Nor'Easter BC Exclusive! David Goodman Speaking in Hanover Tonight

So, maybe this is a shameless plug because we in no way shape or form have an exclusive with David Goodman, author of Nor'Easter BC's favorite guide to stolen powder stashes, Best Backcountry Skiing in the East. However, our crack reporter (aka. biggest loser with nothing better to do tonight) Brad Prescott will be in attendance to winnow bits of pearly wisdom from the original Ski Tour Guru. And maybe even a picture too. When it comes to reclusive New England icons, this guy makes J.D. Salinger look like a Park Avenue socialite. Or used to. I think old J.D. is dead...

Anyway, if you're free at 7 pm, drop on in to the Mountain Goat and try to catch Brad trying to snap a pic of Goodman. If you're not, report back to Nor'Easter BC tomorrow for a picture of Sasquatch himself!

Park City is for POW Lovers

I can't say that there was really any POW on our Park City day, given that it hadn't snowed in a week or two when we got there, and unlike the Deery Valley, people do ski out of bounds and abuse nature's dandruff at the Park. Well, Nor'Easter BC doesn't take this kind of POW abuse lightly. When the average man abuses what nature so gratiously has given, then it's up to the better man to make his own tracks. Uphill. And over the edge.

Nor'Easter BC from Utah: Stein Erikson says "Colorado Be Damned"

A long long time ago I learned one of those harsh eternal truths that define you for the rest of your life. People from Colorado are huge d-bags. They love to bust on our honest, hard working East Coast icecapading way of life. "Why ski the east when it's all ice and tree stumps?" they say. "I'd never ski Vermont, not even on a powder day" they blaspheme. Well, I made a rule on the day I met my first duche from Colorado. I would never ever ski on the powdery slopes of the Rockies until I met a native Coloradoian who had traveled east to earn turns or lift it up a major Vermont ski area. To this day I have not, and likely never will. Glorious 14k footers of the central rockies, thou shalt I never see. 

-Trip Report- Mt. Ascutney: It's a (Terrain) Trap!

It's 4:30.  You've got about a half-hour of daylight left and one headlamp between you and your two friends.  You ran out of water about an hour ago.  You're staring at a 50 degree colouir to the bottom of a drainage that may or may not get you back to your vehicle.  Above you is a steep slope of rock, ice and occasional evergreen bramble.  Somewhere beyond that climb is a trail.  Maybe. You have a decision to make.  Do you climb up and risk running into an un-climbable rock face, or do you slide into the unknown facing a similar un-descendible face?  You've been terrain trapped.

Things you Suck at OTHER than Backcountry Skiing

It sucks to be really really rediculously bad at things you want to be good at, like skiing. If you can't be good at the things you want to be good at, then there's nothing to lose trying new stuff. This is a great personal maxim that has led me into dozens of cool new experiences and awkward situations too. What I like most is the idea that, you never know, maybe the thing you've never tried is something that you are so naturally gifted at that it's been your life calling to do whatever it is. You just never knew it.

-Trip Report- Mt. Monadnock: Chasing My Shadow

Ice coated trees = a crust..... somewhere.

There is a distinct disadvantage to starting off the weekend by attending Crotched Mountain's Midnight Madness.  It totally messes with your internal clock so that you're not exactly jumping out of bed for an alpine start on Saturday.  Or Sunday for that matter.

So when 11:00 am rolls around and you're still organizing your gear for the trip out to the closest mountain, you know you're behind the eight ball for your solo tour.