Game Over

What a tough season it has been in the backcountry. In Jackson Hole last week a search and rescue helicopter crashed killing long time Jackson local and SAR volunteer Ray Shriver. Then just this last Sunday, the freeskiing community lost another pioneer to an avalanche on Stevens Pass, WA. Head Freeskiing World Tour judge Jim Jack along with two locals were swept away and killed in what sounds to be a massive slide. This happening shortly after a snowboarder was killed in an avalanche on Snoqualmie Pass.

Now, why did I bring up all this depressing news? Well, I wasn’t terribly lucky in the backcountry this last week either. I headed up north to Whitefish, MT to visit and support a friend who was having surgery on Friday. After seeing my friend and wishing her good luck on her operation, I headed up to ski Whitefish Mountain Resort for the day. I headed up to the mountain with my good friend Simon Peterson and his friend/my acquaintance Josie. We planned to ski the great slackcountry Whitefish has to offer and headed straight out of bounds as soon as we got to the top of the mountain.

After one great lap of soft, fun snow in the Canyon Creek drainage. We quickly went back for more. Simon works for Backcountry Magazine and had worked out a deal with the ski area to exchange photos for lift tickets, this meant I had to “earn” my lift ticket by ski modeling for Simon. After a fairly successful shoot on our first lap, we set up a second shot on a small jump between some saplings. Josie, who is a snowboarder, hit the jump first and looked pretty good. Simon gave me the go ahead to drop in and I hit the jump. I went way too big off the small jump and caught my landing very low in the transition. As a result I landed off balance and going really fast into a fairly tight stand of trees. I successfully negotiated getting around one tree, but I hesitated a split second about which way to go around the next tree. This split second of hesitation resulted in me hitting the tree directly with my left knee. Upon impacting the tree, there was a huge explosion of branches and skis and I cartwheeled once.

For a split second I thought I was going to be okay, until I tried to move my left leg. My left leg was bent as though I was sitting “Indian style” and I couldn’t, with all my strength straighten my leg. Josie was quick to hike up to my assistance and make sure I was alright. Simon, was also soon by my side and we had a very brief discussion about what to do. I pulled up my left pant leg to see the damage and immediately noticed my kneecap appeared to be dislocated. Everyone now knew that I wasn’t going to get out of there without some help. I pulled out my cell phone which (luckily) had a signal and called 911. I explained to the operator what had happened then handed the phone to Josie, who is a local and could better describe our location. 911 was unable to obtain our coordinates from my phone, so they transferred us to the Whitefish Ski Patrol. However, because we were skiing out of bounds their policy was that this was a matter for Flathead County Search and Rescue and the Flathead Nordic Ski Patrol. After a handful of other phone calls, and sending Simon to meet with the rescuers to bring us back to my location, Josie and I patiently waited for help. Flathead Nordic Patrol happened to have a handful of patrollers skiing at Whitefish Mountain Resort, and within an hour and a half of the initial 911 call they were staged and ready to search for me. In about the same time Flathead County SAR, who happened to already be at Canyon Creek for training, had a group of snowmobiles staged and waiting for me on the road below.

The very kind and wonderful folks with the Nordic Patrol stabilized me, then packaged me up into a backcountry rescue toboggan. After a strong and excellent effort to extricate me from steep and complicated terrain, Nordic Patrol handed me over to SAR, who then loaded me onto a trailer behind a snowmobile. After a long bumpy ride out, I was greeted at the Canyon Creek trailhead by a gaggle of bystanders and, more importantly, an ambulance. I was quickly loaded into the ambulance and taken to the Whitefish hospital. The whole time I had my fingers crossed that I had simply dislocated my kneecap, and that a doctor would be able to quickly put it back in place and I would walk out of the hospital. Unfortunately, my hopes were crushed upon getting the x-ray.

X-ray showing the extent of my injuries. You can see a large chunk of my kneecap sitting on top of my femur. The lower chunk was mostly crushed bone. The surgeon was able to save about 3/4 of my kneecap.

I had reconstructive surgery the next day and was discharged that night. I am facing fairly substantial and permanent damage and I may be off skis for a full year (that would be a nightmare!). I am going to try and heal and rehab as fast as I can so that I will be able to hopefully salvage next ski season as I am out for the rest of this year.

Despite how bad this situation was it could have been much, much worse. I think more than anything I should use this injury as a learning experience and look at what I did correctly and what I did incorrectly.

