Mountain Hardwear

Published
by
noahhowell
on February 1, 2010
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

I’ve been ‘living the dream’ for some time now. For me, that means existing simply and doing what I want to do with my time, my imagination and my skis. It appears there are those who like what I do enough to help out along the way.

I just signed onto the Mountain Hardwear ‘Team’ at the last Outdoor Retailer show.

Mountain Hardwear has been a major sponsor on the last 2 Powderwhore projects and they will continue to do so. This new arrangement will allow me to travel and focus on personal expeditions and skiing projects. I am surprised, thrilled, humbled and grateful beyond words to have this company backing and supporting my adventures!

Please don’t pinch me, I don’t want to wake from this.

Avalanche in Days Fork

Published
by
noahhowell
on January 21, 2010
in Uncategorized
. 4 Comments

So, this has been one of the slowest starts to winter I can recall. Pretty frustrating if you’re committed to making a ski film from a production company named Powderwhore. Maybe we should have gone with something else that would have put less pressure to deliver the, all up in your grill, blower.

Snow has finally started to fall in earnest and lines are filling in! We headed out into Days Fork today to check things out.

The mountains were in and out of the clouds.

Paige Brady always seems to know the perfect time to visit the Wasatch.

Paige is so strong on the uphill and the downhill, it’s great to ski with someone so motivated.

The first line into Days brought smiles and washed away the fear that winter had abandoned us. Actually Paige is always smiling.

Andy Jacobsen quickly drops in with a little weather window.

Skiing Pow is #1 in his opinion

Paige followed and skied really well despite forgetting to lock down her free pivot bindings. Hate it when that happens.

I filmed from above and then cleaned up the leftovers

Tagged some rocks, lost some base, but skipped to safety! Notice the avalung is out, that will come into play shortly.

Here’s where things got interesting. We had put in 5 tracks on this NE facing slope without noticing any avalanche concerns. The slope was skied one at a time with everybody pulling up in safe zones. We wanted to move down the ridge to the next are so we skinned back up a sub ridge which was a very safe terrain feature. Andy Jacobsen was breaking trail and we were once again spread out working to ’safe’ zones (trees and below cliffs) while skinning. Jonah and Jay were going to wait below (that one’s for you Jay).  The ridge became too rocky to ascend so Andy cut out into the small bowl we had just skied. Paige and I waited and watched and Andy made the ridge without incident. I started out and crossed a thin rocky area when heard the slope ‘thud’,  and then watched it release in a big way. I yelled avalanche and tried to work back to the ridge, but it was clear I was too far out onto the slope which had fractured about 250ft above me. The avalung was easy to grab and place in my mouth, I bit down hard and swam. Right at that moment I was submerged, grazed some trees and surfaced roughly 300ft down from where I triggered it. I yelled ‘I’m OK’ and Jay came down to make sure. He was convinced I was jacked up having seen me strained through the trees. Nothing but a bruise on my elbow and the loss of both ski poles for making a poor call.

Looking back we should have just avoided that aspect for the day, our vision was clouded by the drought we’ve been having. No excuses though, rule #1 is don’t get caught and we failed. Got away lucky on this one.

Thanks again to Jay Beyer for documenting the day with the lens.

Posted by NH

Southern Utah Video

Published
by
noahhowell
on January 11, 2010
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

Jonah has been chomping at the bit to start working with footage for the next flick. He put this nice little edit together from our trip to Bryce and Cedar Breaks. There wasn’t enough snow to really ’ski’ much, so it was primarily ‘one turn wonders’ as we call them or ‘buttering the muffin’, where you come in hot and smear one turn. This is something we frown upon for video and rarely do, but it was our only choice due to the terrain and snow depth. That type of shot works well for still photo’s (a picture tells a thousand lies), but it’s a real challenge for video. Enjoy the vid and hopefully we’ll get some snow and we can do some real skiing.

video HERE.

Yellowstone-American Beauty

Published
by
noahhowell
on January 3, 2010
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

Happy New Year Everybody! Enjoy the 2010 winter season and all it’s beauty. This is a short edit from a recent trip to Yellowstone over Thanksgiving.

