Lake Tahoe Ice Caves

Last week my good buddies Greg Lindsey, George Hjelte, Cody Townsend, and Myself went out on a little mission to find the hidden Ice Caves of North Lake Tahoe. Greg had been showed them last summer & was our navigator for the afternoon. The rest of us had never been up to the caves before. Explaining how to get to these caves would not be possible. Greg our fearless leader had plenty of trouble finding them even after he had been to the caves several times before. So, anybody who reads this post and has the desire to explore the mysterious ice caves of Lake Tahoe, I would highly recommend finding somebody who has been to them before to show you the way.

As you can see from the pictures below these caves are a bit intimidating. Basically you crawl your way down narrow dark canals of slippery cold rock. We probably crawled our way down 150ft - 200ft of ice cave. I would not recommend this adventure to anybody who is slightly claustrophobic. We explored 3 or 4 different labyrinth style rooms carved out in the earth. We stumbled across another entrance to what seemed to be fairly unexplored territory. Unfortunately, we were running short on time due to the fact the several of us had to make it to work on time. We had a blast & I'm looking forward to heading back to the caves for some more exciting exploration.


Cody getting ready to take the plunge!


Getting cold & scary!


One of the Labyrinth style room carved out in the Caves. Notice the ice formed all over the rock walls.


An extended exposure deep in the cavity of the ice caves.


Our leader Greg Lindsey exiting the Ice Caves.

DECEMBER WINTER STORM CYCLE IN TAHOE

ROUND TOP MOUNTAIN

(Cody Townsend Skins up toward Round Top Mountain)

(JT Holmes Portrait)

(Early Season Black & White of Winnemucca Lake & Surrounding Mountains)

(Black & White Tree Carson Pass)

WINTER COMING IN HOT!

(Ullr & Koyuh Charging The Resort at Squaw Creek Golf Course)

(Window View Early Morning Pow)

(Rad Dog Powder Morning Line Up)

(Linker & Messing Red Dog Chair Lift Ride)

(Black & White Broken Arrow View)

(Gregger With Some Familiar Face In The Background)

(Jeff Wright Extra Bitch-en Pow Turn)

(Nate All Smiles After His First Pow Day at Squaw)

(Late Afternoon Skin)

(Early Evening Descent)

(Hopefully the Storms Keep Coming)

POWDER MAGAZINE NAKED SPREAD EAGLE PHOTO

My first published photo in POWDER magazine. Even though it's of a naked man spreading his legs on skis. I couldn't be more proud & psyched! Check out the last page in the December issue of POWDER.

GREG LINDSEY SHREDS FULLY CHUBBED!

Greg Lindsey is another one of my favorite people to ski with. Gregger quietly assassinates Squallywood's terrain on a regular basis. Born and raised in Tahoe, Greg is a true California kid. You can count on Greg winning the race to fingers on a powder day even if he's 4 chairs back from the front.

(Greg sending waterfall on an early Silverado morning)

A go to route for Greg to win the fingers race goes a little something like this. A hard skate off the chair, from the patrol shack a straight line traverse to coleman's railroad. With no hesitation, he'll punch Coleman's railroad. Done right this gives you a straight shot to the start tree and generally gives you more than enough speed to pass several, if not all the skiers that got a head start on you. From here you can bet on Greg either going directly for main air or maybe the box chute. Either way it's almost a guarantee that he'll flash his line and stomp it clean. Once he arrives back at KT line Gregger will give you one of his classic lines. Most likely, he'll look at you stoked as can be an say "fully chubbed bro, fully chubbed".

Greg is easily one of the best skiers at Squaw today. He's another one of the many silent assassins that shreds Squaw for nothing more than the thrill and stoke of all the greatness Squaw Valley USA has to offer. He grew up skiing with Cody Townsend, George Hjelte, & Kyle O'neal. These guys know Squaw like the back of their hands. Growing up chasing around Shane McConkey, JT Holmes, Kent Kreitler, Scott Gaffney, & Robb Gaffney teaches you how to shred.

So if your ever out at Squaw look for Greg. He's hard to miss, as an official member of team tie die you might find him wearing his tie die hoody. He also likes to sport the purple people eater Salomon one piece. Whatever attire you find him in let him know if your having a good day. And if you are, make sure you let him know that your "fully chubbed". He'll be psyched.

(Dawn Patrol back side of Squaw. Check out munchkins in the background)

(Punching the Lounge Chair pioneered and named by Greg Lindsey)

(Surfing Pow on an epic powder morning)

(One of the cleanest 35 ft 360's off a cliff you'll ever see. Stomped the shit out of it)

Northern California's Mystical Lost Coast

(Koyuh hanging out on just another piece of driftwood scattered all across the lost coast)

The Lost Coast, a 35 mile stretch of coastline tucked away on the rugged Northern California Coast is truly an amazing treasure.  This past spring my girlfriend Kate & I got another chance to explore this mystical forgotten stretch of coast.  Our first trip to the Lost Coast we backpacked the southern section of the coast from Shelter Cove to Big Flat.  This trip we hiked the northern section of the Coast from Mattole to Spanish flat.

(Kate sitting with our dogs Koyuh & Ullr in a patch of abundant wildflowers)

Hiking around the lost coast is always exciting.  You can never stop taking in how preserved, lush, & prehistoric this place is.  It's the only place I have ever been to, where seeing a dinosaur wouldn't be surprising.  Both of our trips to the lost coast have occurred in the mid - late spring. The colors during this time of year are unbelievable.  Blue, green, yellow, orange, red you name it  all the damn colors of the rainbow are deeply saturated everywhere you look. Pictures & words don't do the lost coast justice.  You need to see it, smell it , hear it, & feel it for yourself.

