Come Heli-Skiing with myself and Chugach Powder Guides!

Typical terrain accessed in Girdwood, Alaska.

This coming April Chugach Powder Guides is hosting an Epic Athlete Experience with me! I am so thrilled to have this opportunity. If there was any year to come heli-skiing in Girdwood this is THE YEAR. Girdwood is predicted to receive over 800 inches of snow, and already it has accumulated over 200 inches so I think it's safe to say 800 inches is going to be easy to achieve.
The Athlete Experience is a really cool set-up for clients. The clients get to go heli-skiing with myself, and I'm not acting as a guide or instructor but rather as an athlete so it will be much more relaxed and all about having a great time. We will be based in Girdwood and there is a 5 day or 7 day package available. This year the prices have dropped significantly, so this is the year to take advantage of the deal! I think Girdwood is one of the best possible locations for heli-skiing in the World for so many reasons. First off, Girdwood is one  of THE coolest ski towns in the world, with lots of good restaurants (Double  Musky  here I come!) and interesting people to mingle with. Secondly, if  we  can't fly we get to go snowcat skiing. CPG recently opened 500 more acres for cat skiing in addition to upgrading to a new, super posh cat, which I have experienced and it's sensational. Thirdly, there is Alyeska Resort, one of the  best  ski resorts in the world, at your disposal for down days as well. I know the resort by the back of my hand so there will be no dilly-dallying about where to find the goods. But down days in Girdwood with CPG are RARE, only once has a group been unable to get in a helicopter in their 14 year history. No other heli-operation in Alaska has it this good! If this is something  that  interests you CLICK HERE to view more info on the package. Hopefully I'll being seeing you there!!!

LIVE THE GIRDWOOD HIGH LIFE WITH ELYSE SAUGSTAD

For Elyse Saugstad, the opportunity to share the big mountains of the Chugach Range from the epic ski hub of Girdwood is more than she could ask for. It's a return to her old stomping grounds. Elyse has been taking the competition and film world by storm over the last 6 years, but there's nothing like returning to the Chugach.

Join this unique unique Co-ed week hosted by Elyse with an easy going focus on squeezing as much fun as possible out of these mountains. Come for either 5 or 7 days and grab your backstage pass and have a blast spending the week with these this consummate pro in the mountains and on the town.

This experience isn't about classes or clinics, it's about having a good time with an amazing athlete and ski personality on her home turf, experiencing the best of the Chugach Range and the most fun you can have with the Girdwood experience.

ABOUT ELYSE
Elyse Saugstad is originally from Girdwood, Alaska. She grew up skiing at Alyeska Resort, racing on the Alyeska Ski Team while finding a passion for skiing the big mountains of Alaska. In the past few years Elyse has competed on the Freeride World Tour, claiming the championship in 2008 and the female "Line of the Year" in 2009. In those few years of competing Elyse has won 5 out of the 9 international events she's entered. Elyse's focus has switched to filming, and she has been captured on film in movies by Salomon Freeski TV, Rage Films, Garchois Productions and The Levitation Project. In 2011 she was nominated for Powder Video Awards' "Best Female Performance".

Elyse Saugstad: "I'm blessed to be a professional skier and through my job I want to help inspire other female skiers and push the limits of what women can do."

FEATURES
We've set this package up to fit multiple budgets and schedules and to include the best social experience possible to top off your ultimate ski or snowboard experience. So, we've included all dinners out on the town with Elyse. Shred the mountains, eat and drink well, and catch a good band!

5 Days, 6 nights
Apr 1 - April 8

Single Occupancy - $6550
Double Occupancy - $5600

Includes:
- 50,000 - 60,000 vertical feet of skiing / boarding
- Snowcat backup for no-fly days (optional purchase)
- 6 nights lodging at the Hotel Alyeska
- Round trip transport to and from Anchorage International Airport
- All Dinners
- Lunch on Heli / Snowcat days
- Use of Mammut PULSE Barryvox transceiver

Schedule:
- Arrive Sat., March 31
- Heli / Snowcat ski Sun., April 1 - Sat., April 7
- Depart Sat., April 8

7 Days, 8 Nights
April 1 - April 9, 2011

Single Occupancy - $8950
Double Occupancy - $7825

Includes:
- 80,000 - 1000,000 vertical feet of skiing / boarding
- Snowcat backup for no-fly days
- 6 nights lodging at the Hotel Alyeska
- Round trip transport to and from Anchorage International Airport
- All Dinners
- Lunch on Heli / Snowcat days
- Use of Mammut PULSE Barryvox transceiver

Schedule:
- Arrive Sun., April 1
- Heli / Snowcat ski Mon., April 2 - Fri., April 7
- Depart Sat., April 9

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE CHUGACH POWDER GUIDES SITE!