“And that’s the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and… this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video’s a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember… and I need to remember… Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world I feel like I can’t take it, like my heart’s going to cave in.”

Quote and soundtrack from the movie American Beauty click HERE to view

Southern Utah Exploration

Published
by
noahhowell
on December 28, 2009
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

Skiing in the Wasatch hasn’t been off to the best start, so we headed South to explore Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks. We have been talking with Jay Beyer about doing some reconnaissance for years and now seemed like the perfect time. The southern part of the state had just been hit pretty hard by 1-2′ of snow and Brianhead area was reporting a deeper base than Alta.

We weren’t able to recruit anybody besides myself, Jonah and Jay for this last minute excursion.

When entering a new area it’s always important to test the snowpacks stability. Jonah has developed a new and very unique method, he said it was ‘good’, so we skied it.

We arrived mid afternoon and Bryce was looking Nice!

Conditions were much better than expected, almost skiable even. The plan was for Jonah to capture video, Jay on the still camera and I would destroy my skis attempting to make it look deep.

It was mostly one turns for the camera, or ‘wearing high heels’ (modeling) as a good friend disparagingly puts it. Simply amazing place to be no matter what you’re doing here!

The snow settled QUICKLY as the day was warm at this latitude and low elevation. We made the Navajo Loop trail with only seeing two other folks, I doubt that’s possible in the summer season.

Cedar Breaks is only an hour away and faces west. Sounded like a good place to play around and catch the sunset. The road along the rim of Cedar Breaks is closed and unplowed, but a quick skin gets you right to it.

We toured around the rim in awe at the colorful contrasts.
Even found some patches of snow deep enough to turn in.

And some patches not quite deep enough. The thrill of the early season is you never really know until you commit.

I really like this fish eye shot. So did Jay, until I pointed out his jacket in the lower left corner.

We don’t often have a moral to the story besides ’ski as much powder as you can before you die’. But you do learn bits and pieces along the way sometimes. Never pass up a chance to watch the sunset. Never pass up a road trip to new locations. Never forget your helmet and knee pads.

And never pass up a hot spring on the way home!

As always, many thanks to Jay Beyer for the still images. He captured some amazing stuff and shared the B-roll with us.

Posted by NH

Powder Magazine Photo Annual

Published
by
noahhowell
on December 21, 2009
in Uncategorized
. 4 Comments

A long time dream of mine was recently fulfilled with the release of the Dec issue of Powder Magazine.

Thanks to the eye and talented lens work of Jay Beyer we made a pretty picture for the photo annual! With knowledge and experience you try and put yourself in the ‘right’ place at the right time to capture the best conditions and light for filming video and shooting still photo’s. And then sometimes you’re just lucky. The following shot came as a surprise as we were heading home after a tiring and somewhat disappointing day. Skinning back out of Cardiff Fork the shadows ran long over the virgin slope and I huffed it up to try and beat the sun from setting over Cardiac Ridge.

Jay’s skill has increased every season in dramatic fashion! I was going to write that it’s fun to ‘work’ with Jay, but we don’t ‘work’, we play. We are some lucky bastards indeed to be able to do this. Congrats Jay! Let’s go play some more.

First Day BC

Published
by
noahhowell
on December 11, 2009
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

The backcountry snow has been thin so we’ve been skiing Alta and touring up Snowbird for training. With the latest storm we were drawn outside the boundaries for the first tour of the season. 

We’ve picked up some new helmet cams and we’ve been itching to get them out for a test run. Our previous helmet cams had many issues which didn’t give us much on snow perspective in last years flick. It’s a little early for a full review, but here is a taste of what the VholdR Contour HD cam provided from a surprisingly nice afternoon on Cardiac Ridge. No post production work was done and I’ll clean the lens next time (if it’s not sub-zero temps).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8mzldpMzek

Possible Lift Expansion in Silver Fork

Published
by
noahhowell
on December 8, 2009
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

A few weeks ago news came out that Solitude is seeking to expand into Silver Fork. See details here.

