Ski Guides – Page 3 – Sun Valley Trekking

Exploring the Sawtooth

Bench Hut, Fishhook Yurts, Huts and Yurts Comments Off

Mar 212015

Brent admiring tracks

SVT guides, JP Preuss and Toby Citret, are just returning from 5 days in the Sawtooth traversing from Bench to Fishhook Huts. The trip began in far from ideal conditions with warm temps and rain to 10,000′. These weather conditions are almost unprecedented for this time of year! Fortunately, the weather turned colder and new snow fell, allowing the group to explore some of the amazing terrain that make up the heart of this spectacular range.

5th Lake group shot

Bench Lakes from 5th saddle

JP 5th Lake Saddle

Kye Monolith side valley

Silouette 5th lake Saddle

Skinning & tracks

Summiting the Hunk

Tracks on Silver Saddle

Willy skiing

Another Amazing week in the Sun Valley Backcountry!

Daily Powder Tours Comments Off

Feb 152015

Floating on wings of angels

What a week it has been in the backcountry north of Sun Valley! Last weekend’s maritime-like storms created a beautiful fresh coat of snow across our mountains and a few days of cold/clear nights brought on the surface faceting to create silky and fast north powder. Enjoy the shots from SVT guide, Joe St.Onge, and his various days out this week enjoying our amazing backyard.

The Sirens of Snow

north Pow

Teri Stylie

Ellen style

Skiing as art

The Band

Skinning above the Salmon Headwaters

beauty

Mats, from Grand Slam to Powder Slam

Easy slider

Group Therapy

yehaw

Valentine skin

Fields of untracked powder

yes

John, cranking through the pow

Going Deep into the Sawtooth

Bench Hut, Sawtooth Monolith 1 Response »

Jan 292015

Welcome the heart of the Sawtooth

We have just returned back to the village after a few days exploring deep into the Sawtooth. When local skier/mountaineer (Chris) invited an old childhood friend (Matt) out from New York City to Idaho for a backcountry ski trip, Matt pictured fields of mellow powder and easy hikes. The journey Matt embarked on was something a bit different. Good thing Matt had years of experience in the inner city punk scene…

Beach break at Redfish Lake on the way to Bench Hut

Approaching the Bench Hut

Arriving at the Bench Hut

Early starts mean beautiful sunrises

approaching the land of the Grendel

Climbing above the 5th Bench Lake

atop the 1st pass of the day (a couple more to go!)

beneath the west summit of Heyburn

The first descent of the day into the Monolith Basin

ripping turns down into the Monolith Basin

welcome to the deep Sawtooth

Joe, happy to be back

climbing

gap toothed buddy

granite backdrop

the sneak onto Braxon Peak

now where are we going?

Chris, at home in the mountains

There is a lot of trust here…

rappel into the Bird Cage

Just a couple more steps and then skis on…

and now we are skiers

and now the skiing

Upper Bowl#2

The upper bowl of the Bird Cage

Stoked to be off a rope and on skis!

Chris ripping the Bird Cage

the lower bowl of the Bird Cage

Matt ripping under the Monolith

Niels dropping

Chris keeping strong form

Matt, skiing out under the Monolith after a descent of the Bird Cage

the final traverse back toward home

after 10 hours on the go

Chris in space

beauty

Stretching the legs as the clouds break

Enjoying a sunny beer with a view of our ski tour from Stanley

The mighty Sawtooth rising above the clouds

Powder tours continue!

Daily Powder Tours Comments Off

Jan 232015

Fun

And the beautiful January ski days continue in the backcountry of Sun Valley! We are finding excellent conditions out there. Enjoy these pics from SVT Guide, Joe St.Onge, over the past couple of days.

Ridge skiing in the Salmon River headwaters

Climbing above the Salmon River

Sun and Shadow

Powder #1

Powder#2

BC Skiing is a team sport

The first direct sun of the winter hitting this slope

Pow!

mmmm

Ancient trees

Stoked

Great Week in the Sun Valley Backcountry

Daily Powder Tours Comments Off

Jan 182015

Jack and Elizabeth on the peak

What a week it has been in the backcountry! Its been a couple weeks since our last big storm, but we were able to take advantage of good stability and great weather to ski some big alpine lines with the Jewels Group. When the storms began on Friday, we shifted to the below tree-line terrain to find untracked powder and experience a beautiful frontal passage. Conditions are rapidly changing with the current storm, giving us a welcomed fresh coat of powder, but some serious stability issues. Enjoy the images of the recent adventures in the backcountry!

Storm skiing

Climbing through the frontal passage

Spires and Powder

Dropping in 1

Dropping in 2

Finishing in the sun

Climbing high in the sun

Stoked for the 1st big line

perfect powder, weeks after the last storm

nice…

climbing among the ancient White Barks

The climb back toward home

Smiles in the storm 1

Yurtika 2014

Huts and Yurts, Tornak Hut Comments Off

Jan 012015

Phoebe

It’s become a holiday tradition. Gather the friends from near and far for an annual hut trip deep in the Idaho backcountry. Everyone was obviously good little boys and girls, as Santa delivered the treats with epic powder conditions at the Tornak Hut in the Smoky Mountains.

yahoooo

Mike, feeling the float

fieds of untracked powder

smiling happy people

arriving at the Tornak hut

Stoked for the next line

Tornak at night

what happens at the hut….?

the facility

happy hour

spoonin fun

hard not to smile

freeride

yeah, that’s how it goes!

getting ready for the 1st run

the team

pretty tracks

tea-time

Mike

Ben2

Ben

Hilary

getting ready for the next drop

Barebreasted basin

What goes up

stoked after a nice warm up run

Ben, dropping

The boys, looking for trouble

Phoebes and the warm-up run

the girls on the Mighty Tornak Peak

what a crew

End of day 2, skiing back to the Tornak hut

post Ben.

