Arizona touring pics

sick line! hope that spring continues to deliver pow and steeps for us to enjoy here. Usually March is the snowiest month for the NE, but the last three years have all been super dry deep into the spring. Really hope that this won't be the case this year, but no big storms yet.

Nice & exposed!  You sure don't want to wander too far left...

Seriously. Awesome.  Did you get any video?

nepa wrote

Seriously. Awesome.  Did you get any video?

Thanks. Ya but it's a little boring. It was mostly slow going trying to pick our way through there. It was more complicated than I thought it would be. Now that I have done it once I will try to get back on it again and get some more fluid footage.

raisingarizona wrote

nepa wrote

Seriously. Awesome.  Did you get any video?

Thanks. Ya but it's a little boring. It was mostly slow going trying to pick our way through there. It was more complicated than I thought it would be. Now that I have done it once I will try to get back on it again and get some more fluid footage.

What's the approach like to get up on to that ridge?    Roughly where are you on the map?


The terrain you've posted in the pics and video looks amazing. I've driven through the area a few times.  From afar... it looks big, but I had no idea what it actually held.  Stay safe!  That shit looks risky.  

The ski area and what you see from town is on the outside slopes of the old volcano. This mountain is believed to have stood around 16-17 thousand feet tall. It blew it's top off a few hundred thousand years ago towards the north and then went through three separate glacial periods leaving us with the Inner Basin on the inside of the outer slopes. Core Ridge is what looks like a small ridge right down the middle of the IB. The shots aren't super long but there are many technical steep shots.

The approaches are long and difficult, I often say nothing comes easy on the Peaks and it doesn't. The alpine is often slammed with ridiculous winds, loading some slopes and scouring others. We often travel over rock, rime, and ice for the majority of the day to ski just two or three lines and it's often with variable snow. But.....we love it! most of the time.

Most people that tell me they want to go bc skiing with us make it out once and never ask again. It's a curse and a blessing I suppose. We hardly ever see anyone else skiing out there. It's like having your own private mountain.

The ski area is a great little mountain but after living in Jackson Hole, Alta, Telluride, and other locations it doesn't keep me very entertained for long. For me the aspect about skiing here that really shines is the touring options.  

I'll post up some more pics soon.