Thoughts on Coronavirus and skiing in Montana

6/1 Update:  Now that it generally feels responsible to be backcountry skiing, I am going to start putting backlogged posts up.  My plan is to put them up incrementally through the dog days of summer to keep everyone excited for ski season 2021!

5/11 Update:  In Montana, the stay at home order has been lifted, and the nasty early April weak layer finally appears to have stabilized.  And folks are starting to venture into the mountains.  I certainly have been more comfortable about skiing and pushing a bit more, and conditions have generally been nothing short of excellent.  A thought experiment I have found useful is to think about how much risk I would accept in non Covid times, then take a moderate step back from that.  Let's stay safe, remember the image we project to non-skiers who are struggling through this difficult time, and stay vigilant in minimizing risk.  Also, this is the best information I have about the status if access in the Missions as of May 11th:  

1. Must live on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
2. Must have tribal recreation pass.
3. No overnight stays
4. There is no stipulation regarding native or non native status.

4/9 Update:  Missoula avalanche has a mandatory read here.  Also, the public observation page is still live. 

I am growing increasingly skeptical of my initial view that we can generally ski normally as long as we think hard about risk.  I think there is a really strong case to be made that the skiing community has already failed (the concept that any individual can be responsible, but across the Western US, we have failed), and as a whole society, we should be doing everything we can to protect those most vulnerable to Covid.  Also, my thinking is evolving on social media to the point where I don't think it is very helpful to post a lot of images of skiing, at least for myself.  Both because there are arguably more important things to have a conversation about, and because it feeds our desire to keep recreating like everything is OK.  A few recent articles I have found compelling. Skiing, skiing, travel to rural communities, ethics.

4/4 I feel obliged to put a few thoughts out there to the Montana ski community in order to foster thought about how we approach backcountry skiing individually and collectively during the Coronavirus crisis.  I certainly don't pretend to hold any of the answers.  I also know the situation is changing daily.  But I think that a few principles deserve consideration and will hold through the end of ski season.

Leah and I did the Mission traverse at the beginning of the Coronavirus oubreak.
It was my best day of skiing this year. We nailed it.
In retrospect, I don't know if it was responsible.

I believe exercising outside is immensely beneficial for mental and physical health.  But backcountry skiing is a privilege.  Montana is under a shelter in place order.   Many have lost their jobs, or are working in health care or other essential jobs and scared, or will be sick. I don't really buy the assertion that we are entitled to backcountry ski for our mental health, or to feel normal.  While I do think that skiing is still a reasonable thing to do, I could spend the rest of the year biking and running for exercise, and my mental health would be just fine.

I think we should each take a step back and consider overhauling our approach to skiing in light of Coronavirus for the rest of the season.  We certainly should give ourselves large safety margins, but I think we should be thinking deeper than that.  A place to start is to define responsible recreation.  There is a vast range between mildly indulgent (i.e. going out for a quick hour tour at Marshall), and getting caught in an avalanche.  My thoughts are evolving, but the more I think about it, the less confident I am that big backcountry tours are responsible. It has also been helpful to reach out to friends to get a second opinion.  And, it has been great to see folks respectfully call each other out in instances where skiers have overstepped what is responsible.  Here are two of the ways I am challenging myself to be different.

• Re-set skiing goals.  I thrive on challenging days in the mountains. I am working to let go of all of my previous goals for the year and completely re-thinking about what I want to accomplish. 
• I am working to spend less time thinking about fitness and recreation, and to devote more time and mental energy to being a responsible citizen.  Keeping track of everything that is changing with coronavirus and reacting accordingly takes a lot of thoughtful engagement.  Working from home without child care is time demanding, and I need to focus on quality time with my son.  I need to be present and a good partner to Leah in this stressful time. 

We must take a hard look at risk. There have been many close calls and skier avalanche incidents across the West since the Coronavirus outbreak.  Including in the Bitterroot.  Even though the vast majority of us have been conservative, the ski community is failing.  Avalanche uncertainty is lower in the spring, but conditions aren't spring like in the mountains right now, and even when they are, we still have to be vigilant in avoiding avalanches.  With spring avalanches, you usually know when you are pushing it.  We should not be pushing it right now.  My personal mantra is: Choose low risk objectives, then be aware, conservative, and consistent, and set the bar low for bailing.  Get up early in the spring.  And don't get greedy.

