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last year, i made a bit of a gamble. i saved up my vacation and sick time all spring and summer knowing that the hours wouldn't roll over to the new year, and i might be forced to use them all in less than ideal conditions. fortunately, the exact opposite happened, and i ended up with almost 3 weeks off in weather that i would have struggled to improve on if i created it myself.

originally, i had plans of touring around british columbia in my new syncro vanagon, or maybe visiting idaho or wyoming. but instead, the conditions seemed too ideal to venture far from home.

fortunately, "home" included a small cabin in greenwater, where i spent 6 storm filled days taking gondola laps with jcocci and kyle, quenching my summer pow-thirst and getting my legs in shape for what was to come.

heading up to greenwater nice & early in john's cool van


lots of early season terrain not yet rendered indescript by the snow


the commute from greenwater to crystal is pretty nice...


in almost a week of lift-served storm riding, i only got one action shot--saign bushwhack-riding down a steep vegetated gully, while unbeknownst to us, a small inbounds avy had buried someone not far away (fortunately she was dug out quickly and survived).


as the christmas weekend approached, we began to see more and more of this, and knew it was time to turn our attention elsewhere.


we started out with a popular roadside tour near steven's pass


and quickly found what we were looking for.








kololo insisted on another lap.


who are we to defy her will.


the happy conclusion of another pow day.




with all the low snow levels, it seemed opportune to spend some time at snoqualmie pass. it turned out to be a great christmas eve.

enjoying the trail breaking in intermittent sunshine and snow.






views of the valley during our allotted 8 minutes of sun for the week.


kyle shreds the bryant couloir




another great day in the snow.


and a quick break for some christmas festivities...




and the next day it was back to the snow.... and water. how do we get across?


well it's a start!


saw some crazy rime-cicles on the way up.


it looked to be another day filled with pow pillows.




there are no shortage of fun features in this zone, and kyle found one right away.


scott went for a little air...


and kololo followed without a moment's hesitation. that dog knows how to get rowdy!




too fast for a face shot.


sorry, saign, i should have warned you about that flat landing...




friends in pow.


saign starts work on a cool video.


see kololo get rad in the final product...


kyle hit some more pillows





we were a bit less patient on the exit and went for the more direct route.



rested up from a relaxing day of roadside pillow poppin, i figured it was time to brave the drive back out to crystal... but this time the goal was east peak, across the valley from the resort.

kyle & hannah enjoy a brief moment of sun on the skin track.


but by the time we were tearing up the pow the grey skies had returned.


that didn't stop john from busting out his camera.




john's diligence paid off with some really cool photos... i stole this one (there's got to be one shot of me in this TR!) but for the rest, check out his web site.


the pow was so light and dry we went back for lap after lap until finally i got a chance to try my hand at flash ski photography... looks like i still need some practice (or maybe a camera with less latency).


after that... well, the year wasn't quite over yet, but the grand finale deserves its own trip report. stay tuned!!

Man. That December is surely one for the history books! Glad I got to share some really good days with you Ben!

Awesome photos from yourself and John!

And thanks so much for the shots of me, and more so Kololo. Love to see her in action!

heres to January!

That dog is awesome! cracks me up!

I love the picture of the dog sending it. With that red coat, looks and seems to act exactly like my black lab mix with a red coat as well. Dogs crack me up.

Even funnier is that she went bigger then me. l love her scoping out her landing and doing the frog legs!

she's a german pointer choco lab mix summersgone. Does you lab do that with the back legs too?

Man that week before Christmas was awesome! Great getting out with you. Love that shot of Kololo dropping the pillow.

EPIC on every level. I had a blast riding with all of you guys.
A December I will never forget.

Good times! Great shots. I wish I coulda been around for more of it

Mine is a Whippet Black Lab mix, I think. She loves to chase, and does the same with her legs. I gotta start busting some photos of her, because shes nutty.

I got her the ruffwear softshell jacket because she seems to get cold. It's seemed to help out, and I can see her. I just wish it had a handle on the top, it makes picking her up really easy.

yeah, that is the same, rough wear cloud chaser. perfect fit for that type of dog. she thinks she is so bad ass once she gets it on too.

german pointer is really just a mix of hound breeds any ways. i've heard weimers and whippets, are likely.

dogs are fun to ride with. and you can tell they love it too!

Great to get out with you too John, Kyle, and Saign.

I almost forgot about lichtencrust day. worst day of the season..?

Oh almost forgot about that one too. Yeah probably worst day of the season, but that isn;t saying much. I'll take that day as a worst day anyway, still a fun day.

Man that POWDER looks fun! We were spoiled in December.
I'm ready for 2nd winter!

so rad. the PNW is really pulling on my heart strings.