TR: Biglines and lessons

[alberta_hoser]

“Experience is the hardest teacher, it gives the test first and the lesson second.”
–Unknown.

We made some bad decisions this past weekend and got really lucky that nobody was injured.

I was eager to hit some bigger lines and go for some exploration around the Wild West at Sunshine Village. We got into two lines that both turned out really bad.





This was the goal. It looked good only it was rockier than it looks from the bottom.

The red dot is what I fell down. X's are start and stop. It was a long and scary ride.




Getting into it proved fairly easy, just a simple traverse down a steep rocky slope but nothing exciting. (from the top of the line)



Making my way in, a bit of a where's waldo.

Once I was in there I started to get worried...My backup plan was just to side step down if something went wrong. The problem : The crux is 150cm wide, my skis are 191cm. I wanted to point the whole thing, I had actually planned on it before getting in there but once I was in I realized that the whole chute has a slight s-shape to it. I didn't feel comfortable riding blindly around a corner in a line I've never skied before. I wasn't sure if I would have enough space to stop or burn some speed before the second choke. In hindsight I should have gone for it.

I decided to attempt to sidestep until I could see around the bend, If I got stuck I would remove my skis and down climb the crux. Then things started to go wrong pretty fast. First I dropped one of my poles while side stepping.


Look really closely and you can see my pole falling away from me.


After trying to get to the bend I pulled the plug and decided to down climb. I got my uphill ski off and had kicked a step in for my upper leg to support my weight as I removed my downhill ski. My skis off I was turning my body to face uphill and begin slowly climbing down. Both my footholds broke at the same time and I was incapable to self arrest. I immediately used both my hands to push away from the bend in the rock, which I was about to slam into. Escaping the first crux I was on my back and furiously trying to kick my heels into the snow to gain some kind of brake and stop. My heels dug in and stopped moving, my upper body however, continued at the same pace. This resulted in being flipped onto my chest going face first down towards the second crux which is just as narrow but only for a few feet. This second crux was actually quite a surprise when I saw it because it is not visible in the first picture. There was some control done to that chute sometime after that shot was taken and what was left was a shallow, very crusty snow base. I used my hands to steer in between the rock and cleared the rest of the exposure. I remember making very strange nosies as I struggled to come to a stop. My mind was completely blank other than a very detached "stop, stop, stop". Once I finally came to a halt I had trouble breathing from being winded on some avy debris during the fall. The whole thing was very fast, the snow was hard and quick.

I had to climb back up to the bottom of the first crux in order to reach my gear, I was pretty scared coming down and my skiing was hesitant.


Finally reaching my skis. The second crux is visible at the bottom of the photo.

I won't be back there until its filled in way better, so that if I fall after the first long skinny section I will be able to just roll down snow instead of rock. I got lucky.



The day before we managed to get above some stretched out rock that was unclear-able in a different chute.

My line in red, Tom's is in green. I had the honor of uncovering all those rocks, while he got to ride some down the center.

Tom lost control after getting out of the rocky portion and finding more rocks in the apron. He ended up like this....


Took us quite a while to remove him from this situation all he ended up with was a sore knee.

The rest of the weekend was awesome. Lots of snow to find if you knew where to go.


Riding down Peyto's, coverage is looking really good.
Skier :Me
Photo: Jeff


Engler's was fun before the rocks at the bottom.
Skier:Jeff
Photo: Me


The stashes were nice...
Skier:me
Photo: Jeff


I love the wild west, amazing chutes.
Skier: me
Photo: Jeff


The cloud's cleared on the first day and we had some nice lighting later in the day.


Delirium was mostly pow all morning
Skier: Me
Photo: Jeff


Peyto's
Skier: Jeff
Photo : Me


We hiked a small drop that had a bit of a lip to it at the end of the first day. Jeff found out about the lip part unexpectedly.
Skier: Jeff
Photo: Downhill Rider.


Jeff likes pillows.
Skier:Jeff
Photo: Me


Stashes, again.
Skier: Jeff
Photo: Me


Soft and untracked in the trees below delirium, as usual.
Skier: Me
Photo:Jeff


Some of you might remember me raving about this one a few weeks back. It was better this time.
Skier: Me
Photo:Jeff


The end result.


Cool photo of Jeff that I shot using a sun dog/ray/alien space beam.

Met up with tons of TGR members like downhill rider, skiitsbetter, skifree, and salomon_gun. Stoked to make more turns with you guys, we'll share more stashes soon.

[pointedem]

you're gonna shoot your eye out.

[adam]

You've been posting some real nice stoke. way to be.

[Gripen]

Never skiied Wild West before. Looks fun, might have to get to the 'shine sometime.

[DownhillRider]

Hella nice work putting that together dude...i've said this to you before, but ill say it again - I fucking love that shot of your POV dropping in to the chute.

[tarkman1]

If only you could have seen through the eyes of the cameraman when you were in the chute.

Had you actually seen the line before, but misjudged it?

I am glad you came out unscathed.

[alberta_hoser]

If only you could have seen through the eyes of the cameraman when you were in the chute.

Had you actually seen the line before, but misjudged it?

I am glad you came out unscathed.

I have been staring at it for the past 2 weeks. I saw it from the top and the bottom before skiing it, just didn't judge the width or the snow conditions properly.

[FreakofSnow]

-100 points for not straightlining that sucka. JK

And is this AKPM?

[springsproject]

This shot is really cool, nice work.

[sherpahigh]

^^^ I love that shot too.

Great work with all the local stoke this year. Keep it up!

