Trip Report: by Christopher Tower

February 24

For days I had been following a possible noreaster that was to hit the region, in hopes of finally having a real storm leave us with what we could hopefully call an epic pow day. As I awoke I realized that here in Colchester VT it had snowed a mere 3-4 inches overnight. I was beginning to doubt mother nature yet again. I poured my morning coffee while getting the gear piled up and ready for the day when the phone rang (6:00am). It was Dana Carpenter, calling to inform me that he received roughly two feet of powder overnight in Jeffersonville, and it was still dumping. This was instant motivation to get out the door faster. The rest of the phone calls were made and we hit the road to film at a somewhat new location to us.

As we made our way towards the mountains the snowfall was barely noticeable until we reached Underhill. I swear, you could see the line where 3-4 inches of snow became more like 8-12. We arrived at the lot pumped to see what happened at the upper elevations. We quickly geared up and began the trudge through deep untracked snow. By the time we arrived at the location we wanted to film at the snow was around 30 inches deep, and it began to fall harder than it had the entire storm cycle.

We spent the day building all sorts of features and riding some incredibly deep powder. It continued to snow harder, and by 1:00pm we could only see a mere 15 feet in front of ourselves. We did our best to ride, hit jumps, and film in this incredible white out. By the time we were ready to pack out for the day we measured roughly 40 inches of snow, and still falling!

We returned to this same location the following morning to find another 12+ of some of the lightest Champlain powder possible, not to mention the perfect bluebird skies. The snow was so good that we continued to hit fresh lines in this region for not only a second, but also a third day in a row!

February 27

A few of us here at GMR Films were taking the next four days to rest up, and get our gear prepped for our first camping trip of the season. This was the first day we realized that plans can change quickly. Upon waking up (after sleeping in longer than normal) I answered a phone call from Nate Young, who was out getting a few turns in the Notch. Upon informing me that the snow was beginning to fall yet again up there and the winds picking up, we made plans to spend the next two days hitting fresh windblown lines. This was a Tuesday and a Wednesday, so it was perfect. Not a soul in the Notch on either day, and it was all ours for the taking.

March 1

We were set to hit the road for Mt. Washington today, but our plans changed quickly yet again. The night before the weather forecasted in the White Mountains looked perfect, but overnight the predictions changed drastically. Heavy winds (100+mph) and extreme low temps (-20) forced us to find a more suitable place to set up camp, at least until the crazy weather passed. Our last second decision was to camp out in the Smugglers Notch in a secluded area that we knew would be a great place to hang out for a few days, and wake up to some pretty epic lines.

With a late start, we arrived to set up camp with only about an hour of daylight left. Perfect in my opinion, since limited time can really test ones survival skills. It was cold and windy up there that night. Within the first hour out there, we set up our tents and began to shovel our soon to be snow fortress (Little did we know at that time that we would do more shoveling than riding on this trip). The first night we cleared a 10 foot by 15 foot area, building snow walls that were around 5 feet tall throughout the entire fortress. We put a fire pit in the middle, and set it ablaze. The warmth of the fire was nice, but the winds were howling and pushing the smoke from the fire down into our hangout. After dinner we put together a plan to turn this into even more of livable area for the next nights work (you have to keep busy when you are out there in the elements of a winters night). We turned in for the night around 2:00am and awoke to a dusting of new snow. After firing up our stoves and making some much needed coffee, we began pointing out the lines and features we each wanted to destroy. The riding started with a few lines that from a distance would look good to almost anybody, however upon arrivial atop of them it was a much different picture. I looked at this line from the bottom and it looked clear with only a few trees to get around. Once standing above though, I realized it was going to be sketchy. There were an abundance of small trees, bushes, and other little pokey things coming out of the snow. We were already there though, and we didn’t hike out of camp up these lines to walk back down. That was quite a way to wake up and start your day; tree branches slapping you in the face the whole way down!

