1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,440
And I think that's what made it a very successful trip for us,

2
00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:10,120
because each day we were just like, oh my god, that was amazing.

3
00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:12,800
And the other part, too, being at sea level,

4
00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,160
you're like, oh, we can climb about 7,000 feet today

5
00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:20,080
and just ski amazing snow with very little risk,

6
00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:24,240
looking at the ocean and have an amazing time.

7
00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:28,400
And for me, that's recalibrated as I've gotten older.

8
00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:30,960
For me, those are more important than skiing a steep line,

9
00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,560
which I hate to admit, but eventually all the steep lines

10
00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,520
I've skied, I kind of forget them.

11
00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:39,400
Like I can remember little bits and pieces.

12
00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,720
They seemed super important at the time,

13
00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:43,920
like worth risking one's life for.

14
00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:48,120
But 10, 15 years later, I'm like, oh, I kind of remember

15
00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,640
who I did that with and I remember a little bit about it,

16
00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:52,000
but not that much.

17
00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:53,680
Whereas I got to say, on this trip,

18
00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,080
I don't think I'm going to forget that anytime soon.

19
00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:57,880
Welcome to All Aspects, a podcast

20
00:00:57,880 --> 00:00:59,920
where we explore, discuss, and celebrate

21
00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:02,160
adventure culture and outdoor lifestyle.

22
00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:04,360
It is our mission to educate, inform, and entertain

23
00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:06,120
our fellow adventurers about the inherent risks

24
00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:08,560
that surround us every time we go outside to play.

25
00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:10,440
And to provide you with the knowledge and tools

26
00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:12,120
to help you do the things you love the most

27
00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:13,800
in the safest way possible.

28
00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,040
All Aspects is brought to you by Aspect Abbey.

29
00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,000
Aspect Abbey is on a mission to save lives

30
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,080
by making avalanche safety simple.

31
00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:22,520
It is the only app that tells you where the high

32
00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,240
and low risk zones are for today's avalanche danger.

33
00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:28,760
With a suite of built-in tools like forecast verification,

34
00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:30,920
slope meter, and gear checklist,

35
00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:32,880
Aspect Abbey is the new safety standard

36
00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:34,240
for avalanche risk management.

37
00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:35,800
Remember, there are dozens of apps

38
00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:37,120
that get you into the back country,

39
00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,760
but there's only one that's designed to bring you home.

40
00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:41,040
And that's Aspect Abbey.

41
00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,240
Go to aspectabbey.com to learn more

42
00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,080
or download the app to start your 30-day free trial.

43
00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:48,680
Thank you, Aspect Abbey, for making this show possible,

44
00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:50,440
and thank you for listening.

45
00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:52,880
All right, let's get to the show.

46
00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:57,880
All righty, Jeff, Jeffrey, Jefferson, welcome back.

47
00:01:58,000 --> 00:01:58,840
Danger day.

48
00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:00,440
Good to see you.

49
00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,320
Welcome back to both the podcast and to the states.

50
00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,320
We were just in Iceland for,

51
00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:09,720
well, you were there for six days, seven days.

52
00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,160
I was there for a little longer.

53
00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:13,520
It outblended together.

54
00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:14,360
I think it was a week,

55
00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,040
but man, it felt like significantly more.

56
00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,280
Yeah, it was crazy how having such little nighttime

57
00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:23,880
led to the whole trip feeling like

58
00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:28,280
sort of one really long day of adventuring, not like a week.

59
00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:29,520
Just to set the scene,

60
00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:34,520
we were leaving Colorado just kind of right as

61
00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,360
the snowpack here is starting to get more predictable.

62
00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,360
You know, we're starting to get those warmer days.

63
00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,280
The corn was starting to be harvestable.

64
00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,800
And then we left to,

65
00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:50,080
had Iceland where we, well, all of us,

66
00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,320
the whole crew we were with know nothing about the snowpack.

67
00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:57,760
And it was super wintery when we got there.

68
00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,280
Yeah, it was completely different conditions.

69
00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:03,760
You know, we went from T-shirt to straight up

70
00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:05,240
layer, layer, layer, layer.

71
00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:09,800
And the kind of the craziest part about it was,

72
00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:11,440
I just remember being in the airport

73
00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,000
when I was in Reykjavik,

74
00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,520
it started looking at the avalanche report for Iceland,

75
00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:18,760
you know, and trying to see like where we were gonna be.

76
00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:20,960
They fully know where we were gonna be.

77
00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:24,320
But it was a shocking avalanche report

78
00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:26,360
because I've never seen it say,

79
00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:31,040
we were at considerable danger, like that's fine.

80
00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:35,160
But then it said we had a wind slab

81
00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:36,680
and an old snow problem,

82
00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,200
which persistent layers in a coastal snowpack

83
00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:40,880
are pretty uncommon.

84
00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:43,920
It's like something that we've talked about on this.

85
00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:46,280
And also just we've, you know, we know this.

86
00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:49,320
I guess Iceland had a really weird kind of tail end

87
00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:51,120
of their winter where it just got cold

88
00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:52,480
and then just stayed cold.

89
00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:56,680
Just kept stacking storm and it got an old snow layer.

90
00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:00,080
And was it one incident or two incidents?

91
00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:01,200
A couple of people got caught.

92
00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,560
It doesn't sound like anyone was killed.

93
00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:08,400
The best part I saw was the snow cat at the ski area

94
00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,600
above the house we stayed at triggered a D3

95
00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,560
right on the side of the trail.

96
00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:17,680
It was like, whoa.

97
00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,320
And you see the snow cat and it looks like a toy snow cat

98
00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:22,840
because the D3 is so big.

99
00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:24,600
Oh my God.

100
00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,360
Okay, so that all happened before we got there.

101
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,000
And the crazy thing was like, yeah,

102
00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:34,000
it said D3s and D4s even could be triggered on all slopes.

103
00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:40,840
I've never seen the whole compass all blacked out.

104
00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:45,680
Like the critical danger zone was 100% of the zones.

105
00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,200
Yeah, so to recap, you're getting on the plane

106
00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:49,840
and you're seeing considerable danger.

107
00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:52,800
So human triggered avalanches are likely,

108
00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:54,320
right, you got old snow problem.

109
00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,280
And we know that old snow problem kills about 95%

110
00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:00,160
of the victims and you also have a wind slab

111
00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,680
and there are gonna be D3s, which is like destroy a car

112
00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,840
or wood framed house to D4s, which means a village

113
00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:11,520
or a forest, old growth forest.

