First post: up to the Hogsback - 12.30.12

I am finally kicking off this blog, and reliving some of the good times I have had these past few weeks since setting up my first split.

Hogsback - wishing I packed sunglasses

But first, let me introduce myself: my name is Har Rai (whole first name; hippy parents) and I was born and raised in Portland, OR, where I learned to ski and snowboard on the slopes of Mt. Hood. I started skiing at age 4 at Mt. Hood Meadows. I also spent a lot of time skateboarding and windsurfing, and by the time I was 10, I didn't want to do anything other than boardsports and so I upgraded (yes, that's right) to a snowboard. I have had a resort pass most years since, and for the last 16 years, I have spent as much time as possible up on Hood--freeriding at Meadows, snowshoeing and camping with family and friends in the backcountry, competing in OISA and USASA events in highschool, coaching Grant high school's snowboard team while in college, and now working (for free) as a ski patroller. I relearned how to ski these past couple of years, and occasionally you will find me ski patrolling, but you are much more likely to see me on a snowboard. When it comes to working as a backcountry patroller,  I now exclusively splitboard. Yes, a nordic snowboarder--the rarest breed.

I spent a lot of my childhood hiking, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing on Mt. Hood, but I never really had the equipment to make backcountry the primary focus. Last year was my first year as a ski patroller, and in the process, I got certifications in Mountain Travel and Rescue, Level 1 Avalanche, Outdoor Emergency Care, and more importantly, I met a bunch of touring and climbing partners. Joining the Nordic Patrol gave me a great excuse to spend way too much money on everything I needed to splitboard, and quitting my position as a Snowboard coach--and thus losing my season pass benefits--committed me to the backcountry program and earning my turns if I wanted to ride.

I am creating this blog to document and share my adventures splitboarding in Oregon and beyond, and also to help others by sharing what I have learned throughout the process. Splitboarding is blowing up, but it is still a small niche of the snowboard market, and information can be hard to come by. I might be new to this specific aspect of snowboarding, but I have a lot of experience riding solid boards, and testing and selling gear--I worked in a surf/windsurf/snowboard shop for 8 years, and tested windsurfing gear professionally for 2--and I have been able to apply that to finding the best splitboarding gear that is out there and figuring out tricks and solutions to making it work as well as it can in a whole system. I will cover all of that here, to save you the time that it took me to find answers and solutions while getting everything set up.

TRIP PHOTOS AFTER THE JUMP



What this blog will be:

• Photos and stories from my trips to get you stoked to go out and have your own adventures.
• A detailed look at the gear that I use.
• A place to share the tricks and tips that I find along the way, to help get the most performance out the gear.
• A resource for other splitboarders--ask me anything.
• Whatever else it turns into.

What this blog won't be:

• A travel guide. Except for the most common and obvious routes, I won't list names or directions. Go out and explore for yourself--I wouldn't want to deprive you of the experience.
• A comprehensive gear guide. I do a lot of research and choose the gear that I think is best. I am happy to share my quest for perfect gear, but I don't have any interest in evaluating all the gear that is out there.
• Whatever else I don't want it to be.

Alright, so I think that about covers it.

...Oh, I think I promised you a trip up to the Hogsback.

So, back on the 30th of December, 2012, I decided to skin up to the Hogsback. Actually that isn't how it happened at all. Taking a step back. On the 29th of December, my friend Whit and I decided to skin up to Illumination Rock and ride down under the full moon. The NW had been getting hammered by storms for as long as I can remember, and we finally had a pretty solid weather window forming. As I was driving through Sandy, I got called up because of a lost/injured snowshoer in the woods around Government Camp. This gave me a perfect opportunity to hammer on my new gear in touring mode, and also to spend the rest of the afternoon dragging the injured person uphill through the new snow. Don't worry, they were fine--aided by the ability of a small group of us to quickly move through densely treed areas and deep snow--where snowmobiles, and some crazy contraption owned by the Sherrif's office, weren't able to travel. +1 for manpower and skinning. It also gave me the opportunity to watch that sunny forecast fall apart and for the snow to return--luckily from a low on the mountain and in the trees, rather than high on the glacier.

After a few good hours to testing the traction of my skins and the breathability of my outerwear, I decided to sleep in the back of my truck in the Timberline parking lot, and wait and see what the weather had in store for me either later in the night, or early the next morning. What the Timberline parking lot had in store for me was a high school rave, but that's another story.

Slide Debris (on the descent)

I woke up around 6 am to perfectly clear skies and no wind. I got ready, and was skinning up past the lodge at 7. Whit had gone back to Hood River the night before, and so I was on a solo mission. The early morning light was amazing, and the sun rose surprisingly quickly. By 8:45 I was at the top of the Palmer lift, and watching climbers turn around because the snow was too deep to travel without the flotation of a board, or skis, or snowshoes. My 161 Jones Solution was definitely the tool for the day, and I was staying on top of the snow better than anyone. It was still pretty early and the snow looked great on the higher mountain, so I decided to keep heading up towards Crater Rock rather than cutting over to Illumination. On the way, I saw debris from a huge avalanche that had run all the way from above Castle Crags down to the bottom of Illumination Rock. There was some new snow covering the debris, so I think it occurred naturally during the last storm cycle.

I came to the end of the skin track about 500 feet below crater rock. A Portland Mountain Rescue Ready Team was taking a break there. I thought that this would be a good opportunity to jump in with a skilled group for heading higher, and into the crater. The summit began to enter my mind. I offered to help break trial on the way up, which was a good introduction, and I pretty quickly was meeting the whole team. There are definitely some highly knowledgeable individuals in that organization, and I was able to pick up some tips on many different aspects of mountain travel, snowpack evaluation, etc.

"Let's go there!"

This is getting a bit long, so I'm just going to get to the point and the pictures. We made it up the Hogsback about as far as we could while skinning, and then realized that the snow was waist to chest deep when you're out of your bindings.

We had all been at it for a while now, and decided that the final push would probably be more of a swim than a bootpack, and a supreme pain in the ass to be sure. I resolved to get some Verts with Karakoram Adaptors for next time, and strapped in for the ride down.

PMR Ready Team, ready for first tracks

The snow was perfect! So good! Definitely some of the best and driest that I have ever ridden on Mt. Hood. We dropped off on the east side of the Hogsback, got some turns, traversed around Crater Rock, dropped down the south-westerly face of that, went over and rode the east aspect of Illumination rock, and then got turns all the way down to the parking lot. Truly an epic day, and definitely one I won't soon forget.

Fresh tracks

From Illumination Rock looking at Crater Rock

Suunto log from the day:

Total time: 5:38'57
Ascent: 4843ft for 3:25'14 avg 23ft/min
Descent: 4908ft for 30'57 svg 157ft/min