backcountry huts – Page 5 – Sun Valley Trekking

Burnin’ Fun at the new Coyote Yurts!

Coyote Yurts, Huts and Yurts, Uncategorized 2 Responses »

Mar 142014

The team on day 1 approach to Coyote

Wow, what a great 3 days of spring skiing at the new Coyote Yurts! Bob and Kate (from our local backcountry ski shop: the Elephant’s Perch) joined our Canadian friends, Bernard and Sheri, for an action packed 3 days exploring the new burn skiing around Coyote with Joe. Splitter blue sky days made for an amazing backdrop of peaks, powder, corn and shadow lined burn skiing. We barely scratched the surface of the new north facing burned timber skiing possible and we skied a lot!

Oh yeah, the new Yurts are awesome too!

The 1st exploratory burn turns on the approach

yep, Bob thinks it skis pretty good!

almost to the yurt on day 1

nothing like good corn snow to make you smile

ahhh, the big south slopes of Little Round Top on the approach to Coyote are sweet

and a bit of corn on the souths

evening glow lighting up the ski tracks, a great view at the end of a fun day

Day 2 heading out from the yurt

shadow skin

there’s a lot of new burn skiing out there

Sheri enjoying the burnin’ powder

wow

yes

coming home after a long day of FUN skiing

Day 3

the view from Coyote Yurts is pretty sweet

what goes up…

…must come down

1200′ north facing burn lines out the door of the Yurt

yep, Bob likes it

just open enough

yeoman’s duty, Niels and Alisa carrying BIG packs on the way out

cranking corn turns on the exit from Coyote

pretty much sums it up!

Fat Bikes at Tornak Hut!

Huts and Yurts, Mountain Biking, Tornak Hut Comments Off

Feb 262014

Last month we ran the 1st ever backcountry snow-bike hut trip to Tornak Hut. The low early season snow left many us searching for the powder stashes and scraping by, cracking the occasional joke about running snow bike trips instead of ski trips. That’s when serendipity hit and an old friend and one time guide with SVT suggested a fat bike hut trip for an upcoming article he was writing for the New York Times. Why not? We kept the plan was loose, made sure the participants were strong and unfortunately waited 3 days too long, biking in after 8″ of fresh Idaho powder fell. The biking conditions were perfect before the new snow, but good times were had even if the uphill biking was a bit tough with the fresh powder. This trip showed us that Fat Bike trips to the huts is both possible and FUN. So for those of you more inclined to pedal than skin: this is another great way to have an adventure in the Idaho backcountry!

You can check out the NYT article here:

Ahh, spinning on the way to Tornak

Taking a break and releasing some tire pressure for the deep snow

Yep, its deep off the trail

Some spots were a bit soft, but spirits were not!

The final downhill to Tornak Hut

Unloading gear, from bike to hut

the cozy hut life

and cold beer was earned

flowing the 9 mile down hill

cruising

From Famine to Feast, Ullr has come!

Daily Powder Tours, Huts and Yurts, Uncategorized Comments Off

Feb 232014

Wow. What a past 3 weeks it has been! Our mountains have received snow for 22 of the past 26 days. The snow totals are impressive, with the Sawtooth having received approximately 7′ over this period and the other mountains in our area receiving over 4-5′!

The relatively dry early winter left us craving deep powder, but also left us knowing that when/if it came we would be facing a difficult avalanche problem. This is currently our situation: We have very tricky and dangerous avalanche conditions in the backcountry which has the potential to linger for a long time. The plethora of new snow has fallen on a highly variable and extremely weak early season snow pack. This is a relatively unique stability scenario that should be treated with respect and caution. We are seeing many avalanches on most aspects and elevations and starting on relatively low slope angles. We are also seeing large avalanches triggered remotely from afar and running long distances. Skiers should be acutely aware of keeping slope angles less than 30 degrees and to stay away from run out zones (both large and small). This is a great time to hire a professional guide who is acutely aware of the current stability issues and well trained and experienced with navigating out of avalanche terrain. We are finding excellent ski conditions on safe terrain (see pics below)!

The skiing has been phenomenal. We have been too busy skiing the deep powder over the past few weeks to keep up on the blog posts, so we are posting a series of photos from the various mountain ranges, huts and tours we have been guiding over the past few weeks. Enjoy!

YES!

Powder Flight on the pass

Skinning the Cross

yehaw!

Skiing the gentle powder

SVT Guide Joe St.Onge Kung POW

SVT guide, Chris Marshall, getting face-shots on the pass!

ahh, the beauty!

Skinning in the Pios

Powder on the Peanut above the Pioneer Yurt

Skinning above the Pioneer Yurt

Sirens of Snow traversing Galena Summit

A buried Bench Hut is a beautiful sight!

Deep powder above Bench Hut

Easy sliding in the deep powder

A cozy Bench Hut after a day of deep powder skiing

FUN!

Loving the low angle Powder!

Powder is clinically proven to make you smile!

Daily Powder Tours Comments Off

Feb 022014

With the recent storm dropping 10” of light density powder and little wind, the skiing was amazing the past few days. The cold morning temperatures left SVT guide, JP, and Bernard with empty bowls and pristine ridge-lines to lay down some beautiful tracks.

