Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Frazier Basin Backcountry Skiing w/ Video

Hi all,

We were up in the Frazier Basin area again last weekend backcountry skiing. I had a few friends down from Missoula... the type of people who make any day skiing a great day, even with bad snow. The avalanche danger was significant as indicated by the Gallatin Avalanche Center. We also dug a few snow pits and our test gave us cause for concern. We ended up skiing a couple of tame slopes. Two of the guys managed to break their poles during falls on the variable snow pack. Someone once said, “ski equipment is highly expensive disposable goods, get used to it”… when I was lamenting about a core shot in my new skis earlier this season.

In Frazier Lake Basin itself, we had noticed an avalanche crow from the trail head miles away. We decided to check it out by breaking trail up to the saddle dividing Frazier from the basin to the north that we had been skiing. The avalanche was huge, by far the biggest I had ever seen. The debris field bottomed out our probes and there downed trees all over. You can take a look at the avalanche center website by following the link and clicking on the Youtube video of Frazier: http://www.mtavalanche.com/data/Mar62007.shtml
Below is a video of our debauchery. We’re rating this video PG for language and goofy scenes.

~Sconnie




2 comments:

Megan said...

Well color me envious! Pardon this comment but that video might as well be porn - looks like amazing snow and fun backcountry terrain!

Granted, I'm just a knuckle-draggin snowboarder, but I'm dying to get out in the MT backcountry (have a friend from Bozemand and been out once - hit Bridger Bowl and Big Sky)... Hope you don't mind if I peek at your blog every now and then! I love the photos and stories - inspiring to those of us in less snowy places (although I'm in Santa Cruz, CA, so it's not all bad!)!

PfinBilly said...

Hey M,

If you get the chance, you need to get out here. The backcountry loves knuckle draggers and two plankers alike. Thanks for the comment, and keep us posted on your antics. Read as often as you can and spread the word!

Sconnie