After realizing that some of the other scouted sections of terrain appeared to have similar conditions, we looked at some of the big lines right behind our camp. Pure white gold, I say. The steepest, most open chutes with plenty of fresh, unridden powder to go around. We filmed in this zone until around 3:00 when we decided it would be a good time to go back to camp, gather fire wood for the night, and continue building our snow home. The walls grew that night to around eight feet tall, and we dug individual caves into the walls for sleeping. Around 8:00pm snowflakes began to fall. We all turned in earlier than the previous night in hopes of waking up early for some pow shredding. We awoke earlier as planned, but we didn’t ride a single line that day. Snow fell overnight, but by 8:00am the snow had turned a rainy messy mix. We did attempt to get some turns in, but after walking no more than 100 yards we realized we would be soaked beyond what we could possibly dry out by our fire. Instead we spent the day mentally prepping for phase two of our trip (Mt. Washington), and further customizing our caves. It was funny actually to see the progression of how our snow caves began as just simple dug out holes in the snow, to becoming extravagant, almost luxurious, holes in the snow. I built a roof across the entrance of my cave with pine boughs to block any snow/ran that may come down at night. This inspired Nate to improve the entrance of his hideaway in a similar fashion, even out doing mine a bit. This in turn helped John to build his super cave with a pine bough wall that could have kept most any blizzard from ever entering his sleeping quarters. Did I mention luxury?

The next day we packed up our touring sled and headed out of the mountains for a night. This gave us all a chance to come home for a night to dry our gear out completely, and grab any last minute items needed for our next portion of our trip. This was to be one night home, and then hitting the road in the morning, but things changed again. Once home I was able to get a detailed report of Mt. Washington, and things were looking fairly decent as long as we took one more day at home to let some crazy arctic air pass out of the Presidential range.

March 6

We hit the road, finally. The weather appeared to have a clear 3 day and night window, there was a full moon coming, and we were going. Even though we left a 6:00am, we still didn’t arrive at the Pinkham Notch parking lot until 1:30pm. There were a few extra items that we decided to pick up, and while we were off the main path we were able to scout a few possible filming locations for when there is snow again.

We checked in at the center and received our ticket to stay at the Hermit Lake shelters for the next three nights. I remember the lady at the front desk saying “You boys may have picked the best three day window of the winter!” This got us super pumped to get up to camp and start dreaming of the shred to come. Our sled weighs a lot though, and the reality of dragging it to the shelters set in quick. On a normal day we could hike to the base of the ravine in less than 2 hours. With a three person team pushing and pulling our gear up the trail it took us roughly three hours. Most people would call it hell, but it was all part of the adventure for us. Besides, our sled is packed like very few others out there. It carries all of our survival gear, camera equipment, dehydrated meals, and many pounds of bacon. Mmmm, bacon, pear, and cheddar.

We made it to set up our lean-to around 5:30. Dinner was cooked once we were settled in and we snapped some photos/videos of the night sky with a nearly full moon passing over. Not a bad way to start the stay on Washington.

March 7

After sleeping through a pretty cold night (5-10degrees), we awoke to sunny skies and not a single cloud. It was warming up fast, too. The many layers you slept in were already too much at 7:30am in the heat of the sun. We spoke with the caretaker that morning and read all the avalanche bulletins. Most stuff out there was moderate to considerable danger, and with the warm temperatures, there was concern that a lot of terrain could slide. We were able to get to the lower snowfields, by hiking up Hillmans Highway to where the two merge. As much as we wanted to head to the top of the Highway, we chose not to. We spoke with a few locals and saw some fractures up higher that were reported to have happened when a skier took a tumble the day before we arrived.
After a day of some interesting riding where snow conditions were changing every hour we made it back to the lean-to to rest up, and eat lots of bacon.

March 8

I awoke a few times in the night to some rumbling noises, but quickly fell back asleep each time. And to my surprise everybody woke up well rested on this morning. We made a pot of coffee, and spoke with the rangers about the conditions. Things were looking good, other than the rubble everywhere. Turns out the rumbling I heard in the night was Hillman’s Highway, and numerous other nearby lines had slid overnight. Some of them were big, and they all left chunky wet heavy snow in their paths. The good news was that there were a few lines in Tuckerman Ravine that were at low avalanche warnings, the bad news was that the sun was to get pushed out by heavy winds and rain moving in throughout the day. Gusts were to reach around 120mph!. We hiked up to the bowl anyway, and fought the wind as long as the sun was out. We were able to film some lines, and hit some cliffs, but mother nature was getting rough with us as the day progressed. After managing to stay out until about 2:30pm we decided that we had to get back to camp or we would never dry out, especially since we heard it was supposed to get into the low teens that night.