Salomon Freeski TV Pacific Northwest Roadtrip Part I

Holding the world record for snowfall, the bountiful Pacific Northwest of North America is the ideal location for a two-week, no fixed itinerary, powder adventure. Cody Townsend, Leo Ahrens, and myself indulged in one of the the snowiest months of the snowiest year in a decade. This trip was a blast!

If you would like to see this on a larger screen, here is the link: Salomon Freeski TV Pacific Northwest Roadtrip Part I

Yosemite

If there was any year to visit Yosemite this would be the one. With record snowfall throughout the Sierras the waterfalls and rivers are absolutely raging. I had never been to Yosemite before so it seemed like there was no better time than now to make my way there to see the majestic National Park with Mr. Cody Townsend. Since we didn't make campsite reservations like a year ago there was no way we were going to be able to stay in the park. Plus, Cody has this whole knee injury thing going on so hiking was out. Not a big deal, we camped at the entrance of Tioga Pass and made our way through the park in one whole day. WOW and uber-WOW pretty much sums up my experience in Yosemite. It's amazing. One of the best things to do, FYI, is to bring your cruiser bike with you. When you get to the valley don't bother driving all the way in and sit in traffic. Instead, park your car early on, pull out your bike, and take advantage of the bike trails that run all over the valley to see all the sites. It truly made for a exciting experience! Here are a few pictures attempting to capture the beauty of Yosemite.

Entering Yosemite from the eastern entrance

Entering Yosemite Valley with Bridalveil Falls and Merced River in view

Bridalveil Falls

Parmesan CHEESE!

Bridalveil Falls in force: the spray that was coming off the falls felt like we were in a misting room

A cute cub undisturbed by tourists, where's Mama bear?

Yosemite Falls

Biking to Half Dome

El Capitan on the left, Bridalveil Falls on the right

After a hot day in the sun down in the central valley, horns necessary

4th of July Weekend

Upper mountain of Squaw looking pretty dang good

Summer took awhile to really kick in here in Tahoe, winter really never wanted to end. In fact, it snowed up high less than a week ago. Because of the record-setting snowfall season Squaw still has a ridiculous amount of snow and was easily able to open for the 4th of July weekend. With the combination of skiing, the Cushing Classic Pond Crossing, concerts, and a 'celebration of life' party there really was no other choice than to celebrate 'Merica's holiday in Squaw. The skiing part was a huge bonus to the weekend. First off, I've never skied on the 4th before and, secondly, the skiing was fantastic. The high energy on the hill was palpable, everyone was having the time of their lives. Anyway, here's a few photos to go along with a most spectacular 4th of July!

Feeling really festive atop the Palisades

It's hard not to pose when you're wearing suits like these

Amie channeling... I'm not sure what exactly but it's freakin' awesome whatever it is

Emily Turner & Alli Donovan as the 'Royal Couple' just about to royally get soaked

The pond crossing probably had the largest crowd it's ever seen

Cody and Ingrid taking their judging job really seriously

Some dude going switch, he ALMOST made it. Must of been the hair that slowed him down!

Big Head Todd & the Monsters concert: not good music but fun to hang for a bit with friends

Chris, Cody, & Danny chillaxing

Pep and Keely were all smiles

What would 4th of July weekend be without fireworks? Tahoe City on the 4th

Salomon Touring Trip in Interior BC Part II

The Billy Putnum Fairy Meadow Hut.

After a few days at Sentry, we flew into the Fairy Meadow hut deeper in the Selkirks. The first few days were  mostly sunny with a stable snowpack so we were able to venture into the high alpine. The terrain was more glacial than Sentry, and it took a bit longer to get to things we wanted to ski. Things definitely got a bit more mountaineer-esque. After some fun-filled 'big' skiing a storm came in. We decided to take a much needed down day or two and watched the snow pile up outside our quaint little cabin. Once the snow accumulation seemed worthy, we headed out to play in the trees and ski some pillows and deep pow. I had a great time to say the least! I've never really skied BC pillows like this before, so I had a wonderful introduction to what pillow skiing is really like. We were lucky to get in high alpine skiing as well as deep pow tree skiing before our trip was over. When you're in this kind of terrain you never know what to expect with the weather. Of course a few things went untouched that I would liked to have skied, but that's the way it generally goes. Too much to ski in too little time! Ultimately the whole touring trip was a positive experience for our group and I don't think we could have asked for anything more. As Chris Rubens dutifully reminds everyone, "It's the time of your life!"

Kim Havell looking for lines at dawn.

The group making our way up the Adamant Glacier.

Kim and I skied the obvious colouir in the middle, also known as the 505.

Making our way through glacier terrain.

Chris Rubens chipping away for some glacial ice for our cocktails later on.

The collage of gear drying by the fire.

Rubens skiing some pillows.

And more pillows...

There is something about Canadians and lighting dead trees on fire. Or maybe it was a strike of lightening. Either way, it always seems to happen when I'm on trips with Canadian boys.

Kim getting some deep pow.

Rubens and, yep, more pillows.

