Mangy, Mangy Moose

The crowning moose.

Little known fact. Moosilauke is an ancient Abenaki word for babyheads. Moose-hillock literally means "crowning fetal moose." A horrible image to describe an even more horrible early ski season phenomenon that I've never before encountered. Until this morning, my first ski tour of the season.

I'd been talked into a solo dawn patrol of Moosilauke late last night by Andy, who made a number of excellent points about the importance of getting a 2012 NEBC tour of The Moose on the books as soon as conditions allowed.

That conversation went something like this:

Holiday Gear Shopping Ideas (November 2012)

So you're trying to figure out what Santa should bring you for the holidays.  Or maybe you're Santa and the elves went on strike in with the Hostess workers and now you're left with several million unfilled wooden car orders.

What is there to buy? Where do you start?

Five Favorites Countdown (#1 Gulf of Slides)

Not a bad view from the tent door.

Was there ever any doubt my favorite tour would be from the Gulf of Slides on Mount Washington, NH?

Five Favorites Countdown (#2 North Tripyramid Slide)

That's not sunrise.

Number two on our list of favorites is to the infamous North Tripyramid Slide near Waterville Valley, NH.


Sometimes you go into the backcountry and don't want to leave.  The slide and surrounding palatial glades were some of the best skiing we've ever seen. Too bad I was wearing the wrong skis.

Read all about it here.

Five Favorites Countdown (#3 North Twin Slide)

When the sun lines up like this over North Twin, the Mayans predicted epic skiing.

Number three on the countdown was actually a culmination of three trips to find and ski the slide and surrounding glades on North Twin in New Hampshire.

Five Favorites Countdown (#4 South Baldface)

If the Baldface shelter looks like this, there's a good chance the ledges are skiable.

Coming in at number 4 on our list of five favorite backcountry excursions is a trip to South Baldface in New Hampshire from a few years ago.

November Is Thin Cover Month

Baldface showing a little stubble.

Just like the thin cover of creepy facial hair that sweeps across men's faces in November, so too is the terrain transformed by a thin cover of snow.

Pre-Season Stoke: Video Tour of the Gulf of Slides

This is where you realize you should have worn sunscreen.

Are you pumped for this backcountry ski season, yet?  If not, let me throw another log on that bonfire of backcountry stoke and see if we can't get you corking those backcountry skis so compulsively you'll be able to see your reflection in the wax.

Dawn Patrol in Heli-Free Weston

Improper bag placement technique.  -1pt

I got up a little early this morning.

Backcountry Gear Check

Ready to go.

As the first winter Nor'Easter of this season bears down on us it's time to make sure you have all the equipment needed for your backcountry adventures.

Bolton Backcountry Fundraiser This Wednesday (11/07/2012)

If you're a fan of the Bolton Backcountry, like we are, here's your opportunity to make sure those lands remain accessible to the public.

2012 Northeast Ski Movie Premieres

From "Further", the TGR and Jeremy Jones film.

It's that time of year again: time to break out the long sleeved shirts and woollies.  The first snows are starting to Fall in the high peaks as old man winter stops hitting the snooze button, drinks his coffee and gets down to business.  He doesn't demand blood sacrifices like the mountain biking gods.  He does, however, demand to be entertained from September through December.  So Warren, Teton, Red Bull and those Meatheads make their annual offerings all so that we can bask in Winter's powdery glory.

Return to North Twin Slide (March 2012)

I think it’s safe to say that running into a machete wielding stranger deep in the wilderness is probably high on most people's list of nightmare scenarios.  Sometimes, however, it can be the answer to your prayers.

-Trip Report- Mt. Hor, VT: Insert Inappropriate Remark Here (February 2012)

Gered ponders whether he can freeclimb a granite wall with tele skis.

If you look out from the mid-mountain lodge at Burke, you can see an immense crack between two mountains where Lake Willoughby is located. Let me tell you the story of that crack's Hor.

-Trip Report- Evans Notch Road: Black Diamond Driving (February 2012)

I could see a clear line through the bumps.  A quick jaunt left, then a cutback right would be needed to start my run.  Suddenly, however, a large hole appeared out of nowhere.  Without any way to avoid it, I hit it straight on: a jarring thump that made my teeth chatter and my knees buckle.

I was still on my way to the trailhead and facing the toughest line I would see all day.  I was on the infamous Route 113 and my truck's suspension was paying the price.

-Trip Report- Arrow Slide on Mount Hancock, NH: Maps 101 (February 2012)

Sometimes it's tough to define what constitutes a successful backcountry trip.  The easiest and most obvious measure is when you reach your objective and return home to talk about it.  However, when everything doesn't go as planned, things aren't so clear.  In order to push your limits you have to try and fail every now and then.  Does that make those incomplete ventures failures, or part of some greater success?  As long as you return home wiser and more prepared for the next time haven't you gained some measure of success?

Do I sound like someone who failed to achieve his goals this weekend?

Thin Cover Sanctuaries

Better Days

I’m beginning to wonder if Old Man Winter is lying in a ditch with a bullet in his head.

If he’s not already dead, he’s definitely in hiding.  Before La Niña 2012 comes knocking looking take your backcountry mojo, it might be time to pack your bag, grab your rock skis, and seek some thin cover sanctuary.

-Trip Report – Umpire Mountain, VT: Victory Tour (January 2012)

Justin and Tele with Burke in the background.

Vermont can be a case study in how different interest groups get along for their mutual benefit.  Just as mountain bikers and stonemasons are fast friends in Barre, backcountry skiers have a friend in the local logger.

-Trip Report- Lincoln Gap Road: Backcountry Groomer Lemonade (January 2012)

I did not use the low gear.

It seems like every place you take your skis in New England, you’ll hear this year’s catchphrase “If we could just get a little more snow...”

Sick of thinking about what “could be”, I decided to take my thin cover lemons and make some backcountry lemonade at Lincoln Gap in Vermont this past weekend.

-Trip Report- Doublehead Mountain: Thin Crusts Are For Pizzas (January 2012)

There are some days when you know the trip down is going to be more work than the climb up; days where your knees ache just looking at the snow pack;  days where you feel like you're skiing in a straightjacket.

Those are the days of the thin crust.  And I'm not talking pizza.