114
00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,240
So it's pretty intimidating, right?

115
00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:15,640
Yeah, it was definitely,

116
00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:17,800
well, I definitely it was over my pay grade.

117
00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,600
As far as, you know, our plan was I was gonna hop off

118
00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,040
the plane and then you guys were gonna snag me

119
00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:28,880
and acuraity and we were gonna just head off to go ski

120
00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,160
because you guys had been there for a day already.

121
00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:33,880
Yeah, so I was gonna go like go on the lag.

122
00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:35,440
And we go ski right off the plane.

123
00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,280
Exactly, yeah.

124
00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:40,560
So I was like, well, how are we gonna manage this?

125
00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:43,280
Because, well, because of all the factors we just said,

126
00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:45,480
I was completely over my head.

127
00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:47,600
I had no idea how to handle this.

128
00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:51,440
So maybe figured we could walk through this a little bit.

129
00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:55,800
Not just the first day, but the whole week we were there,

130
00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:57,520
conditions were changing really rapidly,

131
00:05:57,520 --> 00:05:59,640
something we learned about Iceland quickly,

132
00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,960
which sounds silly to say out loud now,

133
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,720
but it's sort of the Arctic.

134
00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,920
And so things changed there even more rapidly

135
00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:11,040
than in Colorado, what we're used to.

136
00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:12,560
So we had to really adapt quickly

137
00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:14,960
and we had to have a good game plan going into the day

138
00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:17,040
of if this isn't gonna work,

139
00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:19,080
or if we get somewhere and the conditions are different

140
00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:20,760
than what we thought, like what's our plan B,

141
00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:22,840
what's our plan C, et cetera.

142
00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:26,480
So I thought it'd be cool if we could just maybe

143
00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:28,480
kind of do an Iceland debrief

144
00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:33,280
and then maybe talk about how we went about planning

145
00:06:33,280 --> 00:06:38,040
and staying within our safety guidelines

146
00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:39,440
in a totally new environment

147
00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:40,920
with rapidly changing conditions

148
00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,600
and super high consequences to be frank,

149
00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:48,240
probably the most dangerous conditions we were in all season.

150
00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:49,480
Yeah, yeah.

151
00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,320
Well, I think the first part is changing our mindset.

152
00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:54,360
And instead of being like,

153
00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:57,400
hey, we're gonna go really aggressive, it's like, whoa.

154
00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:01,760
We are gonna go conservative and we're gonna go beautiful.

155
00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:06,760
And hold up, just to give everyone the full view,

156
00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:09,280
the reason we had to change our mindset

157
00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:11,000
was because you kind of pitched this idea

158
00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,480
as like we're gonna go ski corn in Iceland.

159
00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:15,200
Because I thought you did last year.

160
00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:16,600
Yeah, mid-April.

161
00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:17,440
Yeah.

162
00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,560
So we were all expecting that.

163
00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:21,200
That's why we had to have this big shift

164
00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:22,480
in our whole game plan,

165
00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:23,320
because we were like, cool,

166
00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:24,720
we have to be t-shirt weather,

167
00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:26,120
we're gonna be skiing steep corn,

168
00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:27,720
it's gonna be awesome.

169
00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:28,840
And then winter struck

170
00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:31,000
and we were in a totally different situation.

171
00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,320
So continue from there.

172
00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:34,920
We had to adjust our mindset.

173
00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:36,280
So the professionals,

174
00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:38,960
we would call this your strategic mindset.

175
00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:41,240
And you could be very conservative

176
00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:42,960
all the way to very aggressive.

177
00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:45,880
And that informs, hey,

178
00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:48,480
like sets the expectations in the organization

179
00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:49,960
and to the clients.

180
00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:52,880
And says, hey, are we stepping out today

181
00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:54,400
because it's gonna be more aggressive

182
00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:56,280
because conditions are very favorable

183
00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:57,720
or are we falling back

184
00:07:57,720 --> 00:07:59,880
because we've got a big storm

185
00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:02,440
and conditions aren't favorable

186
00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:03,680
or are we in trenchment?

187
00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:05,200
Meaning nothing's changed.

188
00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:06,720
We're dealing with a persistent weak layer

189
00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:07,920
and old snow problem.

190
00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:09,640
And we just have to be conservative

191
00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:11,120
because there's no way to manage this.

192
00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:13,400
You can't just use your guide wizard hat

193
00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:15,080
and wave the wand and say,

194
00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:17,080
it'll be okay because I say it's okay.

195
00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:19,520
And like you said,

196
00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:21,360
the weird thing was the persistent weak layer

197
00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:23,280
was everywhere.

198
00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:25,880
And we were like, oh, that's not fair.

199
00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:27,400
You can't avoid it.

200
00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:30,600
And so that changed our mindset really quickly.

201
00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:32,360
However, one thing going for us

202
00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:34,840
is we were going to a magical landscape

203
00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,240
where if I'm skiing under the setting sun,

204
00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:39,760
looking at the ocean

205
00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,480
and the sun reflecting off the water,

206
00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:44,040
I'm so blissed out.

207
00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:46,320
And people in the group,

208
00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:47,840
it brought tears to their eyes

209
00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,440
because it was just heart-breakingly beautiful

210
00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:53,520
to ski into the sunset on the Arctic Circle.

211
00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,400
And you're like, look, next stop is Greenland,

212
00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:00,280
straight ahead or to your right is the North Pole.

213
00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:02,080
And there's nobody here.

214
00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:03,840
And this is just magic.

215
00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,720
And so, changing the mindset and being like,

216
00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,240
hey, we thought we were going to be skiing steep coolars

217
00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:11,480
and big faces with spring-like conditions,

218
00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:13,920
probably low danger conditions.

219
00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:14,960
And that wasn't the case.

220
00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:17,960
It was for the 40-year average,

221
00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,560
they were saying this was freakishly cold

222
00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:22,600
and it was full winter conditions.

223
00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:24,960
And we had a winter snowpack complete

224
00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:26,840
with winter snowpack problems.

225
00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:28,440
So we had to change our mindset.

226
00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:31,440
That was the first part was like, okay,

227
00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:34,000
we are going to tiptoe in through the terrain

228
00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:38,560
and it's going to be about skiing something that's beautiful

229
00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:40,560
rather than rad.

230
00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:42,760
Like there will be no rad on this trip.

231
00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,000
And just being like, okay.

232
00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:48,000
And finding out, hey, you know what?

233
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:49,720
It doesn't have to be super steep

234
00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:51,680
to have the best trip of your life.