Hilary and fields of pow

Joe, dropping in

beats a lunch date in the city!

photo bomb

Chris Powder Trail

The Sawtooth Huts are Open and the Skiing is Fantastic!

Bench Hut, Fishhook Yurts, Huts and Yurts, SVT Scene 1 Response »

Dec 082014

We are just returning from the Sawtooth Huts: Bench and Fishhook where we were conducting the annual intern/apprentice training and orientation as well as opening the huts for the season. We found excellent early season coverage and snow depths in the Sawtooth, ranging form 50+cm in the valley bottom to over 190cm in the alpine. The snowpack itself is relatively dense providing a great early season base for both skiing and stability. Both the Sawtooth Huts are in excellent condition heading into the season and the skiing is great (see pics). Bench is booked pretty solid starting around the Christmas holiday, but there are still many free nights available in December and the skiing is on. So if you want to experience the awesome ski terrain and cozy accommodations at Bench, now is the time to sneak in before it is too late!

190cm at 88OO’-top of Surprise!

Winter beauty on the way to Fishhook Yurt

Fishhook Huts look great and are ready for your enjoyment

Heyburn looms above the approach to Bench Hut

Dumping above Bench Hut

Love it when it snows!

The crew above the Gun Barrel

mmmm…..

New intern, James, testing the powder above 3rd lake

Returning apprentice, Alisa, stoked to be back in the Sawtooth

Coverage into the alpine is good, on the way to Yo Yo Ma

A goat in his home

Returning apprentice, Niels, stoked to be high in the Sawtooth

New intern James, discovering the beauty of his new office.

Alisa squeezing the waning light out of the day.

hard to beat…

Full moon rising above the Bench Hut

November Finishes in a Blast of Powder!

Daily Powder Tours Comments Off

Dec 012014

not bad for November!

The change of seasons is a wonderful time. November is often that “odd” month here in the mountains of Central Idaho, where the foliage is gone, its too cold to hike and ride bikes and there is often only spotty snow that does not allow for “real” skiing. November 2014 has proved to be one of those fun Novembers that distinguished itself. Exceptionally cold and snowy weather has left the high country with periodic coats of powder and has provided a number of great ski days in the backcountry and on the Nordic trails. It seems that we are off to good start for the upcoming winter season!

Hansi Twins doing the vadel

Avalanche Peak and the evidence of many happy skiers

easy slider

The alpine has received some high winds and lots of snow transport over the past few weeks

A happy skier!

Powder!

Ahh, that’s what we like!

Keeping an eye on the persistent weak layers

November 14, 2014 faceshots

Devil’s Bedstead Ski

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May 152014

The Devils Bedstead in all its majesty

May showers bring Powder to the high peaks and we were able to experience some of this magic the other day here in the Pioneer Mountains, Idaho. A surprise visit from our old avalanche forecaster, a pro skier and a local doc coincided with Joe returning from the Hawaiian Islands and the Trail creek road having just opened. Recent cold temps and new snow led to great conditions on one of the most iconic ski peaks in Idaho. Thanks to Dylan Crossman for some of the great shots here, enjoy!

Clearing “the bush” on the approach

Trying to get a view through the white-out

Great booting conditions

Climbing in the white-out

Feeling the exposure high on the face

taking it all in

Climbing on the moon on the summit pitch

Nothing like being perched high on an alpine face

Terry topping out on the summit

loving the Coombacks and the view down the ski line

Whoohoo!

Powda!

Can’t beat the conditions

Dylan Crossman showing how its done

the lower face

and back to boots for the walk out, stoked.

May Ski Days-Peaks and Babies

Daily Powder Tours, Guides Day Off 1 Response »

May 092014

SVT Guide, Joe St.Onge, remembers a May ski day on his child’s 2nd birthday:

Patrick Graham approaches the summit of Ryan Peak

It was May, locals had hung up their skis and our busy ski guiding season was coming to a close. It was time to ski for ourselves.

My wife was pregnant with our second child and do to deliver within the week. We had a check-up with our doctor and she said that it did not look imminent. I took that diagnoses as: I could go ski the next day. My wife is a skier and guide and she gets it. She encouraged me to get one last ski in before the snow melted and another baby entered our lives.

It was a last minute tour plan. I wanted to ski something “new”. Ryan Peak is the tallest in the Boulder Mountains of Central Idaho. It’s been skied, but not regularly as the approach is big. I had a concept that it could be approached from the “other side” and had found out that the dirt road that crosses a high pass had just been plowed, allowing access to the “other side”. A quick call to two of our guides and the plan was hatched for the next morning, early. Conditions were perfect spring corn: firm for the climb and silky for the decent. The approach was fast and fluid. We followed wolf tracks up the remote canyon and later heard the howls from a den echo while on the peak. We spied amazing future lines, one of which we skied later in the week when the doctor said it may be a couple more days before the baby came. It was awesome.

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