Monday 4 April 2011

Euan's Road Trip - the rundown


Euan Linn took a break from killing it at Garthdee to take in an epic road trip to some of North America's finest resorts. Here's his report:

So, recently, my girlfriend and I embarked on a 2-and-a-half week road trip round the US and Canada.  We drove 2000 miles, through 5 States, 1 Province and rode 10 different resorts. And it never stopped snowing.


First stop was the ever friendly US Customs at SLCity International Airport who detained us for several hours while they searched our bags (which miraculously made it through Charles De Gaulle unharmed) and interrogated us. Luckily the KGB training kicked in and we were admitted to the Land of the Free.



Salt Lake City is built on an incredibly flat bit of ancient lake bed, surrounded by awesome mountains. Its proximity to a very salty lake that never freezes and the incredibly cold high desert means that it gets maritime precipitation that is ever so light and fluffy, so there’s tons of snow, and all of it powder. First stop was Snowbird, where a foot of fresh snow had dropped overnight. Some dodgy-looking chaps sold us a couple day passes in the parking lot and we were away. Snowbird is famed for its steeps and it didn't disappoint; don't go here for park laps.

Snowbird

Go to Brighton instead, which is where we ended up the next two days. With still more snow falling it was a shame to hit the park but I did, and it was good. The top park needs an additional $10 pass to enter, which contains the kicker line and some nice stall pipes and pyramid boxes, then there are three more parks (mostly containing rails / boxes and the like) as you work your way down the mountain. For those more interested in pipe than powder, there's one of them too.

From SLC we headed northish through Idaho to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  This is the spiritual home of awesome snowboarding, and actual home of Brian Iguchi (who I saw) and Travis Rice (possibly, although I think he might live in a helicopter now). Jackson is steep, has a famous tram, and everybody wears helmets. We stayed and rode for two days, during which it dumped a couple of feet of snow and a lot of people shouted 'SEND IT' at other people standing atop cliffs.  It was cool.

Corbet's, Jackson Hole

Zoe hit her first box, including a pretty heavy up / down. The progression park was one of the best we saw, surprisingly, and Jackson is also home to the Rockies’ only Burton Stash park. Pretty cool, but i'm still not loving boardsliding wood. 


 From Jackson we headed into a snowpocalypse of whiteness, through Idaho (again) and into Montana on our way to Big Sky. We got a flat tyre, drove for hours, got a bit lost, entered Yellowstone National Park for about 20mins, and finally arrived at the Whitewater Inn at Big Sky having seen almost nothing but snow. This was true cowboy county, where the restaurant only sold cow and beer. Very tasty though. Big Sky the next day was super cold, some new snow and had a surprisingly good park.  It also has a gondola to the top of Lone Peak which is pretty much all Double Black chutes and bowls.  I would recommend a visit to Big Sky if at all possible, and as long as you are not trying to rustle cattle, the locals are all super friendly.

Driving to Big Sky

 From Big Sky, an hour takes you to Bozeman, with the local hill being Bridger Bowl.  This was the coldest place ever, and is pretty unremarkable apart from the Ridge.  This extends the full length of the resort and is only accessible by boot packing form the top of the chair.  There is a ski patrol poma, which I snaked a lift on, but if they see you, they definitely don't like you using that. The Ridge is full of chutes and cliffs and other exciting and steep things. Go there with somebody who knows the terrain and it will be AMAZING.  If like me, you don't, it can be a bit sketchy, and I would recommend heeding signs that say 'Cliff'; they're not lying.

Bridger

I90 took us west to Missoula, still Montana, where we blagged a free meal and a comfy bed at my cousin's wife's brother's house.  He then took us on a tour of their wee hill (Montana Snowbowl).  Two old-school lifts access two large bowls full of glades and nice little gullies, very fun, and empty.  The Bloody Marys at the base lodge are good.

From Missoula it was a long drive to the Methow Valley, through Montana, Idaho (again) and into Washington State.  Here we met up with my cousin and went for some backcountry snowmobile-accessed shred.  Two things i learned: 1:Snowmobiles are awesome. 2: Getting towed behind a snowmobile is even more awesome.



Snowmobiling

More driving through white oblivion took us to my cousin’s house outside Seattle and a nice relaxing beer in the hot tub. Crystal Mountain followed the next day. 3 feet of snow and rolling power cuts throughout the mountain made every lift ride an adventure. Didn't see much of the place but snow, but it was fun for a day with some nice steeper faces and well-spaced trees.  It's all good when even the groomed runs have a foot of fresh on them by the end of the day. There is a park but the poor crew were busy digging it out of 3 feet of snow, so I'm not sure what it's like.

Crystal Mountain

 Next up was Alpental, part of Summit at Snoqualmie. Bombing kept the lifts shut till 1000, but the thought of 3 to 4 feet of untouched fresh kept the anger in check.  The mad rush for fresh tracks continued for a few hours, ending in a bit of rope-ducking into the trees to get some secret stashes my cousin knew of. Alpental has a rep for steeps and backcountry access, the standard of riding is high. Definitely a place for advanced freeriding, with no park to speak of. Try Summit proper for that. 

Alpental
SLC to Seattle in 2 weeks, but it's nae over yet.  A quick hop on a De Havilland turbo prop dropped us in sunny Calgary, ready for the Canadian Act, ay.  An hour and a half dropped us in Banff National Park, and our rather spiffing hotel.  We hooked up with some buddies from my season out there and got a little drunk while watching some sort of 12 piece funk band.  I would highly recommend this.

First stop was Lake Louise, and the first bit of proper sunshine we had.  The Lake has a nice, well maintained park that flows well and a lot of fun terrain over the backside. Check out the Rock Garden of Larch of you're there; can be icy though, so make sure there's new snow.   A good day was had by all except Tom, who knackered his thumb because he's a skier. Some nice little cliffs drops, park laps and windy banked single track runs were the order of the day, Smitts showing his 4 years experience by knowing every hit, tap, gap and drop the hill had to offer.

Lake Louise

More drinks and hot spring sitting followed, and some more drinks.  Next day was Zoe's birthday, and a trip to Sunshine Village Resort.  More snow fell so it was time for more drops and chutes, and some rather hazy park laps.  Sunshine was my resort of choice during my time there; it gets more snow on average than either the Lake or Norquay, but there are a lot of flat spots to negotiate in the main area.  There are some great bowls accessed off Goats Eye and Delirium Dive at the top of Divide is a must (unfortunately closed when we were there) if you have a beeper and partner. The Garbage Chutes between Strawberry and Standish are a great place to go when there is fresh, drops and chutes bring you right out onto a green to the chair. 



And, that was the end of the road.  All that remained was for Zoe to eat the thickest steak i have ever seen and for us to pack our bags and head on home to sunny Aberdeen via 9 hours in Schipol.  It's a nice airport, but not that nice. 19 Days after departing, and we were sadly back, driving on the left hand side of the road, with not a snowflake in site.   

Nice one Euan, you jammy bastard you! Still to come: Robin's AK Trip.

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