Springtime snowboarding in Utah - April 2011

After a long trip up north, it was nice to come back home. Living amongst the clouds for so long in BC i began to miss the blue bird pow days Utah is known for. The snowpack is as deep as i have ever seen it in the Wasatch and Uinta mountains in my 10 years of living here. It is going to be a great spring and summer to get after on the splitboard!

My bro and I linked up with our pops and headed up the mirror lake highway on the sleds for some fun pow turns in the sun! Only get to ride with my pop a few times a year, and this was the first time we got to snowboard together in the mountains where we spend many summer days flyfishing and backpacking. Great day with the old man!


My pop and i, loving the fresh spring pow!




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Zach Siebert, enjoying some fresh powder behind the Canyons resort.

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4/20/2011 High alpine adventure to the High Uinta mountains. My brothers Justin and Ian boot up the ridge with Pouch following.

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The snow just doesn't quit here in utah. Almost may and there seems to be no end in sight!
Looking down the Argenta slide path off Kessler Peak... A mighty force created this nice little ski run. The snow conditions were just right on this day- incredible for April 26th!!


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NATURE. Birds of prey on the mountainside...


Looking forward to riding more pow as it comes, and hitting some big lines when the melt/freeze cylcle begins. Record snowpack!!!!!!

Texas Peak, British Columbia - April 8th 2011

Throughout our trip to the Retallack Lodge, there was one line that was stuck in the back of my mind every day. The northeast ramp off Texas Peak. A 2000' ramp perched above the massive exposure of the north west face. For days we tried to get higher and higher into the alpine, but the stormy conditions would always force us back down into the forrest. It was just a matter of time before the clouds broke and gave us a chance to hit Texas Peak before heading back to Utah.

The morning of April 8th Ian and i set out on the sleds right at sunrise. We got a great view of the mountain and began the tour up to the ridge line. 3 hours later, a huge slab was waiting for us to trigger it on the other side!

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The views are unbelievable in the Kootenay mountains!

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Still an hour away from the summit as the day starts to heat up. Danger lurking just around the corner of the mountain!

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We knew the south faces in BC had some sketchy sun-crust layers buried a few feet down, so we were cautious as to where we placed or skin track. About 50 feet below the summit, everything around me collapsed, right were it was shallow and rocks poking out. Just as i turned back at ian, the incredible sound of the avalanche propagating roared around us. Intense energy! We were in just the right spot, as every thing peeled away on the steeper angles below. It was a fine line setting that trail, because of the huge cornices on NW face, and of course the avalanche danger on the south side.
You can see bits of our skin track ripped even ripped out... One of the scarier moments in my life.

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This is a photo taken from a heli in the area that day. I didn't realize how deep the crown was below where we were standing. It was a big convex rollover and we weren't able to appreciate the size until seeing this picture.

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Standing on top, Ian and i were happy to be alive, and even more happy to ride stable powder for three and a half thousand feet back to the valley floor!!! It was the best run of my winter!

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Ian getting ready to SEND it down the ramp... He made it down in one minute flat. Shit was nuts!

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From the scariest moment in life, to the most fun!

We were hoping to get a line down the rocky Northwest face later that day, but we didn't want to push our luck crossing over the south facing slopes again! In the spring you gotta' start early, and end early.

Keep an eye out for a movie from Inspired Media Concepts filmed at Retallack this last winter!!!