svtrek

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

BBC Mountain Training in the Pioneers

Expeditions, Huts and Yurts, Pioneer Yurts Comments Off

Jan 202014

Joe St.Onge, Patrick Graham and interns: Niels Meyer and Alisa Mcgowan have just returned from 7 days in the Pioneer Mountains on a winter mountaineering training with a production crew from the BBC. An action packed week focused on learning skills related to avalanche safety, forecasting and rescue as well as backcountry skiing and mountaineering skills. the Pioneer Yurt served as base camp and the team also put in a high camp at 10,500 for a alpine ascent of Hyndman Peak. Conditions included a generally low snowpack and wind affected snow with hazards related to widespread wind slabs. The less then optimal ski conditions were balanced by the phenomenal setting and wonderful crew from the BBC. We look forward to seeing the ambitious and sure to be amazing footage to be produced by this intrepid film crew over the next couple of years!

Climbing above the Pioneer Yurt to the Peanut

Getting ready for a movie night at the Pioneer Yurt

Entering into the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods

Duncan’s Basin

Alpine glow on Cobb

the Team

Stoked after carving turns on the wind buff

finding soft-ish snow in the Hyndman basin

What a place to learn to ski!

and phenomenal light

Spindrift and sunset= mountain magic

ahh, freedom of the hills!

Climbing toward high camp

squeezing the last light out of each day with a ski

The snow kitchen at high camp

High camp beneath among the giants

High camp 2

climbing on Hyndman Peak

The Team high in the mountains!

Weekly Ski Tour Magic!

Daily Powder Tours Comments Off

Jan 172014

Pato, Francie and JP caught up with some of the Sirens and Bros this week to explore some of the goods to be found high on Galena Summit north of Ketchum. Recent snowfall and cold overnight temperature have kept shady slopes soft and deep above 8500′. Our guest could not have asked for more as the sun warmed our faces and the powder soothed our souls! It was all smiles as we linked ridge after ridge on both of these classic Sun Valley Trekking ski tours. To book a trip with one of our expert ski guides, give us a call, and we’ll help you drop in proud!

Know before you go! The Bros all get on the same page with Patrick with a quick orientation before striking out for the day.

Wolf is all smiles after making beautiful turns

Looking good and making turns!

Stoked to be heading back up for more powder!

Divas trekking to find a some great lines.

Up they go, making laps on a gorgeous Sun Valley day!

JP guiding the group into some great terrain for fun turns.

Well deserved beverages and good company

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

A pretty day in the backcountry

Daily Powder Tours Comments Off

Jan 042014

3″ of new snow, high winds, grouse, good partners and remote mountains. Ingredients for a good day in the Idaho backcountry.

Easy slider on the DPS

Grouse snow cave

bc art

Hiding from the wind

Alpine spirits

Figures on a landscape

Last powder turns of 2013!

Daily Powder Tours 1 Response »

Dec 312013

We are closing out 2013 with 53% of average snowfall, which makes finding the awesome ski tours a bit of a challenge. But we are working overtime to find the best snow and most fun tours and would love to share some of our hard work with you! Check out some pics from yesterday to see what we are up to.

Finding the goods when the goods are hard to find.

Following the Sun Dog

Alpine Sculptures

Now that’s what were looking for!

mmmm…

The climb

Soft and beautiful light

ahhhhh…

Camas Prairie inversion creates beautiful light

Mix techniques

yes.

Couloir skiing

Apron powder

Hansi doing the vadel

Happy Hansi

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.