I am especially thinking about driving, duration of outings and fatigue, contingencies for unplanned accidents, going out with marginal weather, and getting lost, especially at the end of the day.  Let's think about having a rescue plan that doesn't involve S&R (i.e. checking in and out with rescue capable ski friends, using in-reach or other tracking tools).  I also think we should think very hard about doing tours in unfamiliar terrain, and in locations where the ingress and egress are tricky.  A few Missoula areas that I believe deserve special consideration:

• Missions:  The Missions are closed to non residents on Tribal lands.  
• Lolo Peak:  Skiers get lost coming back down Carlton ridge from Lolo Peak.  I think that this can be partially mitigated with technology if we have a blue dot showing our location in relation to the trail. 
• Driving in the Bitterroot:  As mountain trailheads start to open up, let's think really hard about driving responsibly on snowy roads.  I got stuck and had to call a tow truck this year.  It sucked at the time, but it would be irresponsible right now. In addition to thinking about getting stuck, we should think about using reliable vehicles, and we should consider impacts to other users like getting stuck meeting oncoming cars on rutty, snowy roads, and parking in places that make it hard for other cars to turn around.  Or getting pinned in behind another stuck vehicle (like could happen driving all the way in to Gash).  

It is incumbent on us to keep the risk of transmitting or contracting Coronavirus while skiing very, very low.  I think we are all thinking about the risk of transmission when transmission when skiing with partners.  It seems reasonable to avoid driving with others to go skiing.  But should we be skiing with partners at all?  And should we offset the carbon footprint of driving separately by driving less?  For now, I plan on skiing solo for at least the immediate future, but I have not though through this well enough to have a strong opinion.  I think we should plan our outings to reduce or eliminate stopping in rural communities.  For the time being, I am planning to do self contained outings with few or no stops oustside of town.

Backcountry skiers need to be very aware of the image we are projecting through our actions, and on social media.  I think that sharing trips to the mountains and enjoying public land can be positive, but it is pretty tone deaf to celebrate what we can get away with in the mountains when a lot of people are putting their health at risk on the front lines.

Can we backcountry ski in Montana safely with minimal transmission exposure?  People might disagree with this assertion, but I think we can.  Montana is different from many other backcountry locations in that skiers aren't generally traveling far to ski, and use is relatively low.  Being out in the mountains is about as socially distanced as one can get. Also, for the most part Missoula area skiers have a proven track record of skiing safely.  We have had very few avalanche incidents and Search and Rescue calls in the past several years.  All this doesn't mean that it is still responsible to ski, or that the situation can't evolve.

We are all figuring this out together, and I welcome thoughts and criticism.

Stay safe and healthy everyone.

Pinball Wizard gully for time

An ongoing post about trying to ski this local classic fast.

3/12/2020

I went faster.  

Ready to ski a few thousand feet of dust on roller balls.

I was able to put in good climb.  Hard, and even, and fast for me.  Although I am coming to think that one can rip skins on the Little St. Joe summit, I ripped skins below the first gendarme, a lot earlier than in previous outings, which saved a lot of time.  When I realized I could go under 3 hours, I also put in a good hard poling and skating push on the trail.  I have been healthy and have stuck to a relatively smart, progressive training plan since September, and am confident in my fitness right now.  Conditions are super filled in and fast right now, and I think this is getting close to my personal potential on this route.  

splits for future reference: First road crossing: 14, trailhead: 48.30; upper saddle 1.28.30 summit 1.59; Start skiing 2.10 Trail: 2.25; Car 2.52.54.

1/28/2019

A fine morning for fast Pinball Wizarding.

Jeffrey was motivated enough to rally at 5:30 for a fast go at Pinball.  The gully is in incredible condition right now.  We parked out at the Larry creek parking area and warmed up on the half mile skin to the trailhead before pinning it up in the dark.  I went out at an optimistically fast pace and pushed with all I had all the way to the top.  Evidently sunrise was really pretty, but I was hurting a little too much to appreciate it as much as I should have.  I lost a lot of time on my previous splits, but it was a beautiful morning, and we started making time up above the saddle by not having to stop for cold weather.  I gave it all I had on the climb, and the last few hundred feet were a grind.

From the top, we made the downhill krumholtz skin in great time.  With low avalanche danger, I also on the fly found a much faster way to traverse to the top of the gully by making a longer traverse all on the South side of the ridge.  We started down the gully proper in good time.  The gully was just fantastic.  Firm, fast, smooth skiing.  Perfectly clear, cold morning.  We had a few bobbles on the exit, but neither cost us much time and we zipped out on the icy trail, emerging in 3.15, a new best for me time.  I still think this is a FK(S)T.  Would love to hear of others doing it faster though.  I went up as fast as my fitness will allow right now, but I think I could shave another 10 minutes with perfect execution.  It is of course hard to wonder if sub-3 is possible.  

splits for future reference: First road crossing: 18, trailhead: 55; upper saddle 1.35 summit 2.06; Start skiing 2.25? Trail: 2.40; Car 3.15.

