer’s Red Bull Powder Disorder in Las Lenas, Argentina.

    “We’re really excited to have started working with them at such a young age and feel like both of these guys are the future of freeskiing,” said Black Diamond Team Manager TJ Kolanko. “I think that they have just scratched the surface and the sky’s the limit for both of them.”

    Both Collinsons want to film this winter and compete when they can. Inevitably, they’ll end up back in Little Cottonwood Canyon, waking up to the 7 a.m. bomb squad and skiing Snowbird. 

    “Big mountain skiing is how [we] view the world,” said Angel. “Up at Snowbird, in this utopia… you watch it snow when you’re making breakfast and you get the feeling of what every day has in store for you. It’s a very intimate place to ski and be in nature and be in the mountains.” 

  • Blog post
  • 2 years ago
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• Paul on the Muir Snowfield Paul on the Muir Snowfield

  • From: millcreekm81854
  • Description:
    Paul rides some butter on his way down the Muir Snowfield on Mount Rainier
  • 2 years ago
  • Views: 124
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• Muir Snowfield Muir Snowfield

  • From: millcreekm81854
  • Description:
    Aaron farms some corn on Mount Rainier's Muir Snowfield.
  • 2 years ago
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• Ryland Bell: The North Face Ma Ryland Bell: The North Face Masters at Crystal Mountain

  • From: RylandBell
  • Description:

     

    Crystal mountain, WOW!!! What a place, a secluded Gem hiding in the shadow of Mount Rainier. Peak after peak stretching out with spines, cliffs, and chutes…. “Dropping”. Fun times with great friends. It has been an amazing week.

    

             This is my 6^th contest with the North Face Masters tour, and I have to admit it was the best.Showed up to blue skies, and some lingering freshies. Day one of the comp, the usual hardpack, perfect for separating the men from the boys. Day two weather day, 2-3 inches of wet fresh with some light rain and snow, but soft and shreddable. Killer shred crew, roll into a zone and taking no prisoners. Finally day three….. EPIC!!!! Best venue yet, blizzard conditions with a foot plus of fresh snow. Stoked!!!!

    

    Driving up to Washington I had a feeling the competition would be stiff. Sure enough the amazing terrain has given birth to some amazing riders. We all tried our hardest, but the two top spots went to Crystal mountain locals. Way to hold it down boys

     

  • Blog post
  • 3 years ago
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