1. Having capable, smart, backcountry partners made all the difference. My group was able to keep calm and had extra layers and an emergency bivy to keep me warm.
2. Having a cell phone (with reception) was a huge benefit as well. Not just to call for help but also to receive updates from SAR and Simon. It was a mental challenge to stay patient and wait for help. I think if I didn’t receive constant updates on the status of SAR and know people were coming for help I would have freaked out a bit more.
3. Finally, having a mindset where you understand that this sort of thing can happen makes a big difference. I never try and assume that a day in the backcountry will go smoothly. Every time I ski in the backcountry or send big cliffs at a resort I have a little voice in my mind reminding me that I could be seriously injured. So I was not shocked or angry that I was injured.
4. With that said, I should have been more aware and conscious of what I was skiing. I seriously misjudged how big to go off the jump as well as I failed to notice how short the runout was.

Below is the GoPro footage of the crash so you can relive it, only without the pain.

Finally, a huge thank you to Simon and Josie for helping me out so much after the crash. Also, I want to give a huge thanks to the folks at Flathead Nordic Ski Patrol and Flathead County Search and Rescue as they pretty much saved me from having to spend a night out in the woods. Also, thanks to Dr. Bailey and the North Valley Hospital for putting me back together.

A Great Big Circle

After a bit of a hiatus from the blogging world due to another (yes, another) interstate move, I find myself back to where it all sort of started…Bozeman. What I thought was going to be my next big life journey turned out to be nothing more than a two year extended working-vacation. I quit my job in California and packed up and moved to Montana with a great job offer at the Yellowstone Ecological Research Center as a remote sensing/GIS analyst.

This is great news for this site though. Being back in Bozeman means I have my old ski partners back which means more epic adventures! I have already braved the low snow pack and had a couple fun days since moving back.

Simon Peterson on the approach

Nearing the top of "The Sleeping Giant". Photo: Simon Peterson

Patrick Lawrence and Luke climbing a wind scoured couloir

My brother Zack climbing a Couloir up Hyalite Canyon outside of Bozeman, MT

Zack sending it up Hyalite Canyon

And of course I have a GoPro edit of all this fun stuff. Check it out!

Music by CCR and shot in California and Montana.

The Off Season in Northern California

So summer is supposedly supposed to be winding down, but temperatures here in Redding are the highest they have been so far this year. I made the following edit in the enjoyment of air conditioning. So sit back for a few minutes and enjoy some of my summer activities…

Hotlum-Wintun Ridge – Mt. Shasta

It’s looking like an early start to the ski season for me out here in California. With temperatures in the valley consistently in 90-100s but abundant snow on the nearby volcanoes, skiing is perfect for cooling off. In a chance encounter I met a couple of Redding skiers on a solo mission to Mt. Lassen, who dragged me up Mt. Shasta last weekend.

We planned to ski Mt. Lassen but at the last minute we changed plans to head up to the Brewer Creek trailhead on the East side of 14,179′ Mount Shasta. Our crew consisted of Jason, Nick, Nick’s two sons Andrew, 15, and Gabe, 13, and myself. Andrew and Gabe were on their first big mountaineering mission and kicked ass, reaching 11,000′.

I was armed with an awful hangover and a 40 lbs pack, and we began the approach around 11 am on Saturday morning. The Brewer Creek trail dragged on as it needlessly switchbacks up the gently sloping base of Mt. Shasta.,

14,179 Mt. Shasta from the Brewer Creek Trail

Our goal was to ski the tantalizing couloir that drops from the summit onto the Wintun Glacier. At the right time of year this is the longest continuous ski decent in the lower 48. But after leaving the trail at treeline and beginning the climb up the Hotlum-Wintum ridge, the shear immensity of The Mountain in combination with a lack of fitness would make a serious summit bid improbable.

After an all day death march up the lower mountain, we pitched camp on a moraine at about 10,000′ elevation.

After a full day of climbing the summit still seems far away. It was sort of discouraging climbing for hours feeling like you were going nowhere.

Nick Akimoff at camp during sunset.

It turned out to be a beautiful night, with a great sunset and a full moon. There were very strong winds during the night, but they did not bother me as I was bivouacked under some rocks. However, it was a long, noisy night for everyone else sleeping in tents.

Full moonrise as night falls.

The full moon would have made for some fun climbing, but strong winds kept us hunkered down for the night.