235
00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:54,560
And it's a lot about being with good friends,

236
00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:58,200
people you love in a place that's just absolutely magical

237
00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:00,240
and exploring a new culture.

238
00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,080
And I've never done this before,

239
00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:04,640
but I imagine my parents are in Albania right now

240
00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:05,840
on a bike tour.

241
00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:07,920
And that's the kind of experience they're having.

242
00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:10,720
It's not rad, but they're eating great food,

243
00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:12,200
traveling through a beautiful country

244
00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,160
with people that they love and having an adventure.

245
00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:18,080
And I think that's what made it a very successful trip

246
00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:20,480
for us, because each day we were just like,

247
00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:24,080
oh my God, that was amazing.

248
00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:27,840
And the other part too, being at sea level,

249
00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:31,240
you're like, oh, we can climb about 7,000 feet today

250
00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:35,160
and just ski amazing snow with very little risk

251
00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:38,280
looking at the ocean and have an amazing time.

252
00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:43,480
And for me, that's recalibrated as I've gotten older.

253
00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:46,040
For me, those are more important than skiing a steep line,

254
00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:47,920
which I hate to admit,

255
00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,200
but eventually all the steep lines I've skied,

256
00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:52,640
they're kind of, I kind of forget them.

257
00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:54,440
Like I can remember little bits and pieces.

258
00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:56,840
They seemed super important at the time,

259
00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:59,040
like worth risking one's life for,

260
00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,080
but 10, 15 years later, I'm like,

261
00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:04,240
oh, I kind of remember who I did that with

262
00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:05,680
and I remember a little bit about it,

263
00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:07,080
but not that much.

264
00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:08,720
Whereas I got to say on this trip,

265
00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:10,560
I don't think I'm gonna forget that anytime soon.

266
00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:12,800
Like the afterglow, the half-life of the trip,

267
00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:13,640
it's still with me.

268
00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:14,960
I don't know, it's the same with you.

269
00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,240
I'm still having like Iceland dreams.

270
00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:18,240
Yeah.

271
00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:19,480
But Brunsley, what are you doing?

272
00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:21,200
Why are we not skiing every day?

273
00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:22,400
That was ideal.

274
00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:24,520
Yeah, okay, so I agree with that.

275
00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:26,640
The way we scaled back and we ended up doing it

276
00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:29,520
like kind of more of a tour, literally.

277
00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:31,120
Just finding really cool zones

278
00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:35,600
that we could effectively hit a bunch of different areas.

279
00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:40,600
You know, I guess it's worth maybe telling viewers

280
00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:45,400
or listeners the whole, like it's the ocean.

281
00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:48,120
And then it just kind of goes up in a way,

282
00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:50,600
nothing to these crazy peaks.

283
00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,080
And so we could find these zones.

284
00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:54,280
And we should talk about this in a sec

285
00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:56,560
about how kind of every day we had to change.

286
00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:59,480
It was kind of like snowy, swirly every day.

287
00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:01,920
And we kind of had to pick our zones,

288
00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:04,600
depending on like where we thought the patch of sunlight

289
00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:06,560
was gonna be that day,

290
00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:08,640
which meant that we had to be really, really active.

291
00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:09,840
And we couldn't just sit back and be like,

292
00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:11,160
okay, it's snowed everywhere.

293
00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:13,960
We'd be like really active with where was the wind,

294
00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:15,200
where did it come from, where did it go?

295
00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:18,440
Where did this, because for people who don't know,

296
00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,400
I mean, Iceland is essentially a giant rock

297
00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:24,000
in a huge river of weather.

298
00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,040
So it just has swirling weather.

299
00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:30,120
It's not like in the US where you generally have storms

300
00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,000
coming one direction or the other.

301
00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,480
It's every angle all the time.

302
00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:38,240
So you have to be really, really aware of that every day.

303
00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:41,040
So we, because of that, we were like, okay,

304
00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:45,160
how do we pick zones where we think,

305
00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:47,080
Jeff, I'll let you say it.

306
00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,560
So put ourselves in a position to get lucky.

307
00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:50,400
Position to get lucky.

308
00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:53,600
There's a high degree of uncertainty about snow quality.

309
00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:55,760
And that's one of the things as I get older

310
00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,440
as a mountain guide where I used to feel responsible

311
00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:01,720
for the snow quality and feel like, oh man,

312
00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:03,600
you know, hasn't snowed in two weeks,

313
00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:05,840
the winds of hammer, the sun is hammered,

314
00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,360
it's gonna be crap, but I have to produce

315
00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:10,360
a great quality ski day.

316
00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,640
And I used to equate that with snow quality.

317
00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:14,680
And then I realized, wait a minute,

318
00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:16,640
there's so much more about this.

319
00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,360
There's the cultural experience of being in another country,

320
00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:23,320
the food, the drink, the views, the terrain,

321
00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:27,000
and the camaraderie of exploring the unknown

322
00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:28,360
with good friends.

323
00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:30,240
And those are all super important components

324
00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:32,320
to making a really successful trip.

325
00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:37,120
And you don't go to the Arctic maritime of Norway

326
00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,560
or Iceland to ski the best snow quality of your life.

327
00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:44,560
I'm sorry, you can find that much better in Utah or Colorado

328
00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:47,280
where you're gonna reliably get blower power

329
00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:49,440
or Hokkaido or something like that.

330
00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:53,040
However, you can't get views like that anywhere.

331
00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:56,840
And you're not, the way the light is in the Arctic,

332
00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:59,280
it's totally different and skiing to the water

333
00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:00,480
is super magical.

334
00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:02,840
So, you know, I would often be really upfront

335
00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,080
and be like, hey guys, here's two options for today.

336
00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:07,840
Here's what I'm thinking.

337
00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,840
And I think we're gonna find reasonable snow quality there,

338
00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,680
but there'll be some marginal snow

339
00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:16,040
as well, but I think based on the weather patterns

340
00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:18,640
that we've seen, the winds and the precept,

341
00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,480
I think these are likely to be decent zones,

342
00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:23,160
but we're gonna have to have an adventure,

343
00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:24,560
meaning the outcome is uncertain.

344
00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:26,640
There is no way to know.

345
00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:28,840
And it was funny talking with my brother

346
00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,080
who works for a heli operation up there.

347
00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:33,400
And he was saying like, man, he's like,

348
00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:35,680
I've been up here for I think 11 years now.

