Last Wednesday the 22nd my mom got me a helmet cam for my birthday.... way to go mom!
It is really fun to use and other than the half hour I forgot I had it on in the lift line on Rainier Express last Sunday I can take it off easily between videos and not look like a tool.
Here is myself and Mike dropping in on the other side of Banana Shoots towards the Green Valley Chair.
Skiing the bottom of Avalanche basin
Sean and I skiing the top of Brand X area in North Backcountry
Courtney skiing down the bottom of Avalanche Basin on her Hellbents!
Jesse Pingeon's CGR debut
Lindsey Pingeon aka Jesse's wife ripping it down Queens run in her CGR debut. They are both snowboarders but we try not to hold that against them too much.
So this weekend we had a warm front move in so we had to get all skiing out of the way on Saturday before it started raining Sat night!... thats right raining at the mountain!
We still had some fun as you can see, just had to work for all the turns!
Hmmmm turns in Southback but chair 6 is closed = lots of work!
Cassandra skiing down the powder
Sean skiing off chair1, creative spot to find fresh snow!
Me skiing first, then Paolo his CGR debut! fresh from skiing in Colorado Paolo shows off his newly acquired skills on the skis!
Caitlin skiing down the powder
Big Jimmy skiing the powder on his skinny skis
Adam really sacrificed himself for this video and unfortunately being the first video of the day I hadn't quite dialed in the zoom yet. He managed to land somersault and loose both his hat and goggles
The snow turned thicker as the temps kept rising through the day
Sean skiing off this little stump, then Mike Benson with his CGR premier jumping after
Mike then Sean skiing in Southback after a lot of hiking
So we went out Christmas tree hunting this year with Tyler and Aubrey. It was very eventful as we went down a new road.... the road less traveled if you will and almost ended up dying a few times.
Oh strange how did that bad ass Xterra end up behind them?
Jen Lang after the Apple Cup finished Adam, same jump.... different day
Sean, " " Adam and Sean following me into South Back Country past Three Way peak and up Joe's bad ass shoulder. Nice first run of the day
Great video of the snow conditions in South Back in fact I would say the lead for best video of the season so far.
And a winter miracle happened, Courtney carried her own skis for the first time ever!
Adm starting the jump
Sean finishing the jump Courtney carrying her own skis..... in case you didn't believe it the first time Me and Sean hitting the slope behind Forest Queens
Slope above Downhill
Nice turns!
Heli skiing?
Powder!
nice little mini air
great conditions for second week
Sean and Adam's interpretation of the Powder 8's..... Aspen Extreem?
It has been a long summer, for many of us too long! Welcome back to the World's BEST ski blog Cascade Gravity Research!
While there was not a lot of snow up at Crystal on this opening weekend (in reality I would hardly say there was enough to be open) we got to slide down the mountain with two planks beneath us and it felt great!!!!!!!!!!!
Courtney Excited for the First Day!
Courtney not as excited after she rtealized what lifts where actually open on the sign behind her Court skiing down Queens on 9 year old skis with over 300+ days on them. hitting rocks without worry!
Me, Sean, and Adam hitting up the first powder stash of the season... Love Adam going off the rock on old school 195 skiiny skis enjoy the landing!
Map of where we hiked then skied on Sunday this is the first hike me and Mike Benson went on at Sunrise on Mount Rainier
The second hike we went up on Sunday, this one is off hwy 410 at Chinook pass Mikes youtube skills with my runs on Sunday
A great video Mike put together of my ski runs on Sunday
The view of Rainier from Burroughs Mountain Mike at the top of the first hill we climbed, you can see directly above him is Burroughs Mnt that we hiked and skied from here Sunday morning at Sunrise visitors center geared up and ready to go.... damn the hellbents are heavy! Mike getting ready to ski down to Chinook pass Me standing on the top of Burroughs Mnt before skiing down
Some scrambeling down a sketchy ridge in ski pants!.... it was steeper than it looks We had a little fun on the way down and tested out the new lift kit on a mild offroad trail Mike scrambeling up the rocks rock outcrop Mike heading down the ridge Chinook Pass on hwy 410 from where we hiked climbed to The ridge we partially scrambeled up after dropping off the skis and packs view down from the ridge..... falling would have been very very bad Peak right above Tipso lake but from the East The parking lot on hwy 410 where we parked from where we started skiing in the afternoon Burroughs Mnt where we first skied in the morning Check out the slide fracture line close by on Rainier The hillside to the left of the ranger cabin is the first hill we hiked that morning The trail sight to Mount Freemont, usually at chest level Wonderland Trail sign View of parking lot from ridge line... dont fall zone You can see our tracks down Burrough Mnt in the morning View looking East from the top of the ridge, you can see hwy 410 heading to Yakima
As sad as closing weekend is at least Bikini downhill could lift ones spirits. It was a great year and skiing every weekend but two (one to go skiing in Alaska, one to go skiing in Canada) I ended up with 45 days! It was a great year and I am already stoked for next year!
Courtney on her last day at Crystal Sean, Caitlin and Courtney carrying out the stuff from emptying out the room at the Alpine Inn The crowd at the base on the last day The bar at the top of the King in the South Back Country, great way to end an hour hike Me on the last day at the top of the King
So smith stopped making ski poles back in high school (2001) since then anyone who has them treats them like gold. I had a pair of yellow Z bends I loved but broke one, then I bought a grey pair... and broke one of those. For the past few years I have been rocking one yellow smith pole and one grey smith pole.... NO MORE! Courtney, the greatest wife in the world, found a pair of BRAND NEW smith poles on craigslist in Chicago. I now have brand new Smith Z bend Poles!!!! Still have the tags on them from 1996 and all!!!!
