Backcountry, The Only Way to Travel

Just a little over a year ago I had a friend of mine invite me on a backcountry hut ski trip.  At this point I only had a vague idea of how an AT setup worked.  I did, however, have almost 20 years of skiing experience, unfortunately this was East Coast, inbounds, mostly groomer skiing experience.  Obviously the best way to learn was to do it with a 40+ pound pack of gear on my back!  So I rented an AT setup, and was off to Keith's Hut in B.C., Canada.  After that trip I was hooked and began tirelessly scouring the internet for a cheap used AT rig.  A year later and I'm still doing whatever I can to avoid getting on a lift.

Here are a few shots from skiing this past holiday season.

Enjoy
-Tyler
www.GoodLifePhotography.com

 Esteban getting in deep new Kendall Stump

Snoqualmie Pass, WA

 Another great air by Boon

Same area as above

 Whitey skiing near the Blueberry Chutes

Herman Saddle, WA

Life Update

Oh how the time flies.  As usual, photography has been on the back burner while life keeps chugging a long.  The last 6 or 7 months have been some crazy ones, involving probably the most aggressive weekend warrioring(?) I have ever been a part of.  I don't think that I've taken more than 4 of 5 days off at a time but have fit in so much rock climbing, skiing, and general traveling in that I can't even remember everything that I've done.  August, September and October offered up many clear nights under the stars and even more days on rock in the sun.  Then, when the Northwest got hit by a huge storm system in the last week of October, I promptly switched to backcountry skiing (OCTOBER!).  November and December offered up the deepest skiing of my life, with so many unforgettable runs, I couldn't possibly list them all here.  In January the sun came out and we got into some ski mountaineering and ripped plenty of groomers.  The clear dry weather continued into February and encouraged a couple of spectacular winter bouldering days.  Now as February comes to a close the storms are back, and it feels like it's winter in the PNW all over again.  There's almost 2 feet of fresh snow in the mountains, and it's time to break out the fat skis again!  There are few things I would change to make this life better.

This post should be followed by some photography postings.  I've been enjoying the simplicity of shooting with my little point and shoot, but I have been really missing the quality of shooting with a DSLR.  Anyone want to donate a new camera?

Waiting for the snow to soften up on the Muir Snowfield

 Mt Rainier, WA Jan 2013