HYPOTHESIS
The measure of a successful adventure trip is Fun. Fun may be considered to arise chiefly from the execution of adventure-related activities, but personal experience has led the author to speculate that Fun is actually the result of a complex interaction between a large network of Fun Factors surrounding the adventure itself.

Though an evaluation of all such factors and interactions is likely beyond the present capabilities of Fun science, it is proposed that some Fun Factors are good indicators of Fun during the six discrete phases of trip day. Mathematically, this may be described as:
Fun(Type x, Day y, Phase z) = f(Activity,Footwear,Clothing,Beverage)
Where:
x = Surf, Snow, Biking, Climbing, etc.
y = Activity Days elapsed since start of trip (1,2,3...n);
z = Morning, Day, Siesta, Sundowner/Full-Mooner, Evening, Night.





Fig 1

This hypothesis is then applied to an actual Snow base camp trip experiment in the Columbia Mountains. Data on each of the Fun Factors is collected and shown in the form:
Phase: Activity: Footwear: Clothing: Beverage.
Additional observations and information regarding Fun are also recorded.

The Fun results are then analysed, and the implications for further improvements in Maximum Fun level and potential applications to other kinds of adventure trip are examined.

EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
A base camp - style trip was chosen for this experiment, in order to eliminate or reduce the potentially harmful effects of a number of variables, that might otherwise decrease the baseline Minimum Fun level. Crucial variables include:

(Macro) Trip Location -based on the probability density of quality activity options. Careful research and selection of the trip location is key. For spring Snow adventure:
1. Lots of North facing terrain to allow good pow quality,
2. Terrain management options to allow access to high alpine terrain in conditions of uncertain snowpack stability,
3. Descent options to allow a selection (according to snowpack stability and general vibe) of lines from burly to mellow,
4. Good tree shredding in the event of poor weather/ visibility/ stability,
5. Minimal exposure to spring travel valley bottom heinousness.

(Micro) Camp Location- distance to from camp to good snow and lines is minimised by map-based planning, and additional terrain scoping while on final approach to the trip location (via helicopter).






Fig 2

Pack Weight - lighter is righter; the base camp style allows day travel packs. Larger gear and liquor items receive mechanised transport only (e.g. helicopter airlift).

Accommodation Density - higher is acceptable in the case where the trip involves a favorable ratio to desirable persons of the opposite sex (which is all too rarely the case). In this case, where the trip involves dirty, smelly, farting, snoring dudes, a lower accommodation density was deemed suitable (i.e. each dude sleeps in his own tent).

Quality of Living - higher is better; base camp allows large individual duffel bags, full of clean dry clothes, thick mattresses, good books, and plush sleeping bags (AKA Fart Sacks). See Appendix.

Volume of Liquor Carried - higher is generally better in the case where the trip is for overall relaxation purposes, although previously collected evidence indicates that an accurate prediction of the maximum volume required for a given trip is difficult.

Volume of Liquor Consumed - may be assumed to be 100% of the Volume of Liquor Carried.

Quality of Cuisine - enabled by a suitably-equipped base camp kitchen, including a propane cylinder multitasked to run both a two-burner stove and small barbeque. Indicated by high levels of bacon, grilled meats, and fresh produce. See Appendix.





Fig 3

OBSERVATIONS
DAY 1
Morning: Flying: Boots: Touringwear: Timmy Ho’s, Water
Flight in to camp site (1600m) extremely scenic. Arranged for radio call-in and pickup (weather permitting) on Day 5. Set up bar with all liquor intact (Figure 1) amidst speculations regarding liquor volumes. Set up kitchen and discovered bacon intact but proper propane line-splitter fittings are missing; simultaneous stove and barbeque operation now impossible.
Day: Touring I: Boots: Touringwear: Hot Sports
Toured to peak above camp in glorious sunshine (Figure 2), scoped zone, shredded long, mostly mellow line in good quality boot-top pow, highlighted by a small chute and some gully slashes. Wary of the transition from spring bomber surface crust to winter windslabs on crust with increasing elevation, especially large alpine convexities.
Siesta: Camp I: Booties: Touringwear: Hot Sports, Beer
Returned to camp and discovered melt-water pot on lit stove; pot ruined, constant large-volume water preparation now impossible. Laughed. Shook heads. Beer time.
Sundowner: Touring II: Boots: Touringwear: Water
Sundowner tour in pleasing light (Figure 3), over interestingly-formed crust conditions (Figure 4). Noted possible gully route to linkup excellent fall line from funnel-shaped bowl at ridgeline to valley near camp. Rode steep open moraine near camp.
Evening: Camp II: Booties: Camp Causal: Beer, Hard Liquor
Ingested meat and quantities of Stolichnaya sports drink. Noted excellent star conditions. Rejoiced.
Night: Pass Out: None: Fart Sack: Water
Heavy tired sleep.