We headed back to camp where we hung out our soaking wet gear to dry on the cabin rafters. After a couple hours had passed our gear was not drying, it was getting dark and beginning to rain harder. This is when we really tested our abilities to change plans. Nate realized the wet gear and cold temps scenario approaching and came up with the idea of leaving early. The points were all in favor of heading out a night early. Our gear would have been frozen by morning, the terrain would be hardpack/icy again and we would be miserable. It was decided quickly that we should pack up and head down the mountain. It took us no more than 20 minutes to have our gear packed in the sled, and be started back down the mountain just as the daylight went away. What seemed like an eternity carrying our gear up the mountain was a a mere flash of time on the way down.

We arrived at the truck, loaded up, and called a random hotel for the night to get some beer and relax. It was totally our lucky night, because Mt. Washington did see extreme winds, and super freezing conditions that night into the next morning. We could have been miserable, but instead we were getting warm and dried out. Well, sort of anyway. It urned out that this random hotel we called had an indoor water park. Oh Yes! trip complete.

Here is our latest Clip Of The Week, showing some scenes from our recent trip. Featuring music from Addison Chase, with the song “Old Home Days”. You can listen to more at http://www.reverbnation.com/addisonchase

With the crazy weather we have had this season, it seems as though winter just began a few weeks ago. Yet it is in the 60’s and 70’s every day now and we are losing snow faster than most people can ever remember. We normally have a lot more riding and filming to do this time of year, but things seem to be wrapping up early. That said we hope to have more edits before the snow is officially gone, but only time will tell.

Our kicker set up this week was a full public showing as we chose the Circ Highway for our throwdown location. We started with some hard work shoveling up a pretty good sized jump, packing a wide run up, and salting it to perfection. After we let the snow harden up enough to shape it out, the real fun began. We all took advantage of the nearly perfect takeoff and powdery landing zone. It was definitely pretty cool to hear the support of passersby, as they honked and screamed out their windows.

We encountered some of the steepest lines we have ever ridden this past week in search of some cliffs. The lay of the land was so steep in the areas we were in that you literally had to hold on to not fall off what you had just hiked. We recorded Elliot Roberts as he crawled up a near 60 degree slope, hanging on to the few trees that grew there. With every step he was setting off small snow slides that were actually pretty powerful as they built momentum coming down the steep pitch. The exhausting climb payed off however, with some sick pow and a cliff shot to start the run. You will have to watch Rip The Greens to see most of what we found out there!
We also just got back from our second trip out to The Devils Playground, a private back country park in Jeffersonville, Vermont. This time we were further out then normal, hitting some nasty cliff drops with kickers that ensured high flying fun through the trees! The sun even came out to play with us as we enjoyed the bounty of fresh pow that dropped the other night. Looks like more of the same is on its way this weekend, and we couldn’t be happier.

As for the Clip of The Week, we bring you some Roadside Bombing, as we showcase a few hits from our Circ kicker build. Thanks to Paul Newman of Milton, Vermont, for providing us with the song “Times Of Our Life (The Journey)”. We will be doing our best to update over the next week as we continue our move to Underhill, along with our busy filming schedule.

RIP THE GREENS!

In the past two weeks we have explored a section of the Green Mountains that has proven to be a goldmine for filming opportunities. There is seemingly consistent snowfall (fresh lines all day every time we head there), and features galore. There is so much terrain that we have decided to push even further in the near future to find some even more unknown pow stashes. We will be in full winter camping mode as we attempt to find some never-before filmed locations here in Vermont

Over the past month we have also had an influx of new Vermont-based musicians submitting music for not only our Clip of the Week series, but also for our feature film, Rip The Greens. We have had entries of many genres including punk, metal, rock, folk, rap, jam, and more. Some of these musicians are just incredible, and we cannot wait to see who makes the final cut for RIP THE GREENS. We are using one of the newly submitted music for this week’s Clip of the Week. The band is called Uncle Dad and The Family Secret, a three piece pop punk band hailing from Killington, VT.