349
00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,320
And he's like, if you can figure out the patterns reliably,

350
00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,680
you let me know because, you know, a lot of it is

351
00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:44,000
we're gonna put ourselves in a position to get lucky,

352
00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:45,560
but we're gonna go have to explore.

353
00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:48,000
And he was comparing how one helicopter

354
00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:49,600
with a couple of groups and the other helicopter

355
00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:51,880
with a couple of groups found radically different

356
00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,880
snow conditions just on the other side of the valley.

357
00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:56,000
And they could see each other.

358
00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,440
They were that close, but it's that hyper variability.

359
00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,240
And so, you know, you look at the weather models,

360
00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:03,320
you look at the cloud cover,

361
00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,080
where you think you can get the most sun

362
00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:07,520
and track where the wind direction's coming from

363
00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:09,880
and how it's gonna move through the topography.

364
00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:14,880
But at the end of the day, there's some guesswork involved.

365
00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:17,200
Like we don't know for certain.

366
00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,440
And so if you combine that with the uncertainty

367
00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:23,800
of snow quality, with the uncertainty of snow stability,

368
00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:26,000
it can get super overwhelming.

369
00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:30,000
So I found we were using a beta tester

370
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:31,160
for aspect ABI up there.

371
00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,040
And I used it last year, so I knew it worked quite well.

372
00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,920
And that took a huge amount of the cognitive load,

373
00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,480
the brain load, and I could put that down

374
00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:43,040
because we could all sit down on the laptop

375
00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:44,920
and do the tour plan and be like,

376
00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,320
hey, here's our red no-go zones

377
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,240
for the outlandish bulletin that we have.

378
00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:53,560
And now we can visualize the terrain and see.

379
00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,680
We actually have quite a few options in this zone

380
00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:59,040
that we're at in the Troll Peninsula.

381
00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:03,520
And we can ski some really beautiful lines

382
00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,400
that are super chill and relaxed.

383
00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:10,160
And ideally we're facing west to ski into the sunset

384
00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:12,080
as the sun reflects off the fjord.

385
00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:18,200
And you may not have that access to the beta tester

386
00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,480
that we were using, but you can use the similar guidelines.

387
00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,160
And at the start of the week, we were at considerable

388
00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:27,880
and then it shifted to scary moderate.

389
00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:30,480
And so for considerable, these are the rules we were using

390
00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:32,880
was keep it under 30 degrees

391
00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:35,200
and stay out of the run-out zones.

392
00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:38,800
And it's really tricky to judge scale there

393
00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,400
because there are no trees.

394
00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:45,200
And there are no man-made installations.

395
00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:49,720
So we relied very heavily on the slope angle tool

396
00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:52,440
to check one slope angle underfoot,

397
00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:54,560
the slope angle across from us,

398
00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:56,760
but also the run-out zones.

399
00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:58,200
And that's called the alpha angle.

400
00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,760
That's the fancy term for the run-out zone.

401
00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,880
And when we were worried about D4s

402
00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:06,440
in a certain zone, we were like,

403
00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:08,720
okay, that is full track.

404
00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:13,720
And so we need to be 18 degrees or less.

405
00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:16,520
And when you sight through the camera on the phone,

406
00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:18,000
it shows that to you in green.

407
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,080
18 and under is green.

408
00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:23,280
And then light green, yellowish green is low risk.

409
00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:25,960
That's like 19 to 22.

410
00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:28,040
And then high risk is in red.

411
00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:31,160
So that's 22 degrees and steeper.

412
00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:33,360
And so that was a super effective tool

413
00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:35,280
for when you're on-siting terrain

414
00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:36,440
and you're trying to gauge,

415
00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,600
hey, are we out of the risk of the run-out here?

416
00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:45,600
Because when we had such unpredictable snowpack,

417
00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,360
we have to go with reliable terrain.

418
00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:50,480
And this allowed us to quantify,

419
00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:53,200
do we have reliable terrain in the start zone?

420
00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:54,840
Okay, we're keeping it under 30,

421
00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:56,560
but there's big peaks around us.

422
00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:58,240
Are we out of the run-out zone?

423
00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:00,800
Because people, it was rare chance,

424
00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:03,920
but it had happened where people had remotely triggered

425
00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:06,120
and the whole mountain had come down

426
00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:07,960
and we didn't want anything to do with that.

427
00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,280
Yeah, and I think it's worth noting

428
00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:12,640
that even when we were doing these quote unquote,

429
00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:16,640
chill skis, like some of the descents

430
00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,040
were still almost 4,000 feet.

431
00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:21,640
Yeah, there was not.

432
00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:25,160
So to put it in perspective, there's no trees.

433
00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:28,200
Some of these faces are just,

434
00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:31,680
essentially you drop off a peak and it's unlimited

435
00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:32,920
where you could go.

436
00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:36,280
There's no, we ended up skiing in a different area

437
00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,560
where it was way more kind of coolars

438
00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:40,400
and that kind of stuff.

439
00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:42,600
But at this part of the trip,

440
00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:45,480
the stuff we ended up dropping was cool

441
00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:49,080
because it was just this huge 30 degree snow field,

442
00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:50,800
essentially, that you could go down.

443
00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:54,200
But the reason that that's like a double edged sword

444
00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:57,360
is because we had this realization of,

445
00:18:57,360 --> 00:18:59,520
hey, the cool thing about this is we can go do

446
00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,800
big unlimited GS turns if you want.

447
00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:04,160
The bad part is, is if we accidentally find

448
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:08,720
that tricky spot, that whole unlimited face could go,

449
00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,320
which is different than here where it's like,

450
00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:13,400
hey, this shoot that we're skiing in could go

451
00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,240
or this small face could go.

452
00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:20,360
There, I kind of understand why the D4 was on the table

453
00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:21,840
just because of the sheer scale

454
00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:23,560
of the mountains we were skiing.

455
00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:27,480
Yeah, because it could go all along the ridge line

456
00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,560
and there's no terrain feature to stop it.

457
00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,680
It's just endless snow fields for miles.

458
00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:35,360
And you're dealing with 4,000 vertical feet,

459
00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:36,880
so that has a little bit of snow.

460
00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:38,280
So where are you gonna go?

461
00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:39,680
Yeah, exactly.

462
00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:44,680
And candidly with guides, the mindset with guides is

463
00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:48,240
on-siting, which means going to new terrain for work

464
00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,680
is really exciting, but it's also really stressful

465
00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:53,680
because if you have poor visibility

466
00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,240
and poor snow stability, you're like, oh my gosh.