Fig 4

DAY 2
Morning: Bacon: Booties: Camp Casual: Coffee w. Liquor, Water
Day began warm and drizzly. Consumed extra coffee with liquor. Bacon was excellent.
Day: Touring I: Boots: Touringwear: Hot Sports
Toured upvalley and through trees to gain a headwall. Scoped potential good line between headwall and moraine from previous Sundowner. Determined that site above headwall (2000m) may have been better camp location to avoid freezing level issues. Rode two good pow turns before descending into schmoo.
Siesta: Camp I: Booties: Touringwear: Hot Sports, Beer
Returned to camp due to poor weather and snow conditions. Began drinking. Sat under tarp in lawn chairs, laughed, played dominoes.
Sundowner: n/a: n/a: n/a: n/a
Drinking.
Evening: Camp II: Booties: Camp Causal: Beer, Hard Liquor
Continued drinking, interrupted by grilled meat and vegetables.
Night: Pass Out: None: Fart Sack: Water
Heavy drunken sleep.





Fig 5

DAY 3
Morning: Bacon: Booties: Camp Casual: Coffee w. Liquor, Water
Day began sunny with scattered clouds. Bacon was excellent.
Day: Touring I: Boots: Touringwear: Hot Sports
Toured to ridgeline above funnel-shaped bowl noted on Day 1 in glorious sunshine, then convective clouds. Altered upper descent route from funnel-shaped bowl due to excessive risk involving objective hazards accompanying bowl access (i.e. left mountaineering gear in camp, could not traverse through steep, exposed cliff band). Alternate route still provided bitchin’ linkup to gully line scoped on Day 1 (Figure 5, note marring by heli tracks): >1000m total vertical, average inclination = 35-40 degrees. Thoroughly smashing.
Siesta: Camp I: Booties: Touringwear: Hot Sports, Beer
Forgot to apply sun block, returned to camp with hot face. Attempted emergency cooling with last of beer. Mixed results, but tasty.
Sundowner: Touring II: Boots: Touringwear: Water
Tour in glorious sunshine then golden evening light, highlighted by chain-slashing down a moderately steep moraine spine near camp (Figure 6). Howled like madman.
Evening: Camp II: Booties: Camp Causal: Hard Liquor, Water
Roasted sweet potatoes, grilled buffalo steak, enjoyed cold Sammy B.
Night: Pass Out: None: Fart Sack: Water
Heavy tired sleep.





Fig 6

DAY 4
Morning: Bacon: Booties: Camp Casual: Coffee w. Liquor, Water
Day began bluebird. Stoke levels high for glacier travel action. Bacon was excellent.
Day: Touring I: Boots: Touringwear: Hot Sports, Water
Toured up the moraine, shredded down to a lake (Figure 7), skinned up at a lovely terminal ice cave (Figure 8), then up the glacier. Heavy scoping of heavy couloir line option off peak above. Turned corner to find a recent, Canadian Avalanche Association size classification three, natural avalanche from steep convex north facing alpine roll. Suspicions re: conditions confirmed. Immediately thereafter felt decrease in heavy line scoping activity. Continued enjoyable tour up long, rolling glacier (Figure 9). Sun oppressively hot at times; made extra water with micro stove setup while lathering on sun block. Wished for super light brimmed hat. Excellent long, rolling simul-descent down aforementioned long, rolling glacier (Figure 10). Crossed lake, skinned back up moraine, bagged stupendous bonus line between moraine and headwall scoped on Day 2 (Figure 11), carving around and over old glide crack releases to valley bottom. Skinned up for bonus bonus line down moraine as sunset began.
Siesta: Camp I: Booties: Camp Casual: Hot Sports, Hard Liquor
Long travel day, began relaxing as stars came out.
Sundowner: n/a : n/a: n/a : n/a
Drinking and relaxing.
Evening: Camp II: Booties: Camp Causal: Water, Hard Liquor
Feasted and relaxed. Discovered excellent Bengal Spice and Fireball combination. Noted excellent star conditions. Verified excellence of Bengal Spice and Fireball.
Night: Pass Out: None: Fart Sack: Water
Heavy tired sleep.