I don’t claim to know the answers to the question of growth and expansion. The idea that I do have a voice that might be heard on the issue is nice, whether it’s true or not. My guess is it will make no difference, but it felt good to do something so I wrote a letter and sent an email (see below).

Here is the contact info for the Forest Service District Ranger and Supervisor if you wish to voice your opinion whether it’s for or against.

Cathy Kahlow District Ranger 
Uinta/Wasatch-Cache National Forest
Salt Lake Ranger District
6944 S 3000E
Salt Lake City Utah 84121
EMAIL= ckahlow@fs.fed.us

Brian Ferebee Forest Supervisor-bferebee@fs.fed.us
Uinta/Wasatch-Cache National Forest
Federal Building
125S State Street
Salt Lake City Utah 84138
EMAIL=bferebee@fs.fed.us

I’m writing in regards to the proposed Solitude lift expansion in the Silver Fork drainage. This is a great area to ski in and I’ve been enjoying it for 10 years or so as a backcountry skier. I also ski inbounds at Solitude several times a year. 

I’m not sure how the process works, but it’s my understanding that these are public lands which will be allocated for different uses by the USFS in a way that, as your slogan states “cares for the LAND and serves the PEOPLE.”

There is a huge billboard advertising Solitude at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon that says: KROUDS (we don’t even know how to spell the word). And this has been my experience with skiing at Solitude, there are no crowds of PEOPLE except for the Christmas and President’s Day holidays. There is no cry from the skiing public, the PEOPLE, to expand into Silver Fork that I am aware of. Where then is the motivation for this expansion coming from? If the lift lines were long and the slopes overcrowded it would seem worth considering, but this is not the case.

I’m just a skier who enjoys the many options, lift served and backcountry, that do exist in a fine balance in this tiny mountain range.  There is within me a huge concern with the fact that a few more lifts here and there will drastically change the ’solitude’ that exists away from the lifts and the areas they serve. My vote, as one of the PEOPLE, if I have one, would be not to add a lift in Silver Fork. 

Please let me know if there will be any public hearings I can attend, or what process I can be involved in with this important decision. 

Thank you for your time, 

Noah Howell

So it begins!

Published
by
noahhowell
on December 3, 2009
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

Training days at Alta. 

X-Country into Yellowstone

Published
by
noahhowell
on November 30, 2009
in Uncategorized
. 9 Comments

Not much to ski here in the Wasatch at the moment. However, I wanted to get out for an adventure. There’s a little window where vehicles and snowmobiles are not allowed in Yellowstone National Park. I thought it would be a fun time to ski into Old Faithful on the snow covered roads for some exercise and to film some scenery and wildlife.

I arrived late and headed into the park via West Yellowstone. 

I found out that despite the road being closed to the public they were still plowing if for service vehicles, rangers, construction etc.

There was enough snow on the road or on the sides to put my rental gear to use (thanks to Kirkhams Outdoor Products in SLC).

Darkness came after only 5 miles or so. I spooked some large mammals on the road! 

Yes, I was a little spooked as well, but felt fine continuing. That was until the point where I heard a large pack of wolves having some sort of wild rumpus and they were in the direction of my travel. I set up camp next to the river.

It was cold, Yellowstone cold! And the wolves kept howling wildly every half hour or so making for a really restless night. I had borrowed a friends Glock 9mm which provided me with a nice false sense of security.

The sunrise in this place was what I had dreamt it might be.

I was behind scheduled miles, but I traveled slowly and filmed hoar frost melting on grass, steam off the river and the locals.

In talking with a park ranger I found out the road to Old Faithful was closed. The road north to Mammoth was pretty melted out and so my plans were changed. 

Made it into the Madison Junction by mid day and just spent the afternoon melting in the hot springs.

Not a bad spot to watch the sunset.

That night was really clear and very cold. Since I was at a dead end I decided to head back out the next morning.

14 miles back to the car.

Short but sweet trip and I was able to gather some good beta on returning next year for a longer period of time, hopefully with better conditions for traveling. 

I shot some vid and I’ll try to put it together for the web this week. 

The price you pay for brand new rental boots that haven’t been broken in.