Backcountry Targhee

Heather leading the charge up Steve Baugh's with James and Rick keeping pace

Turbo getting wind blasted before making turns

Looking west towards Mary's

Heather, Dean and James after our second run

James climbing out of Scotty's

Heather, Dean, James, Rick and I took a chance on finding decent snow below and east of Mary's on Targhee's backside today. We skinned up the thinly covered cat track to the ridge between Fred's and Mary's, dropped down Scotty's and skinned up to Steve Baugh's (kinda neat how all the names are proper nouns!). The coverage on the Targhee side is still pretty skimpy; they are claiming around 30" but most of the mountain has been melted or blown off and the majority of the hill has much less than that. But, over the ridge and on the east and north facing slopes, it is a different story; there is a pretty solid 30-40+" with a substantial base and soft snow on top!

For all, except James, this was our first time dropping into that area.

The wind howled and the temps plummeted but we persevered and had a great day of it! We did do a bit of base damage to our skis on the lower portion of Targhee heading back to the base, nothing that a bunch of petex won't fix!

Eye Candy

All these shots of great descents has been inspiring. I thought I'd share this one with you guys: Parks Peak in the Sawtooths. Chris Lundy and I skied this line off the north face down to Farley Lake two winters ago. I have to give credit to Chris for spotting the line. He had skied Imogene Peak a few days before and was excited to get back and check it out.


Parks Peak from Imogene Peak. It's about 2500 vertical feet from the top to Farley Lake, in the sun.


Chris on the apporach, almost to Farley Lake.


Getting ready to drop in!


Our exit turns on the apron.

Cheers, Marc.

I Want To Take Your Photo

At some point I would like to run into you guys somewhere to get some shots...

Most of my trips will up to Targhee, anyone going to be there this season?

http://biglostblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-want-to-take-your-photo.html

Day Dreamin'

I'm not a great skier. I can slide down the mountain with slick fat sticks on my feet; slowly compared to most, but I CAN slide down the mountain!

The ever growing list of places and lines i want to ski continues to create some excitement for exploration. Maps. Photos. Satellite images. They are all part of the game. And today, the image below is definitely part of my A game!

Maybe some day I'll be good enough to ski lines like this with all of the safety and control needed to do it right.

-Dean Lords

Living in Paradise

Living in Paradise, yes.....I think so. For all the negative things I can think of that come with living here (and there are a few), they pale in comparison to the plus side of great things to be enjoyed in this area.

Not everyone enjoys the great outdoors. Hard to believe, I know. Why that is so, is hard to say. Too cold, too hot, too many bugs.....blah, blah, blah...... you get the picture. Anything worth having is almost always hard to get, it takes perseverance, and to a degree a perverse attitude. This stuff ain't easy. Not many find this kind of fun to actually be, well....fun.

My boss asked me what I did this weekend. I told him that me and one of my boys drove up to Targhee for some snowboarding. "Oh, I didn't know they were open." He says. "They aren't." I inform him. He looks at me and I could see the question forming in his mind. I answered him before he asked. "We hiked up."

I saw the puzzlement in his face. "Why would you do that?" he blurts out. I found no answer that would satisfy him. I mean, how could he understand? If you have to ask, you won't understand, no matter the answer.


Hard? Yes. Sweaty? A bit. Tired? Oh yeah. Satisfaction level? Extremely high.

Have a look.

Targhee update

I got a free minute from the grind at work today so I made a quick trip to Targhee. The snow report indicated 4 new inches, I suppose so. It seemed to be less snow than early October when Turbo and I skied Fred's last. It was very wintery on top, snowing, socked in and about -8 windchill, (at least by my calculation). I found a lot of hidden rocks on the ridge but hooked over to the Headwall and found a fantastic pocket of powder that had not seen a track. Knee deep and creamy! It was awesome January powder! Just to the skiers left of Chief Jo bowl. Well worth every step.

Forum / Message Board

Message board for East Idaho Enthusiasts! This is not to replace this site mind you, but to allow us to discuss upcoming trips, weather, gear...etc, you know....the boring everyday stuff. You get the picture.

Have a look and bookmark it!

Feel free to let me know if this is a good idea, or a BAD idea!

.....JB

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