What a special time to be a backcountry skier in Sun Valley. The Christmas rush has passed, the snow pack has settled and stabilized and the sun has come out after weeks of consistent snow. Our guides out out exploring, taking our locals groups to some amazing terrain and enjoying some epic days. Here are some shots from our tour yesterday with the “Jewels”, a fantastic group of local rippers. Enjoy!
ULLR!!!
At the start of every winter season, we celebrate the coming of winter with a BIG fire. Unlike people who love spending their time inside their rooms in the warmth of their furnaces operating constantly with an abundant amount of propane (which can be sourced from kellypropane.com), we prefer to honor the change of the season and the coming days of arcing down mountains on skis by a bonfire. We honor the Norse God Ullr, known as a great skier who would leave trails of stars behind his skis and drink to his health with hopes he will smile upon us. This year we had the annual Ullr fire up at the Boulder Yurts, where we had a giant pile of slash from recent woodcuts. Friends, family and guides came to celebrate the new snow and the joy of the coming ski season. Considering this fire was going to one of the biggest we’ve had so far, and we knew small children and families would be attending, we made sure to get as much information on fire safety and the different extinguishers we’d be able to use to douse the flames. Fire safety is still imperative in the snow!
And an early season it has become. On November 1st, we were riding bikes in the spitting snow and by the 4th, we were floating down fields of powder on skis. The recent storm dropped snow to the valley bottoms but favored the upper elevations in the Smoky and Boulder Mountains with over 20″. This storm snow has settled significantly this week, hopefully creating a good base for our next storm predicted to drop 5-10″ in the next 48hrs.
Hopefully this portends the start of an epic ski season where we can all celebrate with Ullr!
Friends, families, sleds, fire and FUN
November 1st and the start of the storm, perhaps the last mountain ride of the year…
3 days later on November 4th
Ahh, back on skis. Francie breaks trail with a smile.
Fun in the snow with sleds and snow-skates at the Boulder Yurts
The Ullr Fire burning bright
Francie, dropping in to a powder field, November 4th, 2015
Joe, enjoying some early season powder
We LOVE snow!
Joe, stoked to be back on skis
Autumn beauty riding out from Coyote Yurts
Autumn is transition time. It’s a time of long shadows, cold nights and anticipation of the winter to come. It is the time when we at SVT are prepping the 6 backcountry ski huts and prepping our legs and lungs for the ski season ahead. While we cut wood at three huts using trucks, much of the work we are doing at the huts requires access via human power. For us, that typically means riding our bikes. We are blessed with an awesome network of trails in our local mountains that allow us to spin our bikes, often with awkward loads, from hut to hut. The bikes have an added benefit of prepping our bodies for the ski touring season while providing the feeling of “flow” that is so vital to our souls.
SVT owner and guide, Joe St.Onge and partners, are just back from a big day (26 miles and over 7,000′ of riding) yesterday while checking in at Coyote, Tornak and Boulder Yurts. The trails were frozen solid and covered in frost in the morning and melted to “corn dirt” by mid-day. What follows are a collection of pictures from yesterday as well as from the past month of hut projects in the mountains.
Here’s to sucking the marrow from a beautiful autumn in anticipation of an awesome ski season!
Dave, riding up to Coyote Yurts
Endless mountains and trails in the Smokey Mountains near the Coyote and Tornak Huts
What an office we have!
Brian, dirt carving on the scenic way out of Coyote Yurts
The newly relocated Boulder outhouse: with a view of Boulder Peak
Boulder yurts looking ready for the first skiers
The Pioneers above the Pio Yurt in all their glory
Friends help insulate the Pioneer yurt for the coming season
Coyote Yurts, ready for the snow to fly
SVT guides, Joe and Toby, buck up the sauna wood at Boulder Yurts
SVT guide, Niels, braves a awkward load in style on the way to Fishhook Yurts
Retired SVT guide/intern, Brian, finds some air coming into the Coyote Yurts
The crew, biking through Tornak Huts on the way to Coyote Yurts to button up the huts for the snow to fly
SVT guides, JP and Toby, proud of the tight stack at Boulder Yurts
SVT guide/owner, Joe St.Onge, bucking up a big tree at Boulder Yurts
The Newly Weds!
Ah, what a celebration! SVT guide, Jonathan Preuss (JP) married his lovely bride, Michelle, on the Coyote Yurts point at 8700’deep in the Smokey Mountains of Central Idaho. Good friends gathered to embrace the passing hail storms and drink in the beauty and power of the mountains and of LOVE!
if you made it this far…
the team
wildflower yurts
flower girls
building the bower
and the ceremony begins…
yahoo!
