The Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000

Even though the focus of my recent visit to Korea was business, I did have a chance to sample some of the local recreation. On a visit to South Korea earlier this summer I discovered that several of my counterparts seem to enjoy skiing as much as I do. We showed each other ski pictures on our phones, and compared the different places we’ve skied. Several months later I hosted a delegation from Korea for some meetings we had in Seattle. When I introduced myself to one of them he replied, “You’re Andy?! You are famous in Korea. You are a skier, yes?” Apparently word had spread.
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During the first part of December I was in South Korea for work. I flew into Seoul and spent the night there before making my way down to Busan and eventually Changwon and Sacheon. Although I was in Korea for nearly two weeks; I had little time to myself. When I wasn’t otherwise engaged with business, I found some time to wander the streets with a camera.
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The storm raged all Thanksgiving night in the Central Cascades. When the dust cleared on Friday morning, 11″ of fresh snow fell on Crystal Mountain. Curtis, Gus, Beau, Austin and I did our best to chop through as much of that pow as possible. We had pretty good luck finding stashes and face shots all day. Then the big news dropped. Shortly after 1 PM Gus, who apparently was using his iPhone for more than texting and reading emails, pulled up the Crystal Mountain Ski Patrol Twitter feed and announced that Northway would be opening in 20 minutes. We’d heard blasts going off all day long over there; and now the ski patrol had done enough control work to safely open the zone for the first time this season. Since we were skiing High Campbell, we had to traverse the entire width of the resort to get there. After a few chairlift rides, buzzing down a cat track and 5 minutes of boot packing; we were ready to go. This video is from my first of two runs in Northway. I think Beau summed it up best, “that shit cray.”

Watch in HD.
If you’re on a iPhone or mobile device, watch it on Vimeo.

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One of my favorite lines from last season was descending The Shuksan Arm just outside of the Mount Baker ski area. Ryan and I rode chair 8 up, and after getting grilled by a ski patroller, were allowed to leave the resort and skin along the ridge. It was late March and the snow was nearly perfect. Baker had been getting hammered all week, and this Sunday was the first time in days that the avalanche conditions were moderate enough to make a safe journey out onto the arm. After spending a little more than hour traversing the ridge, we ripped skins and charged down to the valley. The snow was light and crisp; turning was effortless.

With memories of this day in mind, Ryan and I returned to Shuksan Arm 8 months later, this time bringing along Keith, Beau, Gus, Megan and Austin. An early season storm had just cycled through the Mount Baker zone, and conditions looked ripe for a late November pow day. As always, I toted my Olympus Pen E-P3 camera for still photographs. This time out I brought along a new toy: a GoPro HD Hero2 video camera. Once we reached the top of the Arm, I strapped the camera to my dome and hit “REC.” I let it run the entire time we descended, about 25 minutes. The edit above compresses our descent to about 5 minutes, and uses still photographs I took on the skin up. The skiing at the top is steep, fun and deep. The skiing near the bottom is also steep, but our pace slows considerably as we try to maneuver treacherous cliffs, trees and rocks. The video is not intended to be a highlight reel; it’s a visual narrative of our approach, ascent and descent.

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All anyone could talk about all week was this “storm from ALASKA” that was sliding down the West Coast en route to the Cascades. Local ski areas kept up the stoke by posting pictures to Facebook of picnic tables with 4 inches of snow sitting on them and proclaiming “LA NIÑA has ARRIVED!” Amongst my friends, emails and text messages started flying around with links to weather forecasts and snowfall telemetry. Did I buy all this hype? Of course I did. I encouraged it.
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Only two weeks after our icy adventure up Mount Baker’s Coleman Glacier, we returned to the Heliotrope Ridge trailhead for round II. Even on the drive in it was evident that we would be dealing with drastically different conditions. The snowline is now well below the parking lot (3,650′), making the last mile or so treacherous. I was happy to let Gus maneuver his Subaru along the winding road; had we been in my Volkswagen I would have chained up. Stepping out of the car at the trailhead the first thing that struck me was how cold it was. Keith, Gus and I quickly geared up and started hiking the Hogsback. The mud and rocks of October were now covered with snow and ice. We gladly endured knowing that less than a couple hours up the trail would be our first taste of powder for the season.
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Last weekend a group of us ventured up from Seattle to spend some time at Alpental. We stayed at the base of the iconic ski area which also the jumping off point for a number of gorgeous off-season trails. The final weekend of October 2011 might be the last time this year that the trail to Snow Lake is completely void of snow; and that’s okay by me. While I certainly enjoyed the company and beautiful fall colors in the alpine; conversation on the way to Snow Lake frequently shifted towards the upcoming ski season. Trips, gear and backcountry conquests were all served up as topics. This year I am season pass holder at Alpental and Snoqualmie; and I’m looking forward to getting to know the terrain I surveyed on Saturday much better once it is all blanketed in the white stuff.

I captured the above image of Snow Lake after hiking in 4 miles and crossing over the saddle at 4400′ between Snoqualmie Mountain and Chair Peak.