1/22/2017

With a Sunday afternoon to spare, I made a speedy go at the Pinball Wizard gully.  I went in to it well rested, and with a skin track in all the way up, was optimistic about fast conditions.  After a few minutes of warmup, I started pushing at a reasonably hard pace.  The climb went quickly for the first two thirds, although snow squalls did lower morale a bit, and reports from a ski party about cold wind on the summit had me wishing I had brought a second pair of gloves.  The upper mountain greeted me with surprisingly cold and biting wind, and I had to stop several times to layer up and deal with frozen fingers.  In any case, I only lost about 10 minutes to clothing and cold finger shenanigans.  From the summit, I took advantage of stable conditions to safely use the quick route, which takes a detour around the N. side of the last gendarme.  From there, one can rip skins and make a big downward ridgeline ski and traverse to the head of the Pinball wizard.  My fingers finally warmed up, and I was served a full helping of screaming barfies, but they eventually subsided, and it was time to ski.  

Your classic ski shot from near the top of the Pinball Wizard.

The skiing was great for the upper two thousand feet, and reasonable for the lower thousand.  On the ski out, I passed Andrew and Jeffrey, who were deproaching from adventures further up drainage which included a lot of skiing, one broken pole, and two broken skis.  Otherwise it was an uneventful exit.  I made it back to the car in 3.21, ten minutes faster than my previous fastest time.  It would be reasonable to cut ten minutes off, and I can't help but wonder if a sub-3 hr loop is possible with good conditions and some fierce suffering on the climb.

Back at the car.  Wearing my pink hat from the Women's march in Helena the previous day.
I am about as pessimistic as anyone about the next four years, but it was rewarding to participate.

splits for future reference: First road crossing: 15.30, trailhead: 44; upper sadd

Burr point powder skiing

Doug powder skiing in Fred Burr creek.

We got out for an excellent day of powder skiing at the very end of the super February storm.  It had been snowing 3 to 5 feet of snow a week for several weeks, yet somehow avalanche danger had stayed Moderate.  Not to be outdone, it snowed almost a foot in town overnight, but we summoned the motivation to head out in the dark anyway for a day of exploration.

We were able to drive to the Fred Burr trailhead, and with a team of three strong skiers, actually made the approach in good time.  I think that it finally snowed enough to tick the avalanche danger up to Considerable, and we had to be fairly careful gaining the upper basin on Burr point, and decided not to go for the summit.  We skied an excellent run down from our high point to the creek with deep powder the whole way.  It was awesome!

Looking down the Southeast bowl on Burr point.

Doug discovering that we were in for a very good day of powder skiiing.

Jeffrey enjoying good skiing at the bottom of the exit gully to the Southeast bowl of Burr point.

Doug on our second run.

We recycled our track, skied another great powder run in the upper basin, then did a third climb to the next peak to creek path down canyon.  Our last run ended up being the best run of the day.  Perfect face shot powder top to bottom.  So good!

Jeffrey lost in a powder cloud on our last run.

It is unusual for me to get really excited about powder skiing, but this was a special day.  Thanks Jeffrey and Doug for the company and trail breaking.  It was good to get back to Burr point.  I think it there is enough skiing to qualify it as a good ski destination to return to again and again.

Soneilem couloir ski descent

Grinding away in the Sonielem couloir.

Viewed from Saint Ignatius, the Sonielem couloir catches the skier's eye as it drops from the northern terminus of the craggy Soneilem ridge out of view into the chasm of Mission creek.  In many ways, it embodies the character of the Missions.  Striking, forboding, inspiring, just perfect up high, perfectly adverse down low, and definitely not user friendly.  Rumors of epics and just a handful of accounts of successful ski descents add a human layer if intrigue.  Here is a trip report, scrubbed from Rocky Mountaineer trip report vaults:

Sonielem Ridge, April 17 1999. Len Broberg, Doyle Gerrard and Gerald Olbu wanted to check out the prominent snow couloir on Sonielem Ridge which is easily visible from the highway. We hiked up the Mission Creek trail a short distance, then left the trail and crossed the creek. Since snow was gone from the lower portion of the couloir, we had to go around and enter the couloir from a higher elevation. We enjoyed a couple of hours of good ol' Mission Mountain bushwhacking. When we arrived at the snow couloir, we found it to be hard packed and icy, requiring crampons as well as an ice ax. We climbed up the couloir about half way, had lunch in the warm sun, then descended. We had beautiful weather all day long. One member of the group did not have crampons and was new to using an ice ax. He cut steps with the ax and was able to climb up the couloir, and made use of the ax on the way down. By the end of the day, he was quite proficient with an ice ax. - Gerald Olbu.

Despite being intimidated, I was still super psyched for a full effort attempt when conditions turned perfect.  A few locals helped immensely with key beta, and ideal partners lined up: sage veteran of Sonielem attempts Frank Preston, and technical ski wizard, Ned Gall. 

