Back on the Road: Freeski World Tour, Revelstoke, BC, Canada

Back on the road. Been a while since I've traveled for work to a fantastic location but here we go again. I'll be working the Subaru Freeski World Tour and The North Face Masters of Snowboarding Series this season and I just got back last night from the first trip of the winter; the Canadian Freeski Championships in Revelstoke, BC. I've made several trips to BC and fell in love with the area right off the bat, but I'd never been to Revy until now. Widely known as a sledneck, cat and heli skiing paradise, Revelstoke Mountain Resort (RMR) came on the scene four years ago to take advantage of the endless mountain terrain. With only three lifts you'd think that RMR is a small operation, but you'd have a rude awakening when you got to the hill; RMR boasts the biggest vert in North America at 5620 feet. From high alpine terrain down through enormous pines and endless pillows, it will cook your legs in a single run. Believe me.

In the week we were there we received 55cm (that's 21 inches yankee) of blower pow, met heaps of the coolest Canadians and drank a shit ton of Old Style Pilsner, Lucky Lager and of course Kokanee. Despite the snow causing us to use up two of our weather days (and waking up before dawn after all those Kokanees), dealing with helicopters and snowcats, athletes and unexpected snags we managed to get the show off. It was so cold and snowy I didn't even get my camera out for the first few days but here's what I got.

This was practically our first glimpse of the mountain after days of snow, looking over to the Day 1 venue

The crew assessing the situation, it was damn cold

Pretty sure there's mountains out there somewhere but I couldn't be sure

Yup, it really was that cold

Oh, there is a town down there, first glimpse, 3 days in

Our ski patrol contact, Scott, took us on a late in the day excursion into Greely Bowl to scope the Day 2 venue. It was still closed and had been for 3 days while nearly 60 cm of cold smoke fell. They kept the lift running for 1 1/2 hours after close just for us...

Jason Eder, Bryan Barlow and RMR patroller Scott. These dudes made it happen.

Gnarly mountains up there man

Day 2 venue, The Mackenzie Face. Heli access only

Pick your line, sucker

Heli LZ is on the point in the middle of the ridge with the start in the open just to the lookers left. Send it.

RMR patroller Scott pointing out some lines

Time to bump the gear out to Greely Bowl

Move it, build it, break it down, move it again, and on, and on...

Morning commute out to Greely ahead of the patrol

Almost there

Ron Pankey celebrating another morning on the job

That's no cute little A-Star over there, the Bell 205 made me feel like I was back in the Nam.

Hey, this looks like a great spot for a comp, let's heli in a bunch of gear and make it happen!

The "short bus of the sky" rolls in again while the masses warm up by the fire

Terrain for days.....

Barlow handles business while the 205 chops some air

The contest venue with the moon overhead. Pick your line buddy.

Back to work as soon as the last rider crosses the line. The A-Star came back on scene to long line our gear back out

Load the truck and peel out to the next stop. See you at Snowbird next for the first stop of the Masters snowboard series

Argenta

The 2010/11 shred season has gotten off to a blazing start with tons of days in the backcountry already logged. My touring partners have been carrying their big camera bags lately so I've been really bad about shooting photos and especially updating this site. Zach Clanton has been killing it with the shots so far, check out his site for the goods and be sure to bookmark. Went out last week just before this last major storm cycle hit with London, JP Gendron, Mike Craig and Tom Ghelli for a little walk and I remembered my camera this time. Check it out!

London is pretty pumped to go for a big walk

After a 2 hour walk we saw the objective, time to boot straight up that chute

London just kickin' it about halfway up our upper line

And pausing for a look around just before topping out on Kessler Peak

A different look at Mt Raymond from across the canyon

An overcast day makes for some pretty black and white imagery

Made it!

Me and London hamming it up with Superior and the top of Snowbird in the background

All those thousands of steps paying off for London

Air time!! Since she's only 5' tall that must be at least a 20 footer! Haha...

Mission accomplished and another line ticked off the list

My Mind is Going Through Them Changes...

My same old seasonal conflict is upon me. I don't want to stop riding bikes yet but I know that the snow is just around the corner no matter how hard I deny it. Not that I have a problem with that, it just takes me a minute to get on board (so to speak). But seeing so many homey's so stoked on winter coming around kinda got me in the mood so when I got home form the bar tonight I threw this little edit together of a fun day of shredding with Ian Provo. Not the gnarliest terrain or the deepest snow, just a cool afternoon of backcountry fun.

Hot Fun in the Wintertime from Nathaniel Gauthier on Vimeo.

Dog Daze

Well, looks like the hottest days of the year so far coincided with my busiest week of work. I know, the temps in Park City are nothing compared to Salt Lake but, it's still pretty hot up here. Finally got a day off and decided to head to the high country to get out of the heat. Fun day trying to find our way around an old trail I hadn't ridden in nearly 10 years, Tara Humarrah for some unreal human fuel, a dip in the hot springs and a nice sunset drive over Bonanza Flats back home. That was a nice day.

Still some wet spots out there up high, this guy was grabbin' a drink

Lots of this. No bike tracks anywhere.

London grinds it up

Surprised these girls and a bunch of their cousins. Definitely a bull lurking around somewhere by the number of little ones running with them

This guy was on the trail...

...and this girl too

A-May-Zing

Wow. I've been bad-mouthing Mother Nature all season long but she sure has given me a double helping of shut the fuck up this Spring, especially in May. With my work schedule on "shoulder season" status I've been able to act on nearly every opportunity. Blessed.

Here's a little batch of photos from the month of May, click on 'em to get a better look.

It hasn't been just all backcountry this Spring, plenty of laps at the Bird thanks to LungieLand and his mom

Been cruising around Alta with London and Brant a lot, nice to have a tour guide in foreign territory

London has been charging it toughly this winter

Hmm... that's weird

These late storms have been making for some beautiful conditions

Silver Bullets are delicious

Gotta love it when your truck looks like this coming out of the bar after a full day of touring

Unreal how green it is down in the Valley

I've done countless runs down this but never with the entire Cirque untouched. Magic.

Took a trip to Idaho, the mountains there look like the teeth on a saw or something...

This is what your room ends up looking like when all you do is sleep and dry out gear there as you pass through

Back from Idaho one night and right back on it with Andrew Miller. There was no one around anywhere this day, people are over it.

London got this for her birthday... and a bunch of out of state beer

Hmm... guess they were bummed we tracked the Upper Cirque on that last cycle, hehe...

Happy Birthday London!

Gotta get it while the gettin' is good this time of year

Zach Clanton breaking trail across the Scary Traverse

Had to poach this shot of me that Clanton took, dropping in at 8 am, May 25, 2010

Yup, that's powder, and it's almost June

I love it up here

Our lines down the nose on the far right from the Black Knob and sneaking through the rocks down low

This slide happened just as we were driving away, a sign of how incredibly late in the season it really is!