Mr. and Mrs Preuss
and the sun came out!!
practice run
The Lei, giving her blessing
what a feast!
whats a camp fire without a marshmellow
and the Pios lit up….
magnificent light on the point
whats a camp fire without a marshmellow
morning coffee
and the ride back to the village…past Fox Peak
retired SVT Intern, Mark, carving down Fox Peak
cruising
and through the woods
over the edge
around the bend
and through the flowers
across from the Boulders
Toby, flying
and back to the valley
What a beautiful place to hike!
It’s late May in the mountains, ski season is over and the hint of summer is in the air. This is the time of year when we check in at all the ski huts to store them for the summer season. It’s a beautiful and quiet time in the mountains, with life springing forth. It’s a great time for SVT owners/guides, Joe and Francie St.Onge, to get out with their young children for fun adventures while taking care of this unique system of backcountry huts. Sometimes those “chores” require firing up the wood fired hot tub to check it’s function…
The girls starting out on the 2 mile hike into the Fishhook Yurt
Neve, cruising
Neve, boulder break
Riding in style
Creek-side trail break
Meadow trail break (strategic and fun stops are key while hiking with young kids!)
Boulder break #2
Crossing the Fishhook Creek can be interesting
The girls, stoked after finding a Sandhill Crane in the meadow
Neve, testing the waters…
mmm.
Ahhh, the Fishhook Hot Tub sure is sweet!
Nothing like a hot tub on cold and rainy evening!
Dinner time!
Smores!!
Silly time!
The Team
Francie, stepping carefully…
It’s been a tradition for over 30 years now, where every April, a few hearty souls embark on an adventure deep in the Sawtooth. Huge loads are packed up to huts that include great food, cold beer, chainsaws and gas. Over 8 cords of wood are cut (4+ at each Bench and Fishhook huts). One by one, we drop the abundant beetle killed pine trees and haul in the logs on shoulders and in sleds while on skis. The piles of logs can be intimidating, but every year we get it all in, bucked up and stacked in preparation for the following season. When the cut is done, the focus turns to skiing. We build the huts, cut the wood and haul the loads because we are skiers, inspired by the magic of the mountains that we live and work in. The Sawtooth smiled upon us this year with perfect conditions for both the cut and the skiing. Some cool new lines were explored, like the “skilunking” adventure in the “Bat Cave”, as well as some true classics in perfect conditions. Enjoy the pics!
Alisa schralping the powder ribs toward the 4th Lake
crossing the 4th Bench Lake
Heading toward the Bat Cave on Mt Heyburn
JP, psyched
Getting ready for some skilunking
JP climbing toward the light to see whats above
Niels finds the passage
JP on the upper couloir, leading toward the Bat Cave
Steep traverse above the cave
Dropping into the cave with a little added security
JP exiting the cave onto the 1000′ powder slope below
Toby, ripping through the cave
take a deep breath and let ’em rip!
Alisa inspired to spread her bat wings
Burning slash after cutting and hauling 5 cords of wood, on skis.
Dinner time at the Fishhook Hut, rustic comfort deep in the Sawtooth
Bluebird. Fresh snow and splitter weather
Approaching the top of Silver Saddle
Toby with the final turns into the Monolith
Toby, stoked after skiing perfect powder on Silver saddle bowl
James, entering the Monolith Valley
Sawtooth Beauty: The Monolith stands proud above this hanging valley, where aesthetic ski lines abound
making the ascent toward Braxon Peak
The Wily Coyote Col
The final steps toward Braxon Peak
James
The heart of the Sawtooth
Making our way from Braxon Peak toward the Birdcage
Aysha, dropping the sneak route into the Birdcage
Bridcage looking pretty sweet.
Joe drops in
Neils, stoked
Toby, stoked
Skiing the final slopes below the Monolith
Alisa mid powder carve
Oh Yeah!
The team working back toward the Silver saddle and the Bench Hut
and more powder brings us back to the 5th Bench Lake and closer to the Bench Hut
ahhh…
quite nice
JP, having fun
Sweet, and its not over!
Chris, slashing some more powder on the way back to the hut
Niels and the afternoon back light
Why is Toby smiling so much?
