Ries Recreation

 

 

From:  agrimstad@monmouth.com

Subject:  belated trip report

PostedDate:  08/09/98 04:30:40 PM

SendTo:  Kurt Ries

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Hi, Kurt. Dick Hall just posted the first version of the 98-99 NATO

schedule to rec.ski.backcountry and it got me thinking. Note the new

e-mail address. I "retired" from AT&T at the end of July. Unfortunately,

I still need to work for another decade or so. I start with Lucent

tomorrow. But the real news is that I'm moving (eventually, certainly

by ski season) to Concord, MA. That means every winter weekend in the

Whites instead of the Daks. However, I may be closer to the Daks in

Concord than I was in Jersey, so I may hop over there from time to

time too. It'll be hard, what with having to ignore Vermont and all!

 

I don't think I gave you a report on the Denali trip. It was quite

a trip. I signed up for the workshop at Hatcher Pass a few days before

Denali. This was canceled, so I ended up skiing alone for two days

there. It was REAL snow. Continental, unconsolidated snow that was

melting at midday. Being unconsolidated, that means that it tends to

just collapse under you. In the morning it was more akin to ice

skating. And talk about avalanches! Everywhere in the surrounding hills

there were small avalanches.

 

The first day of the Denali trip was a backcountry tour at a place

south of Anchorage called Turnagain Pass. This was probably the best

ski day of my life. Fabulous blue skies, consolidated snow and a view

of the Chugach Mountains to die for. We toured up to high pass and

then skied back. The windpack at the pass was really challenging, but

a bit lower the surface was very forgiving corn. Lovely.

 

The next day we flew into the Ruth Glacier. It was so nice that I was

stripped to the waist as I dug a shelter for my tent. And the snow was

perfect, untracked powder. I was planning on getting pretty good at

skiing deep powder. The second day was great too. Then the shit hit

the fan. Blizzard! We had three days of whiteout and huge winds. After

the first day, I'd just ski back and forth between the hut and the

furthest tents, just to get some exercise. The afternoon of the fourth

day of the storm there was a break. We all skied down to the runway

(slowly as the snow was now five feet of new powder) and spend the

rest of the day packing. Before it was over we all got real good at

packing.  The next morning three planes landed. One empty, one with

some supplies and one with a couple that were to take over our

hut. The first plane got out but the next one (and I was in it!) lost

control on take off and plowed into the deep snow. By the time we got

the plane back to the top of the runway the weather had closed and the

second blizzard hit. Another three days of snow, although not quite as

heavy and constant as the first and nowhere near as much wind. No

planes could get in or out. The two stranded pilots weren't exactly

thrilled. And we would have run short of food except for the supplies

one of the planes brought in. After another couple of days of runway

packing we eventually got out. After the initial day and a half of

powder skiing, I really only had about another day total of real

skiing. But it was HARD. It took forever to get up a hill given the

deep powder; and coming down required far more powder expertise than

I've yet acquired. Better luck next year!

 

Here's Dick's new schedule. -- al

 

 

 

NORTH AMERICAN TELEMARK ORGANIZATION    1998-99  Schedule of Events   (to

date)

 

November    14    Telemark

Primer                        Sunday River, Bethel, ME

            15    Telemark

Primer                        Sugarbush North, Warren, VT

            21-22 Telemark Instructor Training

Course      Wildcat, Pinkham Notch, NH

            28-29 Telemark

Workshop                Wildcat, Pinkham Notch, NH

 

December    5-6   Telemark Workshop             Mt

Tremblant, PQ, Canada

            5-6   Telemark

Workshop                Bromley Ski Area, Bromley, VT

            12-13 Telemark Instructor Training

Course      Mad River Glen, Fayston, VT

            12    Telemark

Primer                        Black Mtn Ski Area, Jackson, NH

            18    Telemark Instructor Training

Course      Hyland Hills, Bloomington, MN

            19-20 Telemark

Workshop                Hyland Hills Ski Area, Bloomington, MN

            19    Telemark  Primer              Bromley

Ski Area, Peru, VT

            20    Telemark

Primer                        Mad River Glen, Fayston, VT

            26-27 Telemark

Workshop                Butternut, Great Barrington, MA

            26    Womens Telemark

Primer                  Mad River Glen, Fayston, VT

 

January           1     Telemark Instructor Training

Course      Whiteface, Wilmington, NY

            2-3   Telemark Workshop             ADK

Loj, Lake Placid, Whiteface, Wilmington,NY

            9-10  Womens

Workshop                      Mad River Glen, Waitsfield, VT

            9     Telemark

Primer                        Jay Peak, Jay VT

            16-17 Telemark Workshop             Mad

River Glen /Camels Hump,Waitsfield, VT

            20    Telemark Workshop             Blue

Mtn PA

            22    Masters

Clinic                        Whitegrass / Timberline, Canaan

Valley, WV

            23-24 Telemark Workshop     

            Whitegrass / Timberline, Canaan Valley, WV

            23-24 Telemark

Workshop                Black Mtn / Mt Washington, NH

            30    Telemark

Primer                        Belleayre Mt., Highmount, NY

            31    Telemark

Primer                        Wachusett Mtn Resort, Princeton, MA

 

February    3-4-5 NH Telemark

Adventure               Presidential Range, NH

            6-7   Telemark

Workshop                Wildcat, Tuckerman Ravine, Mt Washington NH

            13-14-15 Vt. Telemark Adventure                 Mt

Mansfield, Camels Hump, Hunger Mt, VT

            20-21 Radical Terrain

Clinic                  Mad River Glen - Camels Hump, Fayston, VT

            19-20-21 W.V. Telemark Adventure

Tour        Whitegrass STC / Dolly Sods, Canaan Valley WV

            20-21 Telemark

Workshop                Black Mtn Ski Area, Mt Washington, NH

            20-21 Vt. Telemark

Adventure               Mt Mansfield, Camels Hump VT

            21    Telemark

Primer                        Campgaw Ski Area, Mahwah, NJ

            27-28 Telemark

Workshop                Bromley Ski Area, Bromley, VT

            26-27-28 Telemark Camp                    Mt.

Mansfield, Stowe, VT

 

March       6-7   24th Annual NATO Telemark

Festival    Mad River Glen, Fayston VT

            13-14 Vt. Telemark Adventure

Tour        Mt. Mansfield, Camels Hump, Hunger Mtn, VT

            13-14 Maine Telemark Adventure

Tour        Bethel, ME

            20-21 Telemark Workshop             Mad

River Glen - Camels Hump, VT

            26-27-28 Telemark

Camp                    Camels Hump, Huntington, VT

            26-27-28 Telemark Camp                    Gulf

of Slides, Mt Washington, NH

 

April       9-10-11     Telemark

Camp                    Mt Marcy, High Peaks Region

Adirondacks, NY

            16-17-18 Advanced Telemark

Camp              Gulf of Slides and beyond, Mt Washington, NH

            24-29 Telemark Camp    

                  Ruth Glacier, Denali, Alaska

 

June        5-6   Telemark

Workshop                North Cascades, WA

            8-12  Summer Telemark

Camp              North Cascades, WA

 

 

 

For more information on these and other nato events and our 1999 brochure

contact:

 

 

North American Telemark Organziation

PO Box 44 Waitsfield Vermont 05673

 

phone: 1-800-835-3404      fax: 1-802-496-5515  email:

telenato@aol.com

 

Nato web page         http://planet.syr.edu/telemark/

 

 

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