Wet Dreams in the Hida Mountains: Shakushi Northeast Couloir Continuing with the theme of objectives not immediately in view from the window, the Northeast Couloir of Shakushidake entices the ambitious when viewed from popular resorts to the north of the valley. However dreamy this line seems from afar, it requires and early start just to get it. And like most things in Hakuba, the weather windows are few and […] Zach Paley | April 20, 2015 1 Comment
Wet Dreams in the Hida Mountains: Shakushi Southeast This series documents riding spring big lines in the Hida Mountains. The first part reports from the Shiradake Diagonal Couloir. One cool thing about Hakuba is that many of the biggest, most aesthetic lines are clearly visible from town. Every sunny morning, I wake up and stare at Shakushi’s SE face lit up in alpenglow. I scan the surrounding terrain for signs of instability for the day ahead, and I dream about putting tracks on Shakushi’s spines. I’ve been waiting for the right conditions to get on this face for some years now. In late March, an opportunity finally presented itself. […] Backcountry Lee Lyon | April 9, 2015 0 Comments
Wet Dreams in the Hida Mountains: Shiradake Diagonal Couloir Due to the complete media blow out coming from Japan this winter, I’ve been hesitant to share anything from over here. I know I’m sick of hearing about how awesome Japan is; I can’t imagine how annoying it is if you live somewhere suffering through a rough snow year. However, I thought it might be appreciated to see a different perspective on the skiing and mountains in Japan. Everybody knows about the deep mid winter powder season. It is a lot less common […] Backcountry Lee Lyon | April 6, 2015 2 Comments
Trip Report: Living & Skiing on a Boat in Norway’s Arctic Circle | The Vulkana I knew it would hold a special place in my heart the first time aboard. It’s brought a deluge of amazing memories, laughs, food, turns, and times with genuinely good people. Russians who drank enough vodka to drown fish, Germans who had never heard the term “ski bum”, Norwegians, Austrians, Swiss, and all in between enjoyed their time aboard. Groups came together […] Zach Paley | May 23, 2014 0 Comments
Skiing Norway’s Highest Mountains: Jotunheimen | Trip Report & Photo Tour: It wasn’t that giving chase to the dark horse was wearing me through. And by no means did I feel I’d explored most of what it had to give. Sometimes, one needs to take a step back, and regain appreciation for what they already have, no matter how fickle its tendencies. Jotunheimen […] Zach Paley | May 15, 2014 0 Comments
一月 = Photos of Japan in January Some say home is best. Here, there, at the end of the day, it’s where you hang your hat…or lean your skis. Hakuba: the white horse roams from rice paddies to peaks. Undisturbed. Untamed. We chase this wild ambition in the mountains. They present themselves as one of the most rewarding places to ski in January, remorselessly collecting payment in the form of sweat on the skintrack and numb […] Featured Article Zach Paley | January 21, 2014 2 Comments
Surfing Beneath Norway’s Midnight Sun (editor’s note: Our good friend, Zach Paley, has been living in the Arctic Circle of Norway for the past month. He works on a boat, camps, skis, writes, and takes stunning photographs. In this entry, Zach finds himself surfing arctic waters on his way back to the USA) You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, […] Zach Paley | June 19, 2013 3 Comments
Skiing Pow From a Boat in the Arctic Circle (editor’s note: Our good friend, Zach Paley, has been living in the Arctic Circle of Norway for the past month. He works on a boat, camps, skis, writes, and takes stunning photographs. In this entry, Zach finds himself working on and skiing from the ship Vulkana in spectacular Lyngen, Norway) I’d gotten along well with Gottfried my first time on the Vulkana [the […] Featured Article Zach Paley | June 6, 2013 4 Comments
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