Nisqually Ice Cliff

By:  Sam
May 28, 2011



I waited while Aaron, Joel and Josh hiked, then I switched over to ski mode and traversed into the line as they skied down to meet me. The snow was about as perfect as we could have hoped for. There was enough corn to ski confidently, without so much that it was peeling off and sliding.


Aaron and Josh, both guides, led the way into the more serious part of the line. As someone who has never skied with a guide before, I found it somewhat strange to have someone else so eager to handle the decision making. As I grew more comfortable with the situation though, I found that it afforded me more mental energy to commit to the photography.


Aaron, watching Josh and preparing to ski to the next safe zone.


The snow, the views, and the company were all top notch.


Josh led the way through the next series of cracks while the rest of us looked on.


Joel was clearly having a lot of fun…

…while Aaron was all business.


We were getting closer to the bottom, and the question of the day became one of crossing the bergschrund.


The cracks below got a lot bigger as we got closer.


Joel’s smile temporarily faded.

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Read about the author:   Sam

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12 Comments

  1. Peter
    wrote on May 28th, 2011 at 4:31 pm  
  2. chris
    wrote on May 28th, 2011 at 8:35 pm  
    2

    Sweet trip report, looked fun! Scary about your binding though..

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  3. powhounddd
    wrote on May 28th, 2011 at 8:44 pm  
    3

    wow Sam, another outstanding TR from the Land Where Winter Doesn’t (seem to want to) End!

    I have to stop reading these! Makes me jones pretty hard for some gnar.

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  4. icelanticskier
    wrote on May 28th, 2011 at 10:17 pm  
    4

    time for markers? ;)

    awesome report and day well spent!

    congrats!

    rog

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  5. MadPatSki
    wrote on May 28th, 2011 at 11:00 pm  
    5

    Wow…

    Nicely played and scary about the ski.

    Again, wow. Congrats.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  6. justin
    wrote on May 28th, 2011 at 11:57 pm  
  7. Lionel Hutz
    wrote on May 29th, 2011 at 6:17 am  
    7

    Excellent, Excellent work Sam.
    Question re Dynafits…no brakes on them right? Well would it behoove the BC skier to throw a pair of leases on the ski akin to the telemarker steeze?

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  8. Anonymous
    wrote on May 29th, 2011 at 10:03 am  
    8

    The skis do have brakes but they wouldn’t have done much good on a slope that steep. Leashes might be in my future on steep lines

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  9. the powder jew
    wrote on May 29th, 2011 at 7:35 pm  
    9

    fucking gnarly guys…..I am always always so stoked when I see a new trip report from your crew. It makes my low end slack-fest up the auto road tomorrow seem so mediocre. Way to get after it.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  10. B. Melvin
    wrote on May 30th, 2011 at 2:30 pm  
    10

    Great write up Sam. The bent plate is definitely something to think about for all of us that ski on the swap plates.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  11. Ben
    wrote on May 30th, 2011 at 10:11 pm  
    11

    awesome report sam!

    I had a similar dynafit issue earlier this year… I cracked the metal toe piece in a similar way to the one that Lou Dawson posted about earlier this year, and it was basically unskiable. Dynafit was great about getting me a new one quickly though, their warrantee dept is top notch!

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  12. icelanticskier
    wrote on May 31st, 2011 at 9:26 pm  
    12

    fritschi, no fuss, no discussion, no fiddle :)

    rog

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