Everyone was awake around 7 a.m., and after we ate breakfast and broke camp, we started climbing around 8:30 am. Both the boys had mild altitude sickness but made an impressive push to 11,000′. It was fun to climb with Gabe and Andrew and they did way better than I would have at their age. Nick stayed with his sons and Jason and I pushed higher, hoping to reach the top of the Hotlum-Wintum ridge where we would still get a 5,000′ mid-August ski descent.

Gabe Akimoff starts the climb up Mt. Shasta

Jason leading the way.

Andrew Akimoff reaching 11,000'. He was feeling well but felt it was better to hang back with Gabe, who was really having trouble with the altitude.

Jason Foust reaching the top of the climb. We skied from around 12,800' and skied to around 8,000' for 4,800' vertical on August 14th.

Thick clouds were rolling in and out by the time we reached the top of our climb. We spent some time resting and waiting for a sucker hole to ski down in. We finally had our chance and we rode about 2,000′ of perfect corn. Just below 11,000′ the snow went from good to Volkswagen size suncups. My brain rattled around in my head as I skied over the suncups to our gear cache. Here, we loaded our packs and skied the remaining 2,000′ of sun affected snow to the trail. Then we slogged back to the trailhead and reached the car around 3 p.m.

Jason snowboarding below the summit buttress of Mt. Shasta

Jason riding into the building clouds.

For the full descent check out the video below.

Some Friendly Promotions

Since I have been working so much and not able to ski too often, I thought I would send props to some of my friends who are getting after it in my old stomping ground of Montana.

Check out my buddy and ski partner Patrick’s blog. This kid rips on a splitboard and I have gone on some of my best adventures with him. He definitely gets after it.

Also, here’s a promo for my other friend’s up and coming ski company, Seneca Skis, and they have some sweet looking skis. Entrepreneur, Eric Newman, is a shredder and makes a bomber ski. Check out the video, and if you look carefully you will see me attempting to ski…

Don’t worry I have been doing some backpacking and camping and will post some of my own stuff soon!

California Springtime

Checking in from Northern California and besides being mega-busy with work I have been trying to get out. I have done some skiing on the nearby volcanoes of Lassen Peak and Mt. Shasta. Since I live at a low elevation here in California I am also able get out mountain biking fairly often. Check out this video to get a taste of what my life is like in California (when I’m not at work…).

Thanks Colorado, it was short

As I alluded to in my previous post I recently moved from sparsely populated western Colorado, to a “small” Northern California city named Redding. I moved here because of a job opportunity but there are plenty of fun recreational options, including fly fishing within a 5 minute bike ride, mountain biking from town, 2 cascade volcanoes within an 1 1/2 hour drive, and Squallywood a weekend trip away.

Gunnison was fun, but it was a little too small, and a lack of employment options left my fiance and I a little stranded. I had a great couple of months living the ski bum’s life collecting unemployment as documented in previous videos. So, without further adieu, here is my perspective of January 2011, my last month in Colorado.

Music: Lightsonic, by Groove Armada

Silverton PowCAM Edit

Alright, alright! Getting a heavy dose of the POV cam these days, but why not? With the great skiing in December it seems appropriate. In addition to my previous post, December also included the family ritual of shredding Silverton Mountain Resort after Christmas. This was my family’s fourth year together down in the San Juan mountains, and needless to say it was by far the best year.

So without further adieu, here is my latest installment of too much POV footage (and for those of you at work watching, this is a much shorter video than my last one).

Music by the one and only Dire Straits, with cameos by fellow cross-poster Jon Jay and older brother Zack Jay. Mad props to my old man, Howard Jay, for keeping up with us and making the trip happen every year. Also, thanks to Bent Gate Mountaineering for letting us try out next year’s (that’s right, 2012) Black Diamond Gigawatts, which appear in a couple of the clips.

A Very Merry December

Now that I don’t have a camera or a job, photographs might be hard to come by for the time being. However, my fiancée gave me a GoPro for Christmas so now I can be like almost every other kid out there and have helmet cam edits. So sit back, relax, and enjoy December from my helmet’s perspective.

Music is by Ween and Buju Banton, and features my two brothers and a couple other friends!

Bridger video clip

So this last week has been ridiculously awesome up at Bridger. Fresh snow every night plus a lot of people burned out on skiing means plenty of freshies. I’ve slowly been working on hitting a lot of lines and cliffs I’ve scoped for the past few seasons. I finally got the cliff I have looked at the longest but never found conditions good for it. The cliff is called Angry Chair, and it is the last clip in this short video I whipped together.