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BC Skiing and Subarus

May 22 2012, 23:13 Posted in SubaruOutdoors | 0 comments , 248 views
Browse by Category: Stupid Fun - Article, Skiing-Alpine,Nordic,BC
Tags: central washington, earl peak, backountry skiing classes, ski touring. subaru outdoor series

Photo: Skinning up Earl Peak working on edging and poling techniques.

Our first instructional backcountry ski outing of 2012 took place recently with a ski up Bean Creek to the Earl Peak environs. Five of us – Drew and Cathy Gaylord, Sherrill and Freeman Keller, and I -- went out for some backcountry instruction intermixed with sweating, scenery spectating, turning, and fun hogging. We worked on navigation, route finding, route selection (for safety and efficiency), snow assessment, and uphill techniques (efficient pole use, uphill turn techniques). On the way down we put a lid on the instruction and just enjoyed turning through good corn snow conditions.
Drew was calling the firm underlying foundation of snow with its inch or two of corn snow on top  “Hero Snow.” I’m not sure I’d go quite that far. The conditions skied well but the skiers present also skied well.

Above: Navigating and route selection. Below: Drew Gaylord enjoying hero snow and hero scenery.


A few of you who attended our backcountry ski classes in late fall and early winter have asked why we didn’t run our outings earlier when most sane people were still skiing -- say in February and March. Besides the obvious reason (incompetence) we were working on sponsorship to help fund current and future programs. To elaborate, we’ve been working with Cascade Subaru and Subaru’s statewide group to develop an on-going ‘Subaru Outdoor Series.’ The cost of running classes and events like these will be partially offset by this funding.

We didn’t have the deal finalized until latish April and, because we wanted to run the ski outings under this new banner, the timeline for running on-the-snow instructional outings go postponed to the very best part of the backcountry ski season – late spring when the snowpack is still deep in the highcountry, days are long, weather is mild, and the avalanche hazard is more predictable.  Many of you have moved onto non-snowy activities, but this is a superb time to explore the mountains with planks on your feet.

Tom Janisch is taking out the next sponsored ski outing this coming Saturday and Sunday (May 26 -27) and will be skiing in the Washington Pass area. Interested skiers can rendezvous and ski with Tom on Saturday only, Sunday only, or both Saturday and Sunday. Tom will car camp in the general Methow/Washington Pass area Saturday night. Contact  him  for the itinerary and to get on board.

Above: Cathy Gaylord starting her turns. Below: Sherrill and Freeman Keller after the final turns.



Photo: To help fund the events and classes we will be running through WenatcheeOutdoors, we've partnered to create the Subaru Outdoor Series. Subaru and adventure sports are a natural coupling -- for example, four of the seven cars we saw at this trailhead were Subaru Outbacks.