467
00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:59,640
And having a terrain visualization tool

468
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:04,160
that you can lean on to be like, well, all this stuff is out

469
00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,800
and hey, we've got these options here.

470
00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:08,880
Okay, which of these options do we think

471
00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,440
is gonna have reasonably good snow quality?

472
00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:14,000
Okay, we're going there.

473
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:15,880
And that's how we put ourselves into a position

474
00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:17,080
to get lucky.

475
00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:20,120
And later on in the week, when it was scary moderate

476
00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:25,040
and we changed forecast zones and it was no more D4s.

477
00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:27,240
It was D3s and scary moderate.

478
00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:28,920
So D2 to D3.

479
00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,360
We're like, okay, 32 degrees and under

480
00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:33,800
and stay out of the runout zones.

481
00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:38,120
And we use the Alf angle, the runout tool quite a bit

482
00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:39,440
for our regroup zones,

483
00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:41,960
because we're like, hey, we're right about 30 degrees here.

484
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:43,600
We're towing into avalanche terrain

485
00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,080
and there's big slopes around us.

486
00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:48,280
We've got enough buffer, but we have to be very clear

487
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,040
about where we're gonna regroup

488
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:53,400
and everyone could sight through the runout tool

489
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,480
on the camera, on the phone and be like, oh, that's the spot.

490
00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,880
See that little raised island of rock there?

491
00:20:58,880 --> 00:20:59,960
That's where we're going.

492
00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:04,160
And I was always surprised how it was much farther

493
00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,520
than my eye would have said to go.

494
00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:11,160
Like my gut would have said, oh, Dave, stop down there.

495
00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:12,120
It'll be fine.

496
00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:14,120
And then when we shot it, I was like,

497
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:18,400
there is no sense of scale in this landscape.

498
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:21,040
And I'm being overly optimistic.

499
00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:26,040
Like if something runs Jason to our slope or on our slope,

500
00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:29,560
we wanna make sure we're well out of the runout zone.

501
00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:31,280
Yeah, and just the fact of,

502
00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:32,920
which I think we all kind of talked about

503
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:34,720
by the second day or something,

504
00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:36,040
maybe the third day, I don't remember,

505
00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:40,400
but we were realizing that every time we ended up skiing,

506
00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,400
one of these faces ended up being such a longer descent

507
00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:45,960
than we thought because of that scale.

508
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,560
Yeah, and we are all kind of joking about,

509
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,960
man, if like you couldn't really outrun something

510
00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:55,480
because you have no idea how long

511
00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:57,120
you're gonna have to outrun it.

512
00:21:57,120 --> 00:21:59,200
And the whole 45 degree angle thing,

513
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:00,520
yes, in theory it works,

514
00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:01,640
but like we just talked about,

515
00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,600
like you could just keep ripping a whole face

516
00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:06,120
as you kept going.

517
00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:07,640
So I think the whole,

518
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:09,200
it was a really interesting exercise

519
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:13,880
in taking all this stuff that we know to be true

520
00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:18,240
and stuff that I've been learning over this past season,

521
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:21,520
just hanging out with people like you

522
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:25,520
and then sort of trying to apply those rules,

523
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,840
but in like a really shaken up way.

524
00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,280
Oh, because you're out of your normal mountain range

525
00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:33,120
environment?

526
00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:34,440
Well, yeah, just because all of a sudden everything

527
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,080
about what we knew had to be tweaked and toggled

528
00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,040
and sort of, you know.

529
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:42,840
But yeah, I guess if we do kind of way,

530
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:45,280
we just don't know how big things are.

531
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:46,120
Yeah, I don't know.

532
00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:49,040
I think what you're just talking about with

533
00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:52,200
just the scale and how far away things were

534
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:53,360
really struck me with,

535
00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:55,440
there's plenty of times where we all thought,

536
00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:58,520
hey, like that's a good regroup zone

537
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:02,120
because it's out of the angle,

538
00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:04,840
but then when we'd cite it,

539
00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:06,920
turns out it was still totally in the slide path

540
00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:10,520
because it was way closer than we thought it was.

541
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:12,400
We thought it was a mile away

542
00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:15,000
and it was half a mile away or whatever.

543
00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:16,920
And then we'd have it the opposite way too,

544
00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:19,400
where we'd be like, oh, that thing's too close.

545
00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:21,080
And then we'd shoot it and we'd be like, oh my God,

546
00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:22,600
that thing's so far away.

547
00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:24,280
Yeah.

548
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:25,120
Like that's bizarre.

549
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,080
It was kind of like a, I'm sure,

550
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:30,840
I mean, you've definitely guided all over the place,

551
00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,480
but being on this trip and then you did a really good job

552
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,440
of including us in the whole process.

553
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,480
You know, it wasn't very much a team effort.

554
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:41,280
You would definitely come up with the zones,

555
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:45,880
but then we as a team would kind of ideate

556
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,280
on what our plan would be.

557
00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,400
And it was cool just being a part of that

558
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:51,760
and like a totally new zone.

559
00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:53,600
Yeah.

560
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:59,360
It makes me think of, I saw this amazing David Byrne exhibit.

561
00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:01,680
It was this experiential art exhibit

562
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,520
and it takes maybe an hour and a half or something.

563
00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:07,760
And I think it's called something like perceptions

564
00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:12,760
of the mind or, and it's all about cognitive science,

565
00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:14,440
but done through art.

566
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:16,880
So it was like in this Denver warehouse

567
00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:19,440
and you had a tour guide through the night

568
00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:23,120
who was David Byrne and he was walking you through episodes

569
00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:28,120
of his life and it was basically about how unreliable

570
00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:30,320
our senses are.

571
00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:35,320
So hearing, sight, taste, touch, everything.

572
00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:39,240
And it was such a wackadoodle experience

573
00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:41,360
that it felt like it went by in like 15 minutes

574
00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:42,640
instead of an hour and a half.

575
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:44,600
So that was kind of trippy as well.

576
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:49,600
But it reinforced that what we know to be true.

577
00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:51,720
Well, it just maybe ain't so.

578
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,720
And I love that saying, let's see if I can recall it.

579
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:59,960
It says, it ain't the things you don't know that gets you.

580
00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:03,880
It's the things you know for certain that just ain't true.

581
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,800
And when we used our eye, we're like, oh, that's just like,

582
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:11,760
you know, a couple of turns and it would go forever.

583
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,640
And that idea of being able to judge slope angle

584
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:20,640
or overhead hazard or, you know,

585
00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,000
where the runout zone was gonna end,

586
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:26,600
having an objective tool that doesn't lie to you

587
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,080
was so much more reliable than our eyes.