Powder Day in Central Idaho!

Daily Powder Tours Comments Off

Jan 312014

We live in a beautiful world!

Wednesday’s storm brought 10-20″ of fresh powder to the mountains of Central Idaho. With storms few and far between this season, the fresh snow brought big grins to all (skiers and farmers alike). Stability varies with the new storm and sensitive wind slabs can be found in exposed areas. Check the local advisory for the details: sawtoothavalanche.com and enjoy!

A pleasure to break trail in fresh snow

Fresh snow taking some heat on the solars

Heli-Guide day off, Pat carving the alpine

Fresh+ powder + big peaks + a little sunshine= smiles

Skiing above the Boulder Yurts today

Boulder Yurts, Daily Powder Tours, Guides Day Off, Huts and Yurts Comments Off

Jan 052014

SVT guides Joe St.Onge and Chris Marshall went for a recon tour above the Boulder Yurts today to check conditions for future tours. Good ski conditions were found above 9000′ and some stability issues including: new wind slabs (30cm deep) which were producing easy failures and planar shears in isolated areas as well as triggering a fairly large loose snow/sluff avalanche in the deep facets in steep terrain. Have fun and heads up out there!

Yes!

Boulder Mountains

Skinning Light

Alpine Smokies

Skis pretty good!

Fall-line facets

Skiing among the ancient White Barks

D2 avalanche triggered in the full depth facets, ran fast.

Chasing shadows

Coyote Yurt Winter Solstice Ski

Coyote Yurts, Huts and Yurts, Tornak Hut Comments Off

Dec 232013

SVT guides: Joe and Ed just returned from a quick trip into the East Fork of Baker Creek to check conditions around Tornak and Coyote Yurts. Despite a thin snowpack, they found soft powder conditions and endless new ski lines in the Beaver Creek fire.

Thin snow powder skiing

New Burn lines on Fox Peak

New eyes as Ed scopes all the new burn skiing in familiar terrain

Lots of beautiful new ski lines around Coyote

Dropping in to a new line

Skiing among the ghosts

Beaver Creek Fire

Cold Powder at the Sawtooth Huts!

Bench Hut, Fishhook Yurts, Huts and Yurts Comments Off

Dec 062013

We are just back from the Sawtooth where SVT guides: Joe, Pato, Chris, Ed, Toby and new Interns: Trudy, Alisa and Niels braved the extreme cold temps (-22f) and fresh powder to prep the huts for the winter season. We found 16+” of new storm snow and close to 3′ of total snow at Bench Hut and some great (if cold) ski conditions. The pictures below should give you a good idea for what it is like out there right now. The ski trails are in and the powder awaits you! Give us a call if you want to get out and enjoy this beautiful early December.

The crew, getting the huts ready under -22f temps

The crew, getting the Fishhook Hut ready under -22f temps

Heading into the Teeth!

Pato hard at work cutting over 30 trees that blocked the trail

Ahh, the cozy new Fishhook Hut at -22f

Warm and cozy, the 1st winter night in the new hut

My new favorite bunk in the mountains!

The trees were popping with the cold temps

As beautiful as ever

Touring through the old growth

Approaching Bench Hut

Redfish Lake still ice free…

Toby doing what an intern does.

Action

Ski time

Lots of fresh snow!

Ed laying into the powder

Chris, styling

Cold Smoke

Toby hard at work

Alisa testing Idaho powder

Pato, treetop flying

The Huts are Ready for a BIG WINTER

Huts and Yurts, SVT Scene Comments Off

Nov 192013

We’ve been busy traveling to the different Huts and Yurts to get everything ready for a BIG winter and for you! Below are some images from the past week at the Pioneer Yurt and Coyote Yurts.

The New Coyote yurts!

Aspens and Snow welcome to Autumn!

Moon-rise above the Pioneer Yurt

Dumping at Coyote!

Coyote Yurts Resurrected!

Coyote - Summer, Coyote Yurts, Huts and Yurts 9 Responses »

Oct 162013

Rising from the flames, the new Coyote Yurts!

We Did It!! Less than two months after the Beaver Creek Fire incinerated the Coyote Yurts, we have built a beautiful new Coyote. Two yurts connected by a covered breezeway, new sauna and outhouse are ready for backcountry travelers.

Just in time for the snow

This situation was extreme. There was the worry and anticipation of a major wild fire burning around three of our huts. The confirmation that Coyote was gone was rough. On our first visit to where the yurts were, the fire was still burning and the shock of the impact of the fire on a place we know and love was heavy. But it was the recognition that it is all OK. These mountains and forest depend on fire. We can rebuild, the skiing will be phenomenal and the burned forest will bloom again soon. It will just take hard work, some money and time.

In a two week push and cold snowy weather broken by spectacular blue sky days we built the new Coyote yurts. This effort truly took a village to realize, and THANK YOU to all who helped!

The new Coyote is a unique and beautiful hut and we hope it is enjoyed by many in the years to come!