Through the irony of our situation, I would get to know Scot the person and not Scot the skier. He would be the first to tell you that there is more to life than skiing. After 2 weeks of camping and being part of the food chain together, he is no longer just the poster or movie image from my late adolescent years. In a world of many great skiers, it is a true joy to know that my original mentor of skiing turned
out to be inspiring in life. His philosophy and his
passion for family and surfing touched me in a way I
could not have imagined 18 years ago. Yes, skiing is not the
end, only a means of evolution.

Photo 2 Leaning Towards Oblivion
Troy Jungen, January 2000, Athabasca Glacier, Alberta

In this photo, Troy assumes the "aerodynamic" touring position. All the forces of the Columbia Icefield seemed to be at their most repulsive despite blue skies a few kilometers down the Icefields Parkway. We were used to severe conditions, so our party mounted the glacier to set a camp further in the direction of our destination with hopes that blue clouds would somehow form and allow us a wintertime attempt at skiing Mt Columbia.

What a powerful place. We camped on the ice but received no respite the next day. Besides the challenge of navigating our way out into the vast grey/white desert, the cold and a poorly functioning stove made moving up the glacier seem inappropriate. We had learned years ago what it was like to be pinned in a storm in the middle of an icecap. Troy was always tenacious under pressure in dificult conditions. So
before being blown back down to the highway, he rousted everybody to set up crevasse rescues until we were cold and tired. Once again the most was extracted out of a situation when the greater forces said no and nobody returned home empty handed.

Photo 3 Last Run with a Friend
Chris "Beeker" Romeskie, April 2002, Cirque Peak, B.C.


April and the steeps of the coast range go off. I had wanted to ski this line for years. Beeker and I seemed to be the only skiers not working or off doing something else besides skiing. The conditions were enormous and it was our combined serendipity that even made this magic run happen. The snow, especially at the steep uppermost reaches, was sooooper deep. After we couldn't skin anymore, I would only wallow fruitlessly if I tried to climb. It was Beeker with his "Frog Stompers" and his rather long legs that could actually break the trail in bottomless, 50 degree powder.

It was a fabulous situation when the clouds parted for our summit break and descent. 4500 ft later, we had skied through another window of convergences to make a new descent in the Coast Range. My friend Beeker and I have mingled intensely with the elements on skis together over the years, but this would be our last run. It was a crucial one, pretty well perfect. Hardly a consolation for losing another friend in the mountains, but a great memory to live on with none
the less. Thank you, Beeker.

Photo 4 Safety Meeting
"Vemont" Bill Audette and "Sven" Aaron Rane, February
1993, Stevens Pass, Washington


If you have never heard of the "Crud Brothers", you might never will either, unless you get to see an old Gary Bigham movie. Vermont Bill is/was a Crud Brother, one of a gang of vicious ski-bums that included Jay Bird and Humpy. They are some of the key progenitors of modern ski bumming. If there is "old school" then these guys are "pre-school". This day at Stevens Pass was the first time I was to meet V-Bill and Jay. Sven (on left of photo) and I were on our way to Taos and stopped in for a session with the Cruds. They were all
styled out with their girlfriends and wood burning RVs in the parking lot. Since then V-Bill hasn't missed a beat, living the life and skiing 100 plus days in Alaska and the French Alps for the last 30 years. Before that he figures he skied even more.

It is always good to stop and have a safety meeting when touring into the backcountry to organize the thoughts, take in the view and breathe in that cold winter air. Especially when following Bill around. He was known in Chamonix for his passion for billy-goating around crazy tight tree chutes, which is where we ended up immediately after I took the picture. If you ski as much as Bill does, you're bound to end up creative.

Photo 5 Too Soft in the Tail
Chris "Kit" Kettles, April 2001, Mt Marriot, B.C.


We had just finished skiing the north couloir of Mt Marriot. A sickly steep, hidden from general view kind of a thing, complete with rappel to get inside. It was during the Batman Sessions of the spring of 2001, when Scott "Batman" Murray was flying us around in his Schweitzer 300C helicopter. Chris felt his skiing a bit off during the run. Halfway down the 3000 ft couloir he realized why. He especially could
appreciate the heli-exit from this steep forested valley 15km from D'Arcy having previously experienced what it's like to leave the mountains with one ski.

