I/O Bio Merino Wool

When it is cold and raw, like it is now in Jackson Hole, I reach for my wool. The new Merino wool is not uncomfortable and scratchy like its predecessor. This is not the wool sweater your mother used to throw on you. The new wool is luxuriously comfortable, warm and best of all for the active set, doesn’t smell worse than if  you rolled around in the dogs mess, like most synthetic long underwear, after sweating in it.

The thing I like about I/O Bio is the styling of the pieces. They are made to function for high intensity activities like running, biking, climbing, skiing and snowboarding, but they also look good worn on their own. So you can be just off a backcountry skiing or snowboarding run on Teton Pass, peel off your soft shell jacket and head straight into work with nary a nostril flared nor eyebrow raised.

Last winer Darrel Miller and I partnered for a climb and descent of he Teton Classic West Hourglass Couloir. The WHC rises above Garnet Canyon at a lovely steep angle on a north aspect for around 2,000 plus feet. I was initially snickering at D’s snowshoes until he busted ahead of me as I was too skeched to continue on my split snowboard due to my inability to sink my edges into the firm snow. I was forced to deboard (take off board) and climb. As I started up I sank up to my hips into the snow that was firm enough to support D’s snowshoes but not my Scarpa F1 Boots. That will not happen again as I now have B & D Ski Gear’s super FAT Crampons and will bring them on all splitboarding excursions from now on. It is frustrating putting oneself in a compromised position because of not having an essential piece of gear. Certain pieces of equipment at the right time are key. Check out my gear list here.

Darrel Miller climbing West Hourglass Couloir on Nez Perce.

Darrel Miller shredding West Hourglass Couloir on Nez Perce.

Darrel Miller spraying in West Hourglass Couloir on Nez Perce.

Help support Darrel Miller and Storm Show Studios by buying his sweet snowboarding DVD’s, featuring Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and the Teton Backcountry!

http://bit.ly/abcWqj

What is the better descent tool? Mountain tool in general? Read on...

Steve Romeo, skier and blogger of Tetonat.com, posed  a question about skis vs. snowboard – which is a better mountain descent tool here.   There are many excellent comments, so check out the link above for those!

Following are my responses from that discussion.

Randosteve:  I think it might be a little easier for snowboarders than skiers to descend the Chevy Couloir with their boards on their feet…since the boards are probably much shorter than the skis most skiers are on. The shortest skies I have right now (not including my rando race skis) are 175cm. i wonder what size board you ride on when on the gt???

Stephen Koch:  The size snowboard I usually ride on steeper, more technical terrain like on the Grand Teton has generally been between 155cm to 165cm. I have on occasion ridden even smaller boards, especially where weight is a major factor (high altitude). The small boards don’t hold an edge or float in powder as well as longer boards. That being said, they sure do come around quickly and one can squeak through some very narrow terrain!

Me snowboarding on the north face of Mount Everest. Photo - Copyright Jimmy Chin

I have a pair of 95cm Igneous skis (145/135/140 width) with adjustable Dynafit bindings that you are welcome to use.

I agree with you. A snowboard is the better tool for descending mountains (steep, snowy, icy, rocky) for the following reasons:

1. Snowboards are generally shorter than skis – less so nowadays with the continual flattening and shortening of the ski. Snowboards for an expert adult male rider are generally 155cm-165cm (the 195 cm Igneous Powder Gun is the exception!) and skis for an expert adult male skier are generally 170cm to 185cm. A competent rider (snowboard) can descend narrower terrain than a skier (skis) of equal ability.
2. Riders can completely face the mountain on their toe-side edge, which allows for increased security on steep terrain compared with skiers. It is arguably more secure to side-slip on a snowboard (especially with axes…see below) than to side-slip/step with skis because the rider can completely face the mountain with a toe-side edge.
3. Poles are not needed/used (except for RG!) to snowboard, which allows for practical and full use of ice axes (to provide an anchor point or control a slide), the main tool of mountaineers.