Fig 7

DAY 5
Morning: Bacon: Booties: Camp Casual: Coffee w. Liquor, Water
Day began warm with broken to overcast skies. Discussed concerns re: weather conditions for heli extraction. Began planning food rations; discovered that food remained plentiful. Rations unnecessary. Bacon was excellent. Discussed concerns re: liquor supply. Passed Jaeger bottle around, finished liquor supply, no more concerns. Packed up camp with renewed optimism.
Day: Touring I: Boots: Touringwear: Hot Sports
Toured to steep moraine near camp. Snow surface on moraine was becoming moist. Ski/board cuts on top of moraine produced several controlled wet surface releases to Canadian Avalanche Association size classification one.
Siesta: Camp I: Booties: Touringwear: Coffee w. liquor
Returned to camp to await potential helicopter extraction. Helicopter arrived as planned. Enjoyable flight out.
Sundowner: Soaking/Sauna/Steam: None :Boardies: Water.
Soaked. Saunaed. Steamed. Shaved. Applied balm to facial burns.
Evening: Patio: Flip-flops: Shorts : Fine wine.
Enjoyed excellent restaurant meal. Compared notes with trip mates, arrived at consensus of Fun observed throughout duration of base camp Adventure Trip experiment. Made toasts.
Night: Pass Out: None: Sweet Bed: Water
Applied more balm to facial burns. Corpselike sleep.





Fig 8

ANALYSIS
Overall, the trip was unanimously deemed Fun by the three parties involved. However, it was found that every single phase of every single day of the trip was Fun, making it statistically impossible to identify which Fun Factors are most important. Nonetheless, the experiment was a success, with all factors considered making a generally positive contribution to Maximum Fun levels.

Several improvements to the base camp backcountry ski and snowboard trip experiment will be made for the next version:
1. All gear will be assembled and tested prior to departure. In this case, the line splitter for the propane system lacked some necessary fittings, so it was impossible to run the stove and barbeque simultaneously. This was an impediment to food and water - based Fun Factors.
2. A bigger tarp will henceforth be brought to shelter the kitchen area, minimising exposure to weather conditions and suffering, that could be potentially un-Fun.
3. All future water pots will no longer be submitted to excessive and unsupervised heating, and subsequent destruction. This has shown to be a detriment to Fun. This new water pot program will be enabled by always turning the master propane valve off when leaving the kitchen area.
4. A lightweight, fast drying brimmed cap is crucial to spring glacier travel Fun. Otherwise, the experimenter may be left feeling sun-slapped and not having Fun.
5. Camp sites will henceforth be selected to sit at 1900m or higher, so that the odds of consistent subzero temperatures (especially during precipitation events) are improved, decreasing the likelihood of sitting in the un-Fun rain.
6. The selection and timing of trips should be made to avoid encounters with roving airships full of heli-skiers, as the accompanying noise pollution and aesthetically difficult snow surface scarring (due to excess turning and tightness of tracks) can dramatically decrease feelings of wilderness Fun.
7. Beer levels must be maximised. It is recommended to bring more beer than flight weight limits will allow, removing only that which is necessary to allow the helicopter to embark.




Fig 9

CONCLUSIONS
With study of proper logistics, a base camp ski and snowboard backcountry trip may yield nothing but Fun. It may prove impossible to identify the contribution of each Fun Factor to overall Fun levels, but that is worthy of further experimental efforts. Maximum Fun levels can be always be improved by careful post-trip analysis for future planning.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This experiment would have not been possible without equal contributions from fellow hedonism scientists GJ and Oxner, who, with their participation, enabled the large part of the Fun involved with this trip. Special thanks are owed to the spring snowpack climatology of the Columbia Mountains, which kicks ass.

APPENDIX
PARTIAL GEAR CHECKLIST FOR SNOW BASE CAMPS
Communications:
programmable radio/sat phone/cell phone

Camp Casual Life (to stay dry and comfy):
down/synthetic insulation jacket - or one of each for optimum warmth and warmth when wet combos
fleece/down pants
fleece socks
down booties
camp fleece top
camp thin gloves liners with leather work gloves
camp toque
folding lawn chair or foam butt pad





Figure 10

Kitchen:
chopping board
many lighters
big plastic measuring cup (1 per person)
spork (1 per person)
big chopping knife
cooler for meats and non-freezables, etc.
big Rubbermaid bucket with lid for dry goods and kitchen packing
plastic ladle
plastic spatula
big ass pot with lid to make water
another pot, medium-to-big ass
two burner propane stove
propane hibachi
10lb propane tank
propane line T-splitter, fittings, and hoses (simultaneous BBQ and stove)
baking sheet AKA BBQ griddle
big skillet
go-mug
sanitary stuff (dish soap, pot scrubber, hand sanitiser gel, baby wipes)
big strong garbage bag
big strong recycling bag
tupperware full of kitchen items - oil, dish soap, scrubber, hand gel, salt and pepper (built in grinder)
stovetop espresso maker, size L





Fig 11

Shelter and Sleeping:
mattress - two thin or one thick
tent foam floor - thin backpacking foam, cut to fit - reduces moisture
four-season tent for each person
four-season sleeping bag (rated to -20C)
fleece-lined stuff sack / pillow
good book
big tarp (silicone kind saves weight) for kitchen
20m of 2mm cord
“whiffle” golf balls for tent anchors

Other:
headlamp with extra batteries