Heading back to the cabin after a long day of deep pow and pillows.

Pistachio eating contest time! How many pistachios can you eat in 30 seconds?

Anthony Bonello and Bruno Long getting ready for some fierce competition. I believe Bruno tied for the record.

Practicing Glacier Crevasse Rescue: Unassisted Prussiking

Chris in a compromising position, haha! But really, it's not easy to get those skis off and not drop them while prussiking.

Salomon Touring Trip in Interior BC Part I

I think this rainbow I saw on my drive to Golden represented the good luck I was in store for.

Wow, I have been on quite the whirlwind of travels this winter and am having a hard time keeping up with my posts. I'm actually skipping over a trip I took to Idaho and some shooting I did with Voleurz in Whistler, and instead am choosing to dive straight into my Salomon Freeski TV touring hut trip in the Adamants Mountain Range in Interior BC for the purpose of testing the new Salomon touring binding. I really wasn't sure what to expect of the trip. I have never done an actual multi-day touring trip before, let alone a hut trip that you get flown into by a heli. I sort of set my expectations for adversity: long strenuous days of skinning, cold nights in a hut, sharing small spaces with lots of other people, not easy livin' due to things like no running water or electricity, meals that are light, packable, easy and thus ultimately bland... Don't misinterpret me, I can easily go without all these things and actually like stepping away from the ease of modernity, but I just had this vision that it would make things a tad more uncomfortable. Au contraire! The days were REALLY long and tiring, and all those "hardships" existed (minus the bad food), but they really didn't seem so hard at all. In fact, this trip was 100% enjoyable and an experience I am so thankful for receiving. So let's get on with it...

First time for me driving over Roger's Pass... and what a view! My eyes weren't glued to the road like they should have been with the amount of crazy truck drivers there are but rather they were captivated by the glorious mountains that I was surrounded by.

After an 8 hour drive to Golden from Whistler I met up with Salomon team members Kim Havell and Chris Rubens. Rounding out our crew was cameraman Anthony Bonello (b4apres Media), photographer Bruno Long, and guide Greg Franson from Bluebird Guides. We started off with socked in weather, so unfortunately we were unable to leave the staging area and fly into Sentry until 6 pm. At least we got in, but that left us with 2 days of skiing at Sentry instead of 3. Surely that wouldn't be a big deal, but there was so much awesome terrain I was definitely a bit bummed we didn't have more time to ski at Sentry. Luckily the two days we did have were mostly blue. The snow wasn't deep but it was stable and it enabled us to ski pretty much whatever we liked.
One realization when doing a touring trip is you tend to not ski lines that are pushing your limits. I found myself skiing no more than 75% of my capabilities, some runs not even. When you put in multiple hours to ski a line the last thing you want to do is crash, so you tone it down a little. Plus, getting hurt is less of an option, it becomes a bit more of an issue than normal circumstances. But that doesn't mean it's any less fun, you just ski with different intentions.

Kim Havell standing next to our pile of stuff while we waited to get flown into Sentry Lodge.

We had a jolly ol' time at Sentry lodge. There is plenty of accessible terrain right when you leave the lodge, and thus it's not necessary to start slogging away to reach fun stuff to ski. Like I mentioned before, I feel like we were just scratching the surface of what I scoped out and wanted to ski. The lodge itself is pretty cush and nothing like the true hut living that we'd be doing at Fairy Meadow. For example, I had a queen bed and shared a room with only Kim, there were toilets to do #1 in (still have to use the ol' outhouse for #2s), the lodge is spacious and comfy, it has electricity and running water, and there is a stereo system to rock out to. Hmmm... nothing like I expected. After three nights of luxury we jumped on the heli once more to take us deeper into the Adamants to the Fairy Meadow hut. Stay tuned for more on the next leg of the journey...

Round 2 of the heli bringing our group in.

Getting in a heli is ALWAYS exciting, at least according to Chris Rubens and I.

Just one of those purtty views around Sentry Lodge (this is looking to the East).

Kim checking out the view from our bedroom window, not too shabby.

The new and much larger "hut" Sentry Lodge. Apparently the Sentry hut burned to the ground a year ago and this is what replaced it: a lodge. It runs off of self-sustaining hydro-power so that's a bonus.

One of the many sweet faces that Sentry has to offer.

Kim taking a lap through the trees.

Chris and Bruno scoping out the next zone we were headed to.

Chris dropping into a fun line: he's in the upper left corner.

Kim making some sweet turns.

Yes I'm cheesy, but after a 12 hour day of skinning and skiing some rad lines Anthony and I were very stoked.

Greg was not only a great guide but he had a knack for cooking us delicious, healthy/organic meals. For example, those pancakes are orange ginger pancakes. Hard living I tell you.

Our next stop: Fairy Meadow hut next to Adamant Mountain/Glacier up in the far right corner. The mountain shrouded in clouds is Sanford, which is still waiting for a 1st descent.