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.
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
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 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
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!
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!
Two 20′ Pacific Yurts connected by a covered “breezeway”
The tools and the power, thanks to Goal Zero!
Laying out the 1st yurt deck
Trudy laying the glass
Thanks Nigel and Will!
The bros building a redwood outhouse
Atlas did not shrug
and now we do it again…
A big THANKS to Jesse and Paris
project largely powered by Coors and Fords
Birthday boy, Joe feeling a bit older
Pato, the man, the duck, the legend.
Pato hunting for the next cut
Jesse and JP laying it out
Circular and level
the 1st night at Coyote was fitting to have a big blaze
Sean, zen and the art of yurt.
The master enjoying the 1st meal at the beautiful table.
The kitchem
Nice
The breezeway
mountain guide, builder, pinch hitter and stud.
Thank You Bozo for building a beautiful Sauna!
The kitchen yurt is a spectacular place to be, the window views are awesome!
The new sleeping yurt sleeps as many as 16!
The yurts fit nicely in the landscape
The final product
On August 20th, the Beaver Creek wild fire consumed the Coyote Yurts. This massive wild fire began as a lightening strike on August 7th in a remote drainage on the south west corner of the Smokey Mountains. Over a period of a couple weeks, the Beaver Creek Fire grew and spread to cover over 100,000 acres and directly threatened the town of Hailey on the southern boundary and burned much of Baker Creek on it’s northern edge. The fire basically ringed the outer boundary of the Castle Rock Fire of 2007.
When the fire spread into the East Fork of Baker Creek there was a valiant fire fighting effort to protect both Coyote and Tornak Huts, but despite these efforts Coyote Yurts were completely destroyed. While the fire came relatively close to Tornak Hut, this beloved hut was fortunately spared. In fact, much of the area around Tornak show no sign of fire and is generally as beautiful as it always is. Passing Tornak and entering the top of the East Fork drainage, there is significant signs of fire and much of the north facing timber in this drainage burned hot. The good news is that these burned timber slopes have opened up some amazing new ski lines, some of which are long (1500’+), due north and fall line. For those planning on skiing here this winter, start thinking of run names, because we will have a lot of great new lines to ski and name!
We are rebuilding the Coyote Yurts! We have been working non-stop since we got news of the loss of the yurts to plan, gather materials and start the rebuild. Our goal is to have the new yurts up and ready for the 1st winter snows. Typically, these snow can begin in late October in this zone, so we have limited time to do a lot of work. We have already been on site to clean up the burned debris, take away dangerous trees and recut the 5 cords of winter fire wood (and build a new wood shed). We have built beautiful new bunks, couches and are working on a custom kitchen and large dining table made of rough sawn pine boards. We will build a sauna in town and transport it on site. We have received one slightly used Yurt and have another new one arriving next week. We will be building the decks and yurts the 1st couple weeks of October on site. The end result should be a beautiful array of two yurts connected by a covered deck. We are moving the yurt site a little bit to get it off of the burned ground and let it come back. The views will be stunning from the new yurts and the area in front of the yurts and on the point is unaffected by the fire and is as phenomenally beautiful as it always was.
This is a fairly monumental effort that we are engaged in. We are dedicated to have this well-loved hut back in the hands of the backcountry community for this upcoming winter and future years. But we could use some help! We have set up an “Indiegogo Campaign” to facilitate those that are interested in helping financially. Please check it out and pass this link along to those that may be interested. We are also looking for help in the field with the building. We are planning on building on site October 3-8th and could use some extra hands, especially those with carpentry experience. Please email us if you are interested: info@svtrek.com  And you can also help by booking some nights at the new Coyote Yurts for this upcoming winter or summer and enjoying a awesome new hut with superb skiing and biking!
Thanks to you all for being such a supportive backcountry community!
Joe surveying the damage….
What used to be Coyote Yurts
the old yurts
The Point in front of the Yurts is basically untouched by the fire and will be the focal point of the new Yurts
looking back at the yurts from the fire pit on the point
looking up to the headwaters of Baker Creek
The new burn skiing on Little Round Top, next to Coyote Yurts!
What was left of the kitchen yurt
New growth beginning!
Building the new wood shed, Job # 1
.Looking forward.
5 cords cut and a new wood shed done (again…)
Taking out problem trees.
The debris from the burned Yurts and sauna
An example of the top of the East Fork of Baker
Cleaning up the burnt yurts was Dirty Work
Long dirty days make cold beer taste really good.
Ahhh, the new hut at Fishhook is closing in on completion. We are just returning from a few days in the Sawtooth, dodging thunder and lightning storms while working to complete the latest addition to backcountry lodging deep in the beautiful mountains of Central Idaho. Every piece of wood in the new hut (except the door) came from within a 100 yards of the site. Chainsaw carpentry at work. The new hut is a wall tent design, similar to the Bench Hut but 1/2 the size. This hut creates a spacious but cozy layout for gathering a large group to cook, eat and enjoy the views from the 20′ long window gazing up at the highest peaks in the Sawtooth. We kept the old yurt, changing the orientation, giving it some much needed love and turning it into a cozy sleeping hut. We look forward to many a stoked skier gliding into these huts in the coming season!
We are just back from completing the first phase of a Fishhook Hut renovation. The goal is to give the 33 year old hut a long awaited facelift and create a cozy new cooking, eating and gathering area with a view. The end result will be a new hut (based on the design of the recently built Bench Hut, but 1/2 the size) connected to the renovated old yurt that will become a sleeping hut with bunk space for 12. The old wall tent will be dismantled. As of the end of last week, we completed the framing of the new hut and it looks awesome! The new hut is built with 100% beetle killed lodge pole pine from within a 100 yards of the site. The entire project has been powered by human muscle, chainsaws and goal zero solar power: backcountry carpentry at its best! There was even a sighting of the Grendel…
The St.Onge family and SVT new recruit, Trudy, are just back from setting up the Coyote Yurts for the summer. Beautiful wildflowers abound, the trails are in great shape and the yurts are looking fantastic!