We rallied from town at 5 am.  Both the drive and the trail approach are straightforward, and we embarked on the bushwack at first light.  We benefited tremendously from Frank's previous experience, and while the bushwack was fierce, steep, tricky, awful, wet, slow, and on and on, we stubbornly followed his lead and made it to the base of the couloir intact.  And early enough in the day to keep heading up.

Frank at the largest ice falls in Sonielem creek.
We dove into the brush on our right and bypassed this step.

Bushwack!

We were physically out of the woods, but figuratively still in the thick of it, as the lower thousand vertical feet of the couloir is complex with rock shelves and thinly bridged water under portions of the couloir.  We had to fiddle a bunch, but were able to bypass everything with a few devious detours out of the gully.  Eventually, we emerged with a clear view to the top.  The upper couloir is very long, but we were able to skin most of it, and the climb went smoothly in one long grind.  We topped out in a whipping wind, tired but happy and excited to ski.

Working our way up through the lower reaches of the Sonielem couloir.

Near the top of the Sonielem couloir.

The ski was really good.  Snow was consistent top to bottom, transitioning from chalky up high to creamy on the shaded side of the gully down low.  Our two detours out of the gully were not too distracting, and we leapfrogged with glee all the way to the bottom.  Although it is tempting to continue further down the couloir, we exited at our ingress point at 5,100 feet and schwack skied for another hundred feet or so before putting skis away for the rest of the day.  We built a little more character on the exit bushwack.  Frank broke his new boots, and I got a bloody nose when an errant brush found its way into my nostril during a particularly intense bout with the brush.  But the day was warm, the mood was light, and we had gravity on our side.  With a slightly improved route, we were back at the trial after just an hour of bushwacking, and back at the car with just over 10 hours on the go.  Equal parts exhausted and elated at catching the Sonielem couloir in good condition.

Ned skiing with characteristic grace in the upper Sonielem couloir.

And lower in the couloir.

Frank skiing even lower in the couloir.
It was a treat to have good ski conditions at this low elevation.

Thoughts Thanks to Frank and Ned for teaming up with me and putting up with my pre-outing jitters.  I don't know if I will ever go back, but it is still a worthy ski line.  It is iconic, long (3,800 vertical feet), and the skiing is really good.  I don't think that it is possible to fully mitigate the objective hazard of skiing over a creek bed, which certainly detracts from the repeat ability of the route.  The other primary objective hazards are considerable exposure to falling snow and ice, and sketchyish bushwacking moves that will almost certainly be encountered along the way.  While they are not trivial, it is possible to mitigate them.

I think that skiing this run with a fat winter snowpack is the way to go.  While it is tempting to wait for spring, I think that having consistent mid-winter conditions in the lower couloir is preferable to the severely runnelled and/or choked with avalanche debris condition that I would speculate occur in spring.  It is also nice to have colder temperatures and less threat of afternoon shedding.

I would love to know more about the history, good and bad, of skiing the Sonielem.  I know of two successful parties, Colin Chisolm and the late Chris Spurgeon, and Andy Hoyle.  Anyone else?

Frank mentioned skiing a parallel gully just South of the couloir from the high summit of Sonielem, and a report on social media reports at least one other party who descended this adjacent route.  I can't help but wonder if that would provide a nicely less full on mega alternative.

The upper reaches of the Sonielem couloir, graced with ski tracks!
During our walk out.

Presidential Gully for time

Great conditions in the upper tree lanes of the Presidential gully

I chased the first signs of receding instability and made an attempt on the Presidential gully after work in mid-February.  Despite abundant and continuous snowfall, surface stability indicators, lack of feedback on deep instability, and a reasonably stable pit had me confident enough to ski the gully in incredible powder conditions.  To my shock and awe, coverage was really, really good, and the run was as fun as I have ever seen it.  So fun that I had no choice but to returned to do it for time on Valentine's day.  I lucked out and had a track to follow, which made things a lot quicker.  I went pretty darn hard, but never really went to the well.

Interestingly, I made great time in the first half and slowed in the second.  I attribute much of that to the very fast skin track right from the car (as opposed to walking and transitioning).  I also took a few photos on the ski run, and took it fairly casually on the exit, so there is time for improvement.  Still, I feel good about my current fitness, and good about my time on this rare treat of a ski line.  Interestingly, the circuit only took three minutes more than my fastest (still soft) time on a basic up and down Little Saint Joe.

Great skiing!

Splits for future reference: First road crossing: 18; trailhead: 48; upper saddle 1.33; top out 1.58; Trail: 2.15ish; Car: 2.46

I only climbed to the top of the gully and did not go to the summit.  I do not think that summiting Little Saint Joe is necessary since the peak is disconnected from the ski line, and since one of the direct appeals of skiing the Presidental is that one doesn't have to make the often weather hammered trek across the summit plateau to the exact summit.