(A lone tree on the rolling hills perched above the coastline)

Your head is always on a swivel while your exploring the lost coast.  You never want to miss anything.  There is always something to take in.  Whether it's a group of seal's sunbathing on a huge boulder in the water, or a patch of wildflowers, a smell, the sunrise & sunset, the fog. The list goes on and on.

(The lost coast can be cold & rainy.  Kate is a trooper)

On this particular trip we hiked  a good chunk of a day in cold coastal rain. Although hiking in the rain sounds pretty miserable, on the lost coast it's pretty cool. For one thing you don't see anybody on the trails.  It also keeps you cool while you hike through the hills with big 50lb packs on your back.  Most importantly, it gives you a new and interesting perspective on the coast.

(Kate takes in the views from the Punta Gorda Lighthouse)

If you haven't figured it out by now I love the lost coast.  I feel very fortunate that I have had the chance to hike and see most of the area in my two trips to the lost coast. Exploring this section of coast makes you a better person & enlightens you to the simple things in life.

(Rocky Rugged Coastline)

(Lush hillsides tones of greens with burnt contrasts)

(The Sun sets & the fog clears after a long cold rainy day on Northern California's lost coast)

Mountain Biking Post Canyon

My good buddy Charlie Berg decided to have his Bachelor Party in Hood River, Oregon.  The goal of this trip was to Mountain Bike our balls off.  We didn't waste our time or money seeking out women or strip clubs, instead we spent our days in the forest pedaling and jumping our bikes down the smooth well maintained trails of Post Canyon.

Charlie and his brother Pete organized a group of 11 of Charlie's close friends to converge and shred the trails that Post Canyon had to offer.  All of our ability levels varied, but we all managed to get some truly fantastic riding in.  Charlie has a group of great friends which makes sense because Charlie is one of the nicest and classiest guys you will ever meet.  He also rides a mountain bike extremely well.

Bryce Phillips setting up to send this air a little too deep.  He gave us all a scare when he over shot the trany and fell hard.  He got redemtion on the same air 2 days later though with a clean landing right in the sweet spot.

Charlie Berg Making this 15ft double look easy.

Me looking like I know what I'm doing at the top of the Drop Out trail.  This picture makes me look better than I am at mountain biking.  Thanks for nailing the shot Benson!

Jay Lynn showing us all how too Ride a bike off Big Doubles!

A little video of Jay and Nick.  Unfortunately Nick fell hard into the take off of the second jump. Lucky for him he only got a minor shoulder injury.

California Dreaming In The Sierra Buttes

Yesterday, my buddy Charlie Berg and myself successfully hiked and skied the prominent Couloir lookers left of the central spire in the above picture.  We started our ascent at 5000ft off highway 49 in tennis shoes. We proceeded up a well maintained hiking trail that was built to access some really interesting bouldering rocks.  After about 800ft of dirt trail we reached snow and began our skin to the base of the Couloir we had set out to ski.  It took us about 2 hours to reach the base of the Couloir from the road.  

Once we arrived at the base of the Couloir we chilled out for a bit, and took in all the beauty that the gut of the Sierra Buttes has to offer. After our brief break we continued straight up the 1000ft Couloir.  The boot pack was steep, but surprisingly easy and fast.  It took us about 45 minutes to charge up the Couloir and summit out at about 8200ft.  We kicked it under the towering rock faces for a good 1/2 hour enjoying the warm California sunshine and beautiful scenery surrounding us.

Eventually, we decided it was time to ski the Couloir.  So we gathered our gear and began our 1000ft descent down the Couloir.  The pitch of the Couloir varies between 30 degrees and 40 degrees.  The conditions were a bit variable, but for the most part the snow in the Couloir was picture perfect corn snow.  We both cruised through the Couloir and continued down some more low angle corn snow back to the trail that would lead us back to the truck.  It was a good long fun descent.  

We arrived back at the truck psyched and proud of our accomplishment.  It was 1:00pm and 65 degrees at 5000ft.  Since we had a little time to kill before we both had to be at work, we grabbed a quick beer at Bassetts.  It was a rewarding beer and one that will not be forgotten along with the spectacular spring day spent in the Sierra Buttes.

The Buttes Couloir from the bench

Charlie cruising up the Buttes Couloir

Me dropping in!

Butt Puckered Fun!

After several failed attempts at skiing this secret little zone yesterday we finally got it in relatively good snow conditions.  My buddy Adam Ruscitto and I sledded out to this zone that I stumbled across this past summer while mountain biking.  The face is steep and scary!  The pitch ranges from 45 - 50 degrees and the upper 100ft or so was wind hammered and bulletproof.  Once we made it past the ice section the snow was soft and edge able.  The conditions were definitely not ideal, but they were good enough.  It was a memorable day and I even got to hand the camera over to Adam to take photos of me.

The Face and the damage!

Me getting a little air time!

Surfing Sluff!

Adam Getting through the ice and making a nice turn!

Adam pointing through the wave spine!

Tucked Away In The Trees

George, Greg, and Myself decided to go on a little dawn patrol mission yesterday.  This is what we found:

A little break after are trek through the woods in the dark.

Pillows In Tahoe What?

Gregger surf turning a nice little pow field!

George Farming!

Mainly a scouting mission, but we definately found some goods.  It's not easy to find scary pillow lines in Tahoe.  Now all I need are some portable flash units.