What we were really doing up at the Sawtooth Huts
It’s ski mountaineering season here in the high peaks of Idaho! SVT guide, Joe St.Onge, and a group of intrepid Montanans are just back from 4 days of peak skiing based out of the Pioneer Yurt. While the snow has been rapidly melting this spring, we are still finding good to excellent ski conditions in the alpine, and the Pioneer Yurt is a great place to visit if you want to go alpine! The approach to the Pioneer Yurt is largely snow free at this point (don’t even think about snowmobile access!), but we can drive to the summer trailhead. Once at the Yurt, conditions are a bit bony for another 800′, but there is reliable coverage and good ski conditions in the alpine basins above. It may not last long, so get it while you can! Enjoy the pics!
Ah, in the high country!
Climbing into the Duncan’s Bowl
Stoked to be at 11,000′
Ripping corn in formation
Bob, laying it out
Cranking the peel-away
Bush Hawk, flying
It’s a bit bony getting into the high country from the yurt
Apprentice guides, Dynamite and Snowflake
Mikey, the man
Mark, loving the mountains
Climbing Goat Peak
The Higher You Get…
Mikey on the summit of Goat
The Heart of the Pioneers
Perfect corn on the summit snow fields
yehaw
soft and carvy
spring fun in the alpine
Scotty, stoked
Climbing back to the yurt
Bob, checking out the 3000′ bowl of Duncans
Couldn’t pass this corn slope up on the way back to the yurt
Climbing toward Hyndamn
The ascent of Hyndman in firm conditions
Approaching the summit of Hyndman
The last steps to the summit
Stoked to be on top of the highest Peak in the Pioneers
Skiing the summit snowfields of Hyndman
Cranking turns down the face of Hyndman
Rest break mid-descent
Snowflake coming down the lower crux
Arcing down the Hyndman Basin back to the Yurt
Climbing toward the Dorsal Fin
The crew, in the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods
Climbing the Dorsal Fin Couloir
Steep
Stoked to be getting high
The final steps at the top of the Dorsal Fin Couloir
Mikey
Lunch with a view
Top of Dorsal Fin
Getting ready for the steeps
Oh, yeah
sweet!
Carvable
Mikey cranking
Hop turns on the steeps
After the couloir, comes the apron
Carving the apron
Cold beer after a great ski
making the descent on snow-ribbons off the Peanut back toward the trailhead
Yep, it’s pretty bony down low.
The last few steps to the car
Training ’em young
It’s Spring Break for the local school kids and what better way to celebrate the changing of the seasons than to ski into a backcountry yurt! The Boulder Yurts are a great choice for families with younger kids as the approach is pretty easy, the sledding and skiing is super accessible and FUN and the yurts provide an amazing venue to get away. This week has seen a bunch of local families heading up to the Boulder Yurts with lots of adventures and fun had! Check out these pics of an overnight with SVT owners/guides (the St.Onge family) and friends. Good times!!
Family train
Break time
Sister love
exploring the shed like a Pine Martin
Donna Julia and family
as one family leaves another arrives, Spring Break at Boulder Yurts
girls exploring cozy nooks
Fun Girl
Beer/milk cave
Spring Break!
Sledding action #1
sledding action #2
Sledding action #3
Sledding action #4
Sledding action #5
Dinner time!
the Lei
Smores!
mmmm…..
Morning light
Story time
Yurt art!
on the way home
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
Judy, carving powder 3 weeks after the last storm
The Men of the North (and one woman) swept down from Montana for another raid into Idaho. The Smokey Mountains and her hidden treasures of faceted powder and corn were looted by this ruthless crew of barbarians. Led by SVT guides: Joe St.Onge, Chris Marshall and Niels Meyer many fun tours and lines (both new and familiar) were explored and skied. Not to worry, there are still some hidden treasures left out there!
Corduroy on the approach
Too many peaks, too little time, I think he may be back…
Good stability ice snack
Judy, dropping into the burn
5,000 vertical and still going strong in the burn
DoctorsPhysicainsSurgeons
Mike carving
up in the sun to the Land of the Lost
Loving the views
Buckley: the man, the myth…
ahhh
Mike laying it out
John DPS style
Mike, surveying the country
Mackay’s first backcountry experience (we think he’s hooked)
Stan, stoked
Mackay: Easy floater
Wolverine stash
Climbing into the sun for some more powder
The Pioneers beckoning
SVT guide, Chris Marshall, leading the way into the next powder stash
oh yeah!
Rus enjoying the pow
king-pow
Lunch at the ridge-top cafe
mmm
Stan, sampling some corn
SVT Guide, Chris, cranking in the corn
Pow blast
Young Niels, taking the tail guide shot
The team on day 4
SVT Guide, Joe St.Onge, letting it rip.