588
00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:34,280
And, you know, we had fair bit of experience in our group

589
00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,280
and we were all continuously surprised to the trip

590
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,480
out how our eyes would deceive us.

591
00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:42,280
And it often met the ways as well

592
00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:44,880
because the light was the color and the shade.

593
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:48,280
Yeah, it was pretty wild.

594
00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,480
Yeah, I was having, so you guys left

595
00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:53,880
and I stuck around for five days to go help a buddy

596
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:57,280
with a film project that just happened to be going on there.

597
00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,880
And we, this was a theme throughout the whole trip

598
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:02,880
because I was flying drones while we were there

599
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:05,280
to just get shots of what we were doing.

600
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:09,880
And I kept posting up in places that I was trying

601
00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:11,880
to put myself in places that was sort of equidistant

602
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:13,880
from the top to where they were gonna stop

603
00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:15,680
and putting myself out of the way

604
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:19,280
but then still line a site for the FPV and all that stuff.

605
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,480
And there'd be plenty of times where I'd be like, cool,

606
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,280
I'm about halfway and then I'd get the drone in the air

607
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,880
and I'd be flying for like a mile.

608
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,280
To get up there.

609
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,480
And it was just like, dude, how tall is this mountain?

610
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,880
What, like, I was still using, I remember a couple of times

611
00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,280
using the slope angle tool to figure,

612
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:41,680
to help me figure out where I wanted to stand.

613
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,680
So like I would be out of their way just in general

614
00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:51,080
and then also whatever, just in case a different peak ripped

615
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:53,280
whatever, just to be out of the runoff.

616
00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:55,680
And you'd be like angling up at it and be like,

617
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:57,280
okay, that doesn't look so far away.

618
00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:59,880
But then as you get up, you know, there's this huge rollover

619
00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:02,480
that keeps going and you're like, oh, well, maybe,

620
00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:04,280
maybe that's not as safe as I thought.

621
00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,280
If there's this big rollover that's there,

622
00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:09,880
like that could still potentially slide.

623
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:12,680
But yeah, man, it was, it was definitely, I wanted to,

624
00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:18,080
I want to, I guess have two things before we end this whole thing,

625
00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:21,280
which would be, one, it would be really cool to give people

626
00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:24,880
some, I guess just reminders or useful tools to use

627
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:26,080
when they're in new places.

628
00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:28,480
Like I know for me, something we started using

629
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,080
that was really handy was this app called Windy,

630
00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,680
which is just like this, it's just a wind forecast app.

631
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:36,680
But actually in Iceland, it was super handy.

632
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:40,080
Like I'd never used that before, but then being able to see

633
00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:42,680
where the wind is going to be coming in for like 24 hours

634
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:44,680
before we went to a zone was actually super handy

635
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,480
because wind slab was a problem there.

636
00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:48,880
And so we were like, okay, cool.

637
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:51,280
We know all the wind was coming from the Southwest

638
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:52,880
for the last two days.

639
00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:58,480
You know, that gives us a better idea of what to not go step on.

640
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:02,080
What for you, what for you would be other tools

641
00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,380
that are helpful for people in new places?

642
00:28:04,380 --> 00:28:07,980
Like we can't use AspectAvi in Iceland yet.

643
00:28:07,980 --> 00:28:09,980
That'll come one day.

644
00:28:09,980 --> 00:28:14,380
But you know, kind of let's give people some useful tools

645
00:28:14,380 --> 00:28:17,280
for touring in a new place.

646
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:18,880
Yeah, yeah.

647
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,280
I think there's a couple of weather apps

648
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:22,680
that are super handy.

649
00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:25,180
Windy is one that people like.

650
00:28:25,180 --> 00:28:28,780
Meteo Blue is quite handy as well.

651
00:28:28,780 --> 00:28:31,380
And there's some powerful tools in there

652
00:28:31,380 --> 00:28:34,680
to help you visualize cloud cover and density

653
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:36,780
and what elevations and things like that.

654
00:28:36,780 --> 00:28:38,980
And when you're skiing above tree line,

655
00:28:38,980 --> 00:28:41,180
that is super important.

656
00:28:41,180 --> 00:28:43,380
And then you can also check the timing

657
00:28:43,380 --> 00:28:47,680
of when you might get a little window of sun.

658
00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:51,180
And you know, that was pretty funny is to be like,

659
00:28:51,180 --> 00:28:53,880
hey, we're leaving the house at four

660
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:58,480
and we'll be done skiing at nine.

661
00:28:58,480 --> 00:28:59,280
Yeah.

662
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:00,780
And sun sets at 10.

663
00:29:00,780 --> 00:29:01,380
Okay.

664
00:29:01,380 --> 00:29:04,780
And then Twilight is kind of all night.

665
00:29:04,780 --> 00:29:05,580
Yeah, it was crazy.

666
00:29:05,580 --> 00:29:07,880
And that's our weather window.

667
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,580
And it kind of works out well if you're jet lags

668
00:29:10,580 --> 00:29:13,280
from the from Western US too.

669
00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,680
So it stays a little more in sync with your body clock.

670
00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:17,380
So it feels like that.

671
00:29:17,380 --> 00:29:18,880
And then the local forecast tool,

672
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:21,180
having a little sense about it,

673
00:29:21,180 --> 00:29:25,780
like the Avalanche Forecasting Center in Iceland

674
00:29:25,780 --> 00:29:28,280
is relatively recent.

675
00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,280
So it's not a super mature organization.

676
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,580
And every forecasting center when it comes online,

677
00:29:34,580 --> 00:29:36,280
there's going to be some growing pains.

678
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,980
And that is not a knock in any way.

679
00:29:38,980 --> 00:29:41,080
They have an incredibly difficult challenge there

680
00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:44,880
because it's hyper variable from valley to valley

681
00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:46,380
and even slope to slope.

682
00:29:46,380 --> 00:29:48,980
We're like, they're all the same aspect.

683
00:29:48,980 --> 00:29:52,280
It's the same elevation, but this is garbage.

684
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:54,580
And if we go over here a couple hundred meters,

685
00:29:54,580 --> 00:29:55,480
it's amazing.

686
00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:57,880
I've got no plausible explanation.

687
00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:01,780
I could sound all guidey and try to steamroller you guys,

688
00:30:01,780 --> 00:30:03,680
but I'm like, I don't know why it is,

689
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:04,880
but that's the better snow.

690
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:06,080
We're going there.

691
00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,280
And so that hyper variability is really tricky.