Let me know if you want to borrow those skis, or a snowboard! (me rubbing Romeo a little after he says that a snowboard might be “easier” to use than skis because they are generally shorter…here’s your opportunity!)

AND:

HARD BOOTS VS. SOFT BOOTS FOR SNOWBOARD MOUNTAINEERING –

Stephen Koch: Really great discussion. This spring I have gone back to hardboots after 7 years in softboots for snowboard mountaineering. I am still working out my stance with the hard boots. My hardboot stance was roughly 45 degrees on each foot compared to 15 and zero or minus 5 on back foot for soft boots. My stance now with the Scarpa F1 Rendonee boots (baffled toe for flex make these very comfortable to skin / hike / climb in) is about 35 degrees each foot. It has been a gradual process to get back to the steeper angles, but I like it and it brings back so many memories and feelings from years of descents and general riding in hard boots (1988 to 2003…’87 was in Sorels). I imagine that with the hard boot modifications mentioned above by Barrows, he is able to ride in a “softboot” type stance?

I stayed in soft boots for the past seven or so years because I liked the surfy feel. My ability to safely travel in the mountains (in my mind) was severely limited as I was unwilling to use traditional soft boots in the mountains for the obvious reasons mentioned above…lack of Vibram sole (some softies have them now) for rock climbing, too soft to safely kick into all snow conditions or sidestep on firm snow without crampons, don’t like the feel of soft boots in strap crampons on firm snow/ice…sloppy and insecure, so basically I stayed out of the mountains for any steep/firm descents during that time. I did guide in soft boots and splitboard and on skis during that time. So yes, I skied more and enjoyed my ability to more around the mountain going up or sideways with greater ease and security. But every time I was descending on skis, in less than ideal conditions or in powder, I was longing for my snowboard.

Backcountry Splitboard Setup

My splitboard setup now is a super light (no top sheet!) Rome board, Dynafit toes for the up with the Scarpa F1 boots, Voile Splitboard Binding Interface with Burton Race Plate Bindings – minus the base plates…custom drilled and mounted to the sliderplate, fat crampons from B and D Ski Gear that work with the Dynafit toes. B and D also has metal crampon holders to replace the weak plastic Dynafit crampon holders and crampon “locks”, to keep them down when in steep/lifter mode.

Skinning on a splitboard on firm terrain with hardboots is WAY safer and more comfortable and less taxing physically than with soft boots.

Holding an ice ax when riding coupled with the ability to completely face the slope is a huge advantage of snowboarding vs. skiing. Skiers have died from slipping on icy slopes without the ability to swing in an ice ax (Hans Saari for example) or not carrying one because it is awkward to swing in when standing with your feet perpendicular to the slope. A Black Diamond Whippet is not an ice ax!

SPLIT TRANSITION VS. SKI TRANSITION -

I am slower than most skier with the transition from splitboard to snowboard. That being said, the Scarpa F1’s sure help with their rear throw to tighten and lock in the forward lean all in one. I did a descent with AJ and he rips both up and down with his short skis and solid board/hard boots. I used that system for years but am super stoked to ride a splitboard to not carry the weight of an extra tool when one can do both!

IDEAL GRAND TETON DESCENT -

Sure – the GT descent we can all aspire to is a complete, ropeless one. A monstrous belief in ones ability to succeed, huge huevos or ovaries, willingness to try and exceptional conditions will be needed for that. I would love to shoot video if anyone wants to give it a try…and I will buy drinks after, so long as you survive…but will definitely be drinking either way. Wondering if, on the belayed descents of the Chevy, there was any sideslipping or if turns were made the entire way. If sideslipping is “OK” then all it will really take is for someone strong enough to lock off with one arm holding an ice ax and lower/sideslip through the crux. This is what I have done on numerous descents when conditions allowed or didn’t allow…depending on how you look at it! Have fun and come home. That is success.

AND:

Ptor (Spricenieks)…long time indeed. Enjoying writing with you here…turning on snow together better!