[mntlion]

looks like the chute is Luxton that you fell down. (snowblade chute). it does fill in a bit more later on

[alberta_hoser]

looks like the chute is Luxton that you fell down. (snowblade chute). it does fill in a bit more later on

Yep, that's what the sign said I just didn't remember how to spell it. I've been down all four of the marked runs in Wildwest now, one way or another.

[skiitsbetter]

Nice I will have to peer pressure my buddies into doing that line on the dive now that it is in better conditions, hell I may even muster up the confidence to do it myself. Man you have been checking off those chutes in Wildwest like crazy, I would like to head there sometime, but when it fills in better.

Seriously, I thought the "lessons" part of the title had to do with your one run with us (skifree) being instructors.

"If you french fry when you are supposed to pizza you are going to have a bad time"

Well it was sure fun ripping with you, we will have to hook up later- we want guidance down Wildwest, and I'm pretty sure you want the 411 on those draps.

[alberta_hoser]

Nice I will have to peer pressure my buddies into doing that line on the dive now that it is in better conditions, hell I may even muster up the confidence to do it myself. Man you have been checking off those chutes in Wildwest like crazy, I would like to head there sometime, but when it fills in better.

Seriously, I thought the "lessons" part of the title had to do with your one run with us (skifree) being instructors.

"If you french fry when you are supposed to pizza you are going to have a bad time"

Well it was sure fun ripping with you, we will have to hook up later- we want guidance down Wildwest, and I'm pretty sure you want the 411 on those draps.

Yes I defiantly want to know where you guys found that 30 footer. In your TR I know where the first picture is but the stuff in the trees... ...so many hidden stashes/drops/pillows I find new stuff everyday

I'm going up Wednesday where will YOU be?

[skifree]

Nice I will have to peer pressure my buddies into doing that line on the dive now that it is in better conditions, hell I may even muster up the confidence to do it myself. Man you have been checking off those chutes in Wildwest like crazy, I would like to head there sometime, but when it fills in better.

Nice to see you're getting your stoke on. I don't think you'll need to pressure me into that line..I've been looking forward to hitting it ever since I saw this TR. Def on my hitlist for next time.

Yes I defiantly want to know where you guys found that 30 footer. In your TR I know where the first picture is but the stuff in the trees... ...so many hidden stashes/drops/pillows I find new stuff everyday

I'm going up Wednesday where will YOU be?

Haha ya, some of those draps are pretty hidden. So much stuff to explore in there, and I have another 30+ footer lined up for next time.

Wednesday? I'll probably be studying. Not quite the same doing a day trip up from Edmonton...

[alberta_hoser]

Oops I forgot one. This is the main crux of Luxton's.

[skiitsbetter]

^ that is pretty narrow... Just whipping out the camera mid-chute to add to the stoke of this thread.

Not quite the same doing a day trip up from Edmonton...

It's called waking up at 3 am and taking the GAPERBUS2Louise lol

[alberta_hoser]

^ that is pretty narrow... Just whipping out the camera mid-chute to add to the stoke of this thread.



It's called waking up at 3 am and taking the GAPERBUS2Louise lol

Actually that is right where all my gear stopped after having that bad fall, So I hiked to that spot then took the picture.

[salomon_gun]

Nice to see you're getting your stoke on. I don't think you'll need to pressure me into that line..I've been looking forward to hitting it ever since I saw this TR. Def on my hitlist for next time.






Haha ya, some of those draps are pretty hidden. So much stuff to explore in there, and I have another 30+ footer lined up for next time.

Wednesday? I'll probably be studying. Not quite the same doing a day trip up from Edmonton...

ya same here skifree. i have one huge mf that i want to do some times between now and the end of the season. but right now its looking a little big. i think its a bit bigger then 30

[watanabee]

nice TR. I like the story and photos at the beginning that show the troublesome parts of this day and that line at the end looks like a tonne of fun.

thanks for sharing.

[skifree]

ya same here skifree. i have one huge mf that i want to do some times between now and the end of the season. but right now its looking a little big. i think its a bit bigger then 30

Really? where's that?
(PM me)

[El Kanone]

Nice, I really dig the TR's from the Hoser, keep them comming. One the problems with twin tips is you cant do the tail walk. With the old skinny straight skis you could stick your tails all the way in the snow up to your heel piece and literally walk down through a tight choke like that with the front half of the ski out in space.

[pde20]

How would you feel about becoming a peer sponsor to Max Gosey? You could give him tips on good TRs, how not to be a tool, how to stop being such a pussy, etc. Reference this thread for comparison:

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73731

Sunchine Village looks pretty damn fun, and all I know of it is from your TRs. Strong work, glad the chute didn't turn out any worse.

[alberta_hoser]

Nice, I really dig the TR's from the Hoser, keep them comming. One the problems with twin tips is you cant do the tail walk. With the old skinny straight skis you could stick your tails all the way in the snow up to your heel piece and literally walk down through a tight choke like that with the front half of the ski out in space.

Twin tips are fun, but not as practical for sure. I want to buy some flat tailed skis but I know I don't have the money (Squads would be very nice )

How would you feel about becoming a peer sponsor to Max Gosey? You could give him tips on good TRs, how not to be a tool, how to stop being such a pussy, etc. Reference this thread for comparison:

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73731

Sunchine Village looks pretty damn fun, and all I know of it is from your TRs. Strong work, glad the chute didn't turn out any worse.

Gosey just needs to learn to be confident in himself and turn instead of traverse, its all in his head. Regardless of how good my photos make it seem, sunshine is completely flat

[skifree]

Gosey just needs to learn to be confident in himself and turn instead of traverse, its all in his head. Regardless of how good my photos make it seem, sunshine is completely flat

Yeah, I don't see why anyone even skis there. It's nothing but traversing and walking.