Category: Trips (Page 5 of 5)

In September 2005, I traveled to New Zealand and piled into van for two weeks to travel around the country and ski. We skied Treble Cone on the South Island and Whakapapa and Turoa on Mt Ruapehu on the North Island. We also hiked up Temple Basin. Click on the photo below to see pics from the trip:

It takes a little bit of motivation, some camping supplies and a decent level of fitness, but don’t let that stop you from skiing Mt Shasta this summer. My trip up the Brewer Creek (eastern) Route in August 2005 was one of the most exhilarating experience of my life. Because it was late in the season, we hiked up to the snow line, set up camp there, and woke up around 4 am to start our ascent. The snow turned pretty slushy as we neared the summit around noon, but most of the 7,000+ foot descent was creamy corn! Here’s an article with lots of details on how to ski the main route >

I’m in Florida where the air temperature is 87 degrees, the ocean temp is 79 degrees and the humidity is 68%. I probably won’t get to do any summer skiing this summer, but I have done plenty in the past. While friends were content to embrace the warm temperatures and mountain bike for the summer, I alway got a thrill out of skiing during the off-season. During the summer months, I’ve skied Las Lenas, Argentina, Portillo, Chile, Treble Cone and Mt Rupeahu, New Zealand, Mount Hood, Orgeon, Mount Shasta, California and Mount Washington, New Hapmshire. During the next few weeks I’ll be posting articles and info about these summer ski destinations and more. I’ll start with Portillo, where I traveled in August 2006 and got to heli-ski deep powder. Skiing Magazine will be coming out with an article that I wrote about Portillo shortly. In the meantime, here are two other articles featuring Portillo: To South America with NASTC and International Heli Skiing.

I’ve eyed the north-facing gladded lines just south of West River Street for years. Recently, tracks have been laid down after big storms. On the drive back to Sierra Meadows, after a crowded day at Squaw, I think about taking a day to ski those lines myself. Yesterday we got eight inches and the time was right. I started from the top of Rainbow Street in Sierra Meadows. The summit terminal of the old Poma lift (the oldest ski lift in California) is located next to a water tank at the top of an access road above Rainbow. The Poma lift line down to the Cottonwood restaurant is not that steep (but pointing it on old wooden skis with no edges probably felt like it!), so I navigated skiers left across a meadow to access the steeper terrain facing West River Street. Here the slope steepens to around 34-degrees. Looking down at the Truckee River and West River Street, I dropped into the fresh eight inches. Though I could still feel the scratch below, the turns were fresh and the total vertical – from the top of the Poma to the Meadow by the Truckee River – was 400 feet. From there it’s a short skin or hike back to the Cottonwood. Laps here should be even better after the next big storm. -Rob McCormick

See photos here >>

Yesterday I went to Squaw to check out the 48Straight events. While the competition was exciting, the slopes were wall to wall with people. Today, I’m getting away from the crowds and heading out on an overnight trip to the Benson Hut. The Sierra Club hut sits on Anderson Ridge above Truckee, between Squaw and Sugar Bowl. Our group of eight will head out from the top of Sugar Bowl’s Lincoln Chair this morning. The skin to the hut along the ridge takes around two hours. Then it’ll be time to drop our stuff, settle in and make some ski laps. Tomorrow morning we’ll have time for some more laps, before skiing down into Coldstream Canyon. On our way out, we’ll pass the Lost Trail Lodge and then return to Truckee. The weather is supposed to be warm (highs in the low 50’s and relatively calm and clear) so hopefully we’ll get some corn. I’ll post a trip report when I return.