692
00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:11,980
And we experienced that on a peak where we were getting up

693
00:30:11,980 --> 00:30:15,180
around 900 meters off the sea level.

694
00:30:15,180 --> 00:30:18,280
So about 3000 feet and we were down in our base layer.

695
00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:20,080
I remember you guys got a little ahead of me.

696
00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:22,280
We weren't in avalanche strain and we had radio.

697
00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:23,280
So it was pretty relaxed.

698
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:25,680
And I was like, guys, I'm sorry, I got to stop and get all the way

699
00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:30,080
to my son hoodie base layer because I am just sweating.

700
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,880
And then about 10 minutes later, you guys had said,

701
00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:36,180
you made an executive decision before I even got there.

702
00:30:36,180 --> 00:30:40,080
Like we are going down because it got so damn cold so fast

703
00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:40,980
in like 10 minutes.

704
00:30:40,980 --> 00:30:44,280
And we had like every layer of clothing on swing in our hands.

705
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:46,280
We're like, what the heck just happened?

706
00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:50,180
So when you get these wild temperature and wind variations

707
00:30:50,180 --> 00:30:54,280
that are hyper localized, you're also going to have a large

708
00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:59,980
amount of variance and uncertainty with your avalanche forecast.

709
00:30:59,980 --> 00:31:01,980
And so the year before when I had been there,

710
00:31:01,980 --> 00:31:06,480
it had rained for days top to bottom and it was low danger corn,

711
00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:09,280
snow and blue skies every day.

712
00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:11,980
So there were very little uncertainty.

713
00:31:11,980 --> 00:31:16,180
It was like ice throughout this whole snowpack, perfect corn.

714
00:31:16,180 --> 00:31:17,380
It's low danger.

715
00:31:17,380 --> 00:31:19,580
And there was a high degree of certainty.

716
00:31:19,580 --> 00:31:23,280
But when we got there, it was total wackadoo conditions

717
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:29,580
and keeping in mind that it's a huge area with relatively few observations.

718
00:31:29,580 --> 00:31:32,380
It's not like the wasatch where there's a million skiers out there

719
00:31:32,380 --> 00:31:35,980
every day in a couple small canyons.

720
00:31:35,980 --> 00:31:40,580
You know, it is a very relatively large area with high degree of variability.

721
00:31:40,580 --> 00:31:44,780
So keeping that in mind and taking the forecast for the grain assault.

722
00:31:44,780 --> 00:31:48,980
And we know the forecast just like the weather forecast, it can be wrong.

723
00:31:48,980 --> 00:31:53,280
So ground truthing that and, you know, shameless product plug,

724
00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,680
but it's there for a reason.

725
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:59,880
If you verify the forecast and aspect avi, even if you're in a place

726
00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:04,480
that aspect avi doesn't work yet because we haven't gotten to Europe yet,

727
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,980
you know, you can use that simple checklist and like, are we getting shooting

728
00:32:07,980 --> 00:32:13,580
cracks, recent avalanches, whoops, rapid loading from sun, from snow

729
00:32:13,580 --> 00:32:17,380
or from wind, or are we getting rapid temperature rise?

730
00:32:17,380 --> 00:32:20,980
If it is, flip the forecast to considerable.

731
00:32:20,980 --> 00:32:26,180
And especially if you're in a place with a paucity of data and a very large area,

732
00:32:26,180 --> 00:32:30,780
you want to go really conservative like that and feel free to pivot at a moment's notice.

733
00:32:30,780 --> 00:32:35,880
I think, you know, that's something that we were really flexible with was

734
00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:39,480
we've got a rough play on the night before, but we're just going to have to wait

735
00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:40,980
and see what the weather is doing.

736
00:32:40,980 --> 00:32:44,980
And we may dash out the door at breakfast or we may sit and chill out,

737
00:32:44,980 --> 00:32:49,980
chill the situation until four o'clock in the afternoon when the weather windows

738
00:32:49,980 --> 00:32:52,480
forecasted to happen.

739
00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:57,880
So I think having that data ahead of time with looking at weather apps

740
00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:02,380
and the avalanche forecast, so you have a general sense of what's going on

741
00:33:02,380 --> 00:33:09,380
and then being really flexible during the day to adjust and not being stuck

742
00:33:09,380 --> 00:33:14,180
on an objective of being like, hey, there's a lot more than just skiing a steep line

743
00:33:14,180 --> 00:33:16,180
to make a really successful trip.

744
00:33:16,180 --> 00:33:19,380
And these are the things that are really important to us.

745
00:33:19,380 --> 00:33:24,380
Coming back home is paramount and having a lot of fun with our friends

746
00:33:24,380 --> 00:33:27,680
and still being friends when we come home is super important.

747
00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,580
And it was really easy to make decisions with this group.

748
00:33:30,580 --> 00:33:34,280
We'd weigh the pros and cons and then come to a consensus real quickly.

749
00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:38,680
And I think having some objective data also that we could all look on the map

750
00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,480
together and be like, well, all that is red high risk.

751
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:44,780
We're not tangling with D3s today.

752
00:33:44,780 --> 00:33:46,280
Made it really easy.

753
00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:50,780
And then we could also verify the forecast to make sure that it was

754
00:33:50,780 --> 00:33:54,980
sounding truthy for the slopes that we were on and the conditions we were experiencing.

755
00:33:54,980 --> 00:33:56,280
We could do a now cast.

756
00:33:56,280 --> 00:34:02,680
Yeah, one of my favorite moments of our whole trip together was,

757
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:07,080
I think it was the third day we were out skiing and we ended up looking out.

758
00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:09,680
It was beautiful sunny day the whole time.

759
00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:10,980
It was only supposed to be a window.

760
00:34:10,980 --> 00:34:15,780
We chose this zone because we figured by the time we got up to,

761
00:34:15,780 --> 00:34:18,980
because I think the top of the peak we were going to was like 1,100 meters.

762
00:34:18,980 --> 00:34:21,380
Like we were, it was almost 4,000 feet.

763
00:34:21,380 --> 00:34:22,480
It was pretty big.

764
00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:23,880
Yeah, it's 1,500 meters.

765
00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:24,780
Yeah, 4,000 feet.

766
00:34:24,780 --> 00:34:27,080
So it was the highest one we did.

767
00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:28,880
And we were like, okay, well, if we start at this time,

768
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:32,880
then maybe we'll hit the blue sky for our descent.

769
00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:36,480
Turns out it just got blue the second we got out of the car and just stayed blue

770
00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:38,780
until sunset at like 11.