Chris is one of those human reference points for my life. We "grew up" skiing together in the golden days of Whistler and moved on to adventures all over the planet. Perhaps the more you move together, the more energy you can move together. That energy of those first seasons renegade heli-skiing was very high. Such expressions of inspiration and integration of experience highlighted the evolution of our skiing. It continues on today as we've shared some fabulous descents together, like Mt Monarch. Chris always said, "It's all about finding ones connection to nature through the mastery of balance in motion."


Photo 6 Tubed!
Doug "Doog" Coombs, Feb 2001, La Grave, France


Dark, midwinter, north facing, La Grave and Doog is getting tubed in one of a myriad of ice passages. There is no where else we'd rather be at this moment and we are doing as little as possible to impede the downhill tendencies of gravity. I stop to take a picture. We stop to rappel further down. Maybe there is only a glance given at crucial intersections or points of no return. There is casual deviation to avoid sloughing the skier below, yet this is a
perception always scanned by standard procedure. Otherwise it's non stop to the valley, even if there is 20 minutes of boulder fields to walk at the bottom.

It's not a race, it's just the flow of appropriate confidence to create Zen conditions. We are in a unique space, one that only exists under certain conditions of familiarity to terrain and personality; we call it "skiing alone together". There is no worry for the partner, only quiet confidence. We don't want to interfere with each other. This allows the levels to rise as Doog's clients will attest to. I thrive in such inconspicuous and childishly mature conditions. Still, sometimes I am tempted to stop, just to watch him turn.

Photo 7 One Little Victory
Hans Saari, July 1998, Artesonraju, Peru


This is Hans on the summit of Artesonraju in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru, just before it socked in. That gave us a couple of hours at 20000ft to contemplate the descent ahead. That summit and the chance to ski from it was the collective dream for the 6 of us there. Because we were filming the descent and had radio communication with Freddy the cameraman across the valley, we were eventually and jubilantly notified of impending clearing. The clouds still swirled the very summit but after dropping in the 60 degree ultra exposed first pitch, the 3000ft face was perfectly lit.

That was the first and only time I had met and skiied with
Hans. His enthusiasm and energy was impressive and I can
see how it propelled him on his adventures onward. We never
had the chance to ski again before his transformation in
Chamonix. I felt close to his death because 5 personal friends of mine witnessed the accident. It's hard not to feel the frustration when something like that happens to an evolving craftsman. Like our other brothers that have passed on, it would have been great to see him continue.

Photo 8 Entering the Crystal Kingdom
Koky Canstaneda, Feb 2001, La Grave, France


There are many mountain enthusiasts that frequent the not so well known Oisan Alps of France, but there are those magic winter days in the La Grave backcountry when there is not a snow crystal out of place and not a soul to be seen. This particular Febuary morning was one of those for Koky and myself. It almost seemed blasphemous breaking trail through the perfection of it all. Since it was our first skiing together since we had met in Peru in 98 when he didn't
even ski yet, we felt no guilt from the ensuing face shots.

Koky was our guide on the expedition to ski Artesonraju and was intrigued and inspired by our band of dedicated skiers. Along with the need to complete his UIAGM certification with ski-accreditation, he saved up and spent 3 winters in Chamonix chasing around French free- riders. Part of his cirriculum was in La Grave to do his avalanche course. Naturally he stayed another couple weeks to enjoy the snowpack. What a pleasure to be able to finally share the vibe that seeded our friendship and see the satisfaction of learning to ski in his eyes.

Photo 9,10 Moment of Truth
Dave "Swany" Swanwick, April 1993, Thompson Pass,
Alaska


I don't know Swany very well but he is indelibly stamped in my mind from my experiences at the 93 WESC in Valdez. I had the best and the worst time there and I met for the first time many of great skiers that set the stage for freeriding in the new milenium. Dave was obviously a crucial figure in the competition scenario as it has played out. I was there to see what it was all about and experience an ambience that was already changing.

These pictures were what it was all about for me. We had hiked up "a little further" than where we were dropped of for our "bonus" heli drop after the day's competition had
been run. Just the boys checking out a way through a cornice line in the afternoon Chugach light. That's what I had
come to Valdez for.

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