Regarding the Whippet, I have a KSO (Keen Sense of the Obvious) thanks to my mother…that being said though, I think many skiers who don’t have much alpine climbing (ice ax) experience may rely on it more than is safe. It is important to know the limitations of your tools. With ice axes, one is able to penetrate (with sharp picks and an experienced swing/s) the hardest snow and ice.

luke…I have popped open bindings/come out of the race plate binding ONLY while using the Dynafits that are not meant to take a bail…the ones with a shallow and rounded toe rand. Otherwise, with boots made with a DIN type toe I have NOT popped out of a plate binding.

Regarding climbing up the Exum Ridge on the Grand Teton to save weight on gear…not my thing as I love ice climbing and more importantly, like to climb what I ride to intimately know what I will be encountering and where during the descent – hidden or unexpected ice, barely covered rocks, etc. I think it is accurate to say that not climbing up what they descended significantly contributed to how most dead skiers/riders who died skiing or snowboarding extreme terrain met their end…Saari on Gervasutti, Siffredi on Everest, Gouvy on Aiguille Vert, among many others…

There are a few descents that I did not climb before descent for either laziness or safety…Black Ice Couloir (Laziness…took the short route to the upper saddle vs. the long route via the Valhalla Traverse and up the BI) and the Gervasutti Couloir (Safety…big hang fire) are a couple of examples.

It seems like most things in life are a balancing act. The risks inherent with going into the mountains are part of my balancing process. Personal responsibility! When I blame others (usually if I don’t like the way it turned out), I realize with hindsight, it is from my own fear and insecurity.

And it looks like Arne Backstrom died while skiing a route on Pisco (5752M), in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru, which he did not climb…

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Help support StephenKoch.com with an Osprey Kode Pack from Backcountry.com to help you carry your skis or snowboard up a mountain!

I did make some turns along the north side of the ridge traversing to the glacier on my way to ride the Gervasutti Couloir on Mont Blanc du Tacul. The “Gervasutti,” as it is known, is situated between a bergschrund at 3465 meters and the summit ridge at 4200 meters and was first climbed in 1934 by the Italian Giusto Gervasutti and his companion Renato Chabod. The steepness of the couloir averages 45° and is 55° at its steepest.   The Gervasutti has seen a number of tragedies over the years, including that of my friend and occasional skiing and chess partner Hans Saari . Hans fell in the direct entrance to the couloir after losing his edge on ice. Check out the link above to know more about the Hans Saari Memorial Fund and the good work they are doing in Hans’ honor!

The Gervasutti was first skied by Sylvain Saudan on the 17th October 1968. Saudan is one of the great early pioneers of extreme skiing.

Here is a 1 minute video of  Tobias Granath skiing the Gervasutti. The video shows the steepness of the couloir nicely.

I opted to break the golden rule of climbing what you ski/ride on this instance, and paid a small price…others have not been as fortunate as I. The Gervasutti has towering seracs menacing the slopes below. To minimize the risk of getting wiped out from an ice avalanche if the ‘schrund calved, I walked up the back side instead of climbing directly up the couloir under the “hang fire,” before dropping in, as Hans had done. I slipped on ice towards the lower part of  the Couloir but was able to self arrest with my ice ax and eventually able to force an old, dull Russian titanium ice screw into the ice and clip into the screw with a daisy chain (leash) attached to my harness just as my gloved hand slipped out of my ice ax leash. Phew! A quick change to crampons for a short climb to the snow, and soon I was riding again. I jumped the 15′ bergschrund at the bottom of the couloir and, upon landing, popped out of both bindings! My binding screws were loose!

Let’s just say, after this and a couple other near misses, I was fortunate to make it out of Chamonix alive and with many learning experiences to learn from moving forward!

I like the short video below…of a Frenchman skiing four routes on the north face of the Aiguille du Midi above Chamonix.

Enjoy!

4 routes.2 friends.1 camera. from sébastien montaz-rosset on Vimeo.