771
00:34:38,780 --> 00:34:44,680
But the funniest part of this whole thing was we ended up going up the wrong mountain

772
00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:50,480
because we like, because you just start walking towards these mountains

773
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:53,480
and you know, there's these big rollovers that, you know, so like anything

774
00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:55,880
when you're going up some you can't see over all the way to the top.

775
00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:58,780
Like chances are if you see all the way to the top, it's really steep.

776
00:34:58,780 --> 00:35:00,680
You know, that's the way you want to be under it.

777
00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:05,580
But halfway up, we were like, oh, the mountain we're trying to go to is over there.

778
00:35:05,580 --> 00:35:07,380
And we had to make a game time decision.

779
00:35:07,380 --> 00:35:10,880
And we were like, well, the mountain that's right in front of us looks sweet.

780
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:15,180
And we used the tools that we had at our disposal, which they sort of worked.

781
00:35:15,180 --> 00:35:17,480
We had to be pretty crafty about it at the moment.

782
00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:21,580
But when then we were able to kind of identify that the peak in front of us

783
00:35:21,580 --> 00:35:25,780
was going to be skiable and was within our realm of safety.

784
00:35:25,780 --> 00:35:29,880
And and we are still able to go do it.

785
00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:33,580
But it was definitely an unexpected.

786
00:35:33,580 --> 00:35:35,180
Can you imagine if the weather was worse?

787
00:35:35,180 --> 00:35:36,980
Like where we have ended up, man?

788
00:35:36,980 --> 00:35:38,080
It was beautiful and sunny.

789
00:35:38,080 --> 00:35:40,880
We ended up on the wrong mountain.

790
00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:45,480
That's the people ask me and they say, hey, you know, what do you think about

791
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:50,580
the risk of people navigating off their phone?

792
00:35:50,580 --> 00:35:58,880
And with zero vis during considerable danger and getting into steep terrain

793
00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:00,180
and remotely triggering.

794
00:36:00,180 --> 00:36:04,580
And I'm like, well, if it's if it's considerable and you're worried about

795
00:36:04,580 --> 00:36:09,280
remote triggers, you don't want to be skiing in avalanche terrain.

796
00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:10,080
We can't see.

797
00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:14,980
And we had these funky rollovers and we'd, you know, at Valley,

798
00:36:14,980 --> 00:36:16,380
we hadn't been to before.

799
00:36:16,380 --> 00:36:20,280
And when we got up about 300 meters, a thousand feet, we were like,

800
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:22,680
well, our intended route is over here.

801
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:23,980
And it looks OK.

802
00:36:23,980 --> 00:36:27,980
But man, this one a little bit to the right looks amazing.

803
00:36:27,980 --> 00:36:29,680
And it's not in the red.

804
00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:32,080
It fits our criteria.

805
00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:36,980
You know, it's it's on the run list, meaning it's, you know, is scary moderate

806
00:36:36,980 --> 00:36:37,580
that day.

807
00:36:37,580 --> 00:36:41,780
And so we're like, it's under 32 degrees or under 33 degrees and we can stay

808
00:36:41,780 --> 00:36:43,480
out of the run out zones.

809
00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:44,680
Yeah, that's fair game.

810
00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:48,480
And it looked like it had better snow quality and more consistent pitch to ski

811
00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:51,480
more fall line and super high rewards.

812
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:54,780
So we ended up doing a second half lap on it because it was so good.

813
00:36:54,780 --> 00:36:56,180
But you're right.

814
00:36:56,180 --> 00:37:01,180
If we had had bad visibility, we would have taken that off the off the run

815
00:37:01,180 --> 00:37:01,480
list.

816
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:07,580
And I think, you know, the the place we went on day one had way more margins

817
00:37:07,580 --> 00:37:12,580
around us, meaning there was tons of low angle terrain with very few steep

818
00:37:12,580 --> 00:37:14,580
slopes that we would have to avoid.

819
00:37:14,580 --> 00:37:20,180
And that would be a more appropriate place to go if you had poor visibility.

820
00:37:20,180 --> 00:37:23,480
And then the other option we always had is because you never know if the weather

821
00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:28,480
is going to come back in is that, you know, when we're skinning up, we've got

822
00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:32,880
our skin track and that can be a real big help in zero viz because you've got

823
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:36,980
your skin track to keep hitting on the way down so you don't get seasick

824
00:37:36,980 --> 00:37:39,280
and lose track of where you are.

825
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:41,980
So that was always in the back pocket as a escape route.

826
00:37:41,980 --> 00:37:45,280
And, you know, if we had had white out conditions from the get go, there was a

827
00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:49,780
peak right across from our house where we skied that had big wide open

828
00:37:49,780 --> 00:37:54,780
chill snow fields of, you know, nice north facing snow, kind of creamy

829
00:37:54,780 --> 00:37:56,180
velvety powder down low.

830
00:37:56,180 --> 00:37:59,480
And, you know, that that would be a more appropriate choice where you're like,

831
00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:02,480
okay, we've got big margins of safety around us.

832
00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:04,780
We're not trying to thread the needle with zero viz.

833
00:38:04,780 --> 00:38:05,680
Three of zero viz.

834
00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:06,180
It was funny.

835
00:38:06,180 --> 00:38:09,180
There was multiple days where we chose a zone specifically because we could

836
00:38:09,180 --> 00:38:10,780
see the ocean.

837
00:38:10,780 --> 00:38:15,280
So if all else failed, we were like, well, all else fails, we don't know

838
00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:15,880
where to go.

839
00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:18,880
We know that generally we'll want to ski towards the ocean because that's

840
00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:21,280
where we're going, which was an experience.

841
00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:26,380
I just, I don't think I can get used to that was so trippy like look for the

842
00:38:26,380 --> 00:38:26,880
sea.

843
00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:28,280
Yes.

844
00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:30,880
It's a day one when we were skiing down.

845
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:34,780
It was like, okay, here's our compass heading and there's nothing to mark

846
00:38:34,780 --> 00:38:38,080
off because a little cloud bank came in and we were going to get below it.

847
00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:40,380
It was a wispy cloud, but it was really hard to see.

848
00:38:40,380 --> 00:38:45,480
And it lined up our line was perfectly aligned the skiing towards the sun and

849
00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:47,180
the sun reflecting off the fjord.

850
00:38:47,180 --> 00:38:48,880
We're like, well, that worked out really well.

851
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:54,080
Just aim towards that light, bright glowing orb in the sky