This weeks Clip of the Week features Elliot Roberts, Chris Tower, John Beaudin, and Alex Miller, all of whom have been working hard to nail some shots for the film. Not only do we earn our turns and shots here, but we also build and hand sculpt all of our features in the backcountry. Sometimes we go on all-day hikes and come home empty handed (no shots to show for), but this past week proved fruitful. Filming went off to near perfection, with powder landings, face shots, and some cool natural tree jibs. You will have to wait for Rip The Greens to come out to see most of these shots, but with no further ado, this is what the Green Mountain Rippers have been up to lately!

This coming week is going to be a busy one for us as the flakes keep falling, and the powder is getting deeper. AND…There are only two weeks left until a majority of the team riders will be off from their day Jobs, to commit two full weeks of filming. We will be doing some camping and traveling starting in the beginning of February, with planned trips to Big Jay, Mt. Washington, the Franconia Notch, closed down Ascutney, and many more locations. The season is just starting to pick up, and things are going to get better as we move through the next few months. We are working so hard to bring you not only the first real Powder film from Vermont, but also a one of a kind VT winter experience that most people could never handle. RIP THE GREENS!

We had a great day out this past Saturday, we went on a mission. It was New Years Day, and we wanted to start the new year out with something awesome. We woke up early (not an easy task for most the morning after New Years Eves) and packed all our usual gear, along with an over-sized shovel. By 9:00am it was nearly 50 degrees outside, and we were ready to build up some features. The goal for the day was to take some natural cliffs, trees, knolls, and ledges, and turn them into something worth filming. We knew the snow was going to be perfect for sculpting, and the upper elevations still had a lot to offer in terms of snowpack. We were headed to a section of a mountain we had stumbled upon the previous Friday.

The landing was no more than fifteen feet wide, through and over trees, and there was no room for error. Even on the run out, a simple mistake could cost somebody greatly. We NEVER reccommend that anybody set out to build kickers in the woods, ever. We have been doing this for years, and know what we are doing and getting into. Bad things can and will happen, even to those with lots of experience, like our riders. Our crew has already had a few injuries so far this season, and many close calls. Saturday was no exception on those close calls, although thankfully there were no serious injuries.

The weather is finally starting to feel like winter again, with much colder temperatures than this past weekend. There is even a little snow in the forecast for this coming week! With the holidays going on, we haven’t had a chance to  post anything for a few weeks, let alone update our Clip of The Week segment. So without further ado, here is our 4th Clip of The Week this season, and lets keep up the hope of more snow to come our way!

**Here is a bonus video clip from one of the powder days just before Christmas, up on Camels Hump. Point of View run with Chris Tower, down a beautiful secluded set of woods.***

This past week we chose to test the liner alone, and the jacket alone, both in similar conditions. Over the next few weeks when the temperatures really start to nosedive, we will be testing the entire zip together package. First, a look at the liner. It is able to be zipped into its matching jacket, and its interior is lined with the Omni Heat system throughout the core and arms. It is extremely lightweight, and allows full freedom of movement, both of which are aspects we feel are extremely vital doing what we do. As far as the warmth provided, this product really seems to prove itself. It has now become a layering ingredient of choice. While we have yet to really test the durability and full waterproof abilities of the outer jacket, so far we are pleased with this product as well. The jacket is lined with the Omni Heat system throughout the core. This may be the only setback with this coat, as it could really have used the Omni Heat lining through the shoulder and arm areas. Other than that, it is extremely functional. Pockets are placed everywhere, and the zippers and fastening systems are top notch. No worries of zipper breakdowns or water leakage. The hood system seems to really lock out the elements, allowing us to stay warm and dry. The adjustable visor is great for molding around goggles.

As the colder weather approaches we will be putting the Omni Heat system to the test with some of the worst winter weather conditions Vermont has to offer. We will report again in a few weeks as to how this gear is holding up to the elements, and to the demands of filming in the backcountry.