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Help support StephenKoch.com with a sharp new ice ax to use on YOUR next steep descent from Backcountry.com.

Petzl Sun'Tec Mountaineering Ice Ax

Skiers on Grand Teton. Photo - Stephen Koch

Some of the comments about the trip report were about ropeless descents and downclimbing on the Grand Teton during ski and snowboard descents. In 1982 Rick Wyatt, on free heel gear, solo and without a rope, skied and downclimbed the Ford/Stettner route while making the first free heel / telemark gear descent. A bold outing for sure!

On one particular descent of the Grand Teton by way of the Ford/Stettner route on June 26, 1996 – specific date according to Tom Turiano, who has thankfully kept meticulous record of my, and all who are willing to share with him their, Teton descents –  Wes Bunch, Hans Johnstone, Mark Newcomb and I made up the group. After the climb, as we descended towards the abyss that is the bottom of the Ford Couloir, Mark and I partnered for the technical part of the descent. I chose to eschew the rappels through the Chevy (connects the Ford and Stettner Couloirs on the Grand Teton) and Stettner and descend by “downcliding.” “Downcliding” is a combination of downclimbing and sideslipping.

Knowing Mark, he probably could have descended the Chevy with his skis on. But instead of joining me in my morphing of styles, he waited before rappelling.

Mark Newcomb on Upper Saddle of Grand Teton. Photo - Stephen Koch

I “Downclided” by taking my back foot out of my snowboard binding (using hardboots and plate bindings) and attached a crampon, leaving the front foot with the board on to slide on snow and kick into the snow and ice as an edging tool. I used two ice axes. My idea was to make the “cleanest” descent I was comfortable with. As with most technically challenging  ascents and descents, mountain surface (snow, ice and rock) conditions have to be relatively good. In this instance, the ice was soft enough for me to occasionally get a “bite” with the edge of my snowboard. My triceps received a good workout that day!

Bottom line: stay alive, have fun and be as accurate as possible if you tell.

Oh yea, if you do decide to tell, obviously, don’t put a video of your adventure on the web if your activities involve anything illegal.

The advantages of leaving the board on are:
1. Zero chance of dropping board
2. May be faster (debatable as I was more tentative than with two crampons but there was not the changeover from snowboard to crampons and snowboard on pack and back again to deal with)

3. One step closer to a clean descent

After our descent of the Grand, Mark and I went on to ride the Middle and South Tetons. The day began for me, Hans and Wes from the Lower Saddle, where we spent the night. Mark met us at dawn from the Valley floor, which he left a mere 2 hours earlier.  ”Newc,” as I lovingly call him, is one of the most talented and beautiful skiers and climbers I have known, a true badass – and a humble one at that – who has been a fantastic partner I have been privileged to do many creative and fun (and scary as shit) climbs and descents with over the years!

Stephen Koch morphing styles by "downcliding" on the first descent of the Heim Glacier Route on Kilimanjaro. Photo - Wade McKoy

I feel my morphing of styles to try to accomplish a cleaner descent was somewhat contrived. Aren’t all descents somewhat contrived once we use means other than turning (straightlining is the exception!) on snow to get down a mountain on skis or a snowboard? Side stepping/slipping, jumping, downclimbing, downcliding, belaying, rappelling (now there is speed flying too)…they are all ways to get down a mountain when the mountain (steepness, etc.), surface conditions or our own physical or mental abilities may prevent us from making a clean descent.

Being in the mountains has been the best way to learn about myself – to momentarily strip away my fears and insecurities. I have seen what was thought impossible and made it possible. I have the mountains to thank for making me a better person. Being a proficient technical climber opened up the door for me to take descents from traditional, non-contrived to way contrived. Why not? I think it would be bitchin’ to make turns down the hanging snowfields of the north face of the Grand Teton! If you are not hurting anyone else, why not go nuts learning about yourself?

Point of View - SW Face, Denali, Alaska, 1993. Photo - Stephen Koch

Of course the ideal descent of the Grand Teton, or any mountain, is one with no downclimbing, sideslipping, belaying or rappelling. On the Grand, some jumps, or at least very creative jumpturns over extremely steep, technical terrain will need to be overcome. The steep nature of the Grand Teton does not lend itself to a “turn all the way from the summit down the mountain” (non-contrived?) descent, which is why it has not yet been done. I read that “travo,” a commenter on Teton.AT.com, skied the Grand with a belay through the steep and exposed Chevy section linking the Ford with the Stettner.  The next logical step in the evolution of descent on the Grand is to take it one step further and do what has been done sans belay or with board/s on both feet! That being said, I believe someday a bold person will meet the right conditions and it will be done. The ability of humans to push boundaries is amazing!

Whatever you can do or even think you can do, do it now. Boldness had genius, power and magic in it. Begin it! – Johanne Wolfgang Von Goethe

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Help support StephenKoch.com with gear for your next adventure from my backcountry skiing and snowboarding gear list at Backcountry.com.

While this video was being shot, I was on Albright, a little to the Southeast of the Sliver. I had a great day out with two friends despite getting a late start due to my being up until after 2 a.m. putting my split snowboard bindings together. I went with an old pair of Burton Race Plate Bindings with my Scarpa F1′s on the Voile slider plate. The system worked great and the boots were superb! Will write a post on my discovery and development of the perfect backcountry split snowboard setup soon.

Check out the short video of a climb and descent of the Sliver below from friends at Get Ungrounded.

Dani heading into the history books!

Congratulations to Dani DeRuyter, who, on March 11, 2010, carved her way into the history books with the first descent of the Grand Teton by a female snowboarder! Dani’s wonderful accomplishment comes 39 years after Bill Briggs made his visionary first descent on skis and 21 years after my first snowboard descent in 1989. I got to know Dani last year when she was helping me with sales and marketing for my speaking presentations. And I knew right away, or at least once the snow flew and she was nowhere to be found (in the office at least), that Dani was a stoked and committed rider!

Grand Teton, showing descent lines. Yellow is Dani's line of descent (Ford to Chevy), Red is Brigg's original, East Ridge to Stettner, Green is the Otterbody Route and Pink is the Owen-Spalding.

I don’t think anyone has descended the Grand on a mono-ski! There are plenty of firsts to do out there…you just have to search a little farther these days, but they are surely still out there!

Really though, it is the individual enjoyment of ANY adventure that is worthy. One just needs to step slightly beyond their level of comfort to feel and to learn a thing or two about themselves. If that happens to be learning a new knitting “move,” trying meditation for the first time, swimming in a recently thawed lake or venturing to an unknown area to you, you are experiencing the same emotions that accompany one completing a first descent down a steep mountain face! We are all the same!

Great first person account of Dani’s adventure here.

And here for the photos!

One cool thing to note is that Dani made her snowboard descent on a splitboard (snowboard that “split’s” apart to become skis for going up and fastened together to shred on descent), a tool that is the future of backcountry snowboarding, especially when coupled with Spark R and D bindings!

Spark R&D – Splitboard Transitions from Will Ritter on Vimeo.

Demo Video of how a Splitboard and bindings work!

I am recommitting to riding hard snowboard boots this spring and am looking to make/find the ideal binding. If anyone has it dialed or has ideas, please contact me through comments below or better yet, directly at stephen (at) stephenkoch (dot) com.

I look forward to seeing you out on a tour in the Park sometime soon.

Stephen

In 1965, an American chemical engineer from Muskegon called Shermin Poppin combined the sports of skiing and surfing to invent ‘The Snurfer’. It was meant only as a gift for his daughter Wendy, but within a year an estimated 500,000 had been sold across the United States. Snowboarding as we know it today was on it’s way.

Here is a link to a more detailed history, starting after this point. Interesting to note Wiki misses this history…

Enjoy!

Help support StephenKoch.com and slide sideways downhill on a Rome Snowboard at Backcountry.com. Click on the photo below…

Rome Design Snowboard