The entries have been received, the chads dimpled, ties settled with sewing machines at 20 paces and recounts recounted. We are proud to announce and showcase the winners of the 2011 Mystery Ranch photo and video contest. Congratulations to grand prize winners Ryan Krueger, Matthew Irving and KGB Productions and thanks to everyone who entered your unbelievably awesome photos and videos.… READ MORE >
Author Archives: kyle-christenson
Bell Lake Yurt Video
It’s easy to tell when springs coming in Montana! The southwest weather flow will converge with our colder air up north dropping heavy wet snow with a density upwards of %6. This pattern begins sometime in march and will usually run well into June, allowing us to ski powder while everyone else is attending U13 soccer games and barbecues. This heavier snow sticks to everything, allowing us to ski the lines we have been looking for all season. This March we ventured out into the Tobacco Root mountains seeking shelter at the Bell Lake Yurt for four days of uninterrupted skiing. Enjoy the short video attached to see what the Bell Lake Yurt is all about!
Sign up for next years time slot early! Weekends are already being booked for next year!
http://skimba.com/bell-lake-yurt.php
View Bell Lake Yurt in a larger map
Posted in Mountains & Trails, Trip Reports
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Introducing the “BlackJack”
Featuring: Blackjack
We’re going to be introducing a brand new pack to the Ski Industry this winter… for now, all we’re sharing is this advertisement. Check it out.
Posted in Dana DNA, Mountains & Trails, Mystery Ranch Employees, Skiing, What's Hot
Tagged Blackjack
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Trade Show Circuit
Featuring: FuzeRecreation
We work the winter trade shows in Salt Lake City and Denver, setting up early, talking shop late, and cram in as many days of skiing as humanly possible, because that’s what we do. With OR finished, we rushed directly towards the Wasatch Mountains. It’d been dumping while we’d slung packs in the SLC convention center, and plowed to a near-standstill, like a boat dragging anchor, in two hours of 8am Sunday stop and go traffic threading its slow way toward LCC. Clearly we weren’t locals, and neither was anybody else in line. As we reached the closed mouth of the avy-controlled canyon, we turned around, like everyone else, and drove to BCC with hundreds, hopefully not thousands, of rippers several steps ahead of us, already parked on the road near Solitude and hiking to the ticket window. A solid three hour approach for out of towners to get some skiing showed us how far 20 or so miles can sometimes be, when one’s trying to flee the city for the mountains. 11 am came early: but our ratpack of 5 worked its way to the summit lift, was in line just after opening, and found that light, blower, luscious Utah powder that clings in your brain. … READ MORE >
Classic El Nino in December
Featuring: Naya NukiSaddle Peak
It’s the end of December in the Northwest and it’s been 6 weeks since we have released a skiing blog. It’s not because we aren’t getting out and it’s not because we’re slacking. There just isn’t any snow to write about. The east cost and mid west have teamed up to steal December’s allotment of precipitation. I’ve been in Seattle for two weeks and we have accumulated 2 inches of snow at the pass. For an area that boasts 6” of precipitation through the month of December we have fallen well short. As it stands, I have skied two days in a resort this season, with none of them in Washington. It just isn’t worth skidding down an ice slope on rock skis. The boards I have reserved for the thin snow pack haven’t touched a file or a grind stone in over 5 years. With several separated edges and chunks of core littered on rocks in the northwest it’s not the first season these skis have been classified in the rock category. With ample coverage thanks to a large November storm we headed to the backcountry two take advantage of the wind distributed facets. A quick hike into the … READ MORE >
First Ski Tracks
Featuring: Saddle Peak
The first cold front of the season parked itself directly over Bozeman for 12 hours on the last day of September. Less than an inch of snow accumulated on the cars and roofs of Bozeman, but 14 miles north at 7,000 feet the snow filled in some of the grassy slopes at Bridger. There really wasn’t enough snow to skin, which is good because I couldn’t find my lightweight boots shovel or probe! It barely took an hour for us to reach the top of the grass and the bottom of the rocky slopes, where we clicked into our skis and wiggled down the grassy slopes catching everything the mower missed this summer.
Here comes ski season!… READ MORE >
Saddle Peak Photo Essay
Featuring: Saddle Peak
The Saddle Peak Pack quickly found its home this winter as locals began putting their names on a waiting list before production of the pack even began! Its ultimate arrival was marked shortly after Bridger Bowl’s opening weekend. Armed with modest disposable incomes, (read ski bums) a few early Saddle Peak adopters headed into the mountains armed with their cameras to document the release.
I pulled time off work and crammed all my gear and myself into the back of a pickup of friends headed to Mount Baker. The short trip to Washington gave 3 incredible days of skiing with over 30″ of snow! A horrific Pineapple Express quickly pushed us back towards the Rockies….. ahhh Montana! Here are some shots I gleaned from a few crucial and well planned “sick days”.
Here’s a glimpse into part of my winter…. enjoy some Montana skiing shots!
The Saddle Peak really excels when all you need are skins and avi gear. Jonny Wood entering one of the many new couloirs that the Slushmans lift has brought into the slack country.
Lets hope spring will bring more snow,
Kyle… READ MORE >