This past week, we were able to get a variety of shredding in. We were able to get some deep powder turns in up on Camels Hump, and some not so deep pow turns out in Addison County. We also were able to hit up The Devils Playground. A back woods park built by one of the riders we film, located in the lower mountains of Jeffersonville VT. The park consists of multiple rails mounted to naturally existing trees, tree jibs, a few kickers (that were not ready to be hit yet), and an old beat up truck hip. It was a good time had by all though, and we look forward to seeing a bit more snowpack on the park, and in the woods in the following weeks to come. As promised, here is our second clip of the week for the season, featuring Elliot Roberts, Chris Tower, John Beaudin, and newcomer Dana Carpenter.

Clip of the week 12/14/2010 from Chris Tower on Vimeo.

]]> http://gmrfilms.com/2010/12/the-devils-playground/feed/ 1 http://gmrfilms.com/2010/10/return-of-winter/ http://gmrfilms.com/2010/10/return-of-winter/#comments Mon, 18 Oct 2010 22:01:54 +0000 Chris Tower http://gmrfilms.com/?p=539 October 15, a large (very large) nor’easter swept through New England, dropping heavy rain upon the region. The Green Mountains however were pounded with the first snowfall of the season. Killington, Stratton, and Sugarbush were the first mountains here in Vermont reporting not only snowfall, but accumulating snowfall. We here at GMR Films had been tracking, and anticipating what this storm may bring, since earlier on in the week. When Friday rolled around, and the first reports of snow came in, we went into a frenzy… Winter gear that hadn’t seen daylight in months (since the blessed Mothers day storm) was strewn all over the place as we tried to find the essentials. Bindings were pulled from our good boards, and switched to our ever so trusty “Rock Boards”. A giant roll of duct tape was one of the necessites as some of us realized we had broken stuff, and ripped clothing from last season that we had neglected to fix/replace until we needed it. Well, we needed it. Late Friday night we were at the Matterhorn in Stowe VT, to film Musical Manslaughter (an up and coming VT metal band), and the snow was just puking from the heavens above. We knew that this was it. We were about to experience the earliest natural snow day we had seen in over ten years.

Saturday, October 16, 7:30am.
The phone began to ring as the riders were getting itchy to see what if any snow was ridable on the mountain. After some deliberation, we decided that the point of the highest elevation would most likely prove to be the best place to find the snow, so off to the Stowe resort we went. We arrived to a windy, rainy parking lot filled with many other like minded individuals, trying to get the first day of the season in. Snow had fallen overnight, sticking, and providing coverage about 95% of the way from summit to parking lot. As we geared up to start the hike, we could hear screams of joy echoing through the mountains, as a group of skiers came cruising down towards the lot. This is when we knew it was about to be a good day. We had no idea though, as to just how good it could get. First snow of the season usually means minimal coverage, rocks, stumps, roots, and mud. As we tromped our way towards the summit, we collectively realized that we were not going to see many of those obstacles until the bottom portion of the hill. By the time we hit the half way point, the snow pack was around 6-8 inches, with drifts as deep as two feet. We were Stoked, and only halfway up! When we arrived at the summit, we were greeted by 50-60mph gusts of wind, and heavy snow falling from the sky. There was roughly 12-18 inches of heavy snow, with drifts that were near four feet deep! We had originally had the intentions of hiking this to get our first runs in, however we quickly decided that we needed to have some real fun. We were able to build the first kicker of the season, while it was nothing special, it still sent us near 30 feet in distance! Elliot Roberts was the first of our crew, and probably the first in the state to start dropping cliffs.

Let It Snow from Chris Tower on Vimeo.

After a couple hours on the summit of Mt. Mansfield, we were ready to get our first real runs of the year in. It was pretty amazing. We were able to ride most of the way to the parking lot, as some of the snow that was covering the ground on our way up, had since melted away with the rain (we only had to walk about 150 yards back to our cars). The first day of the season came and went so quickly, and so early. It still feels so surreal. Never the less, it was great to be back on the hill, enjoying riding, and though we were filming some of it, it was nice to have “no pressure” as we do when we are in mid season. Speaking of which, we have many new places to share with the world this season, right here in VT that have never been filmed at. And our riders are ready to push the bounds again as to what can be accomplished here in the dense woods of the Green Mountains. Keep on praying for more snow, make sacrifices if necessary, and get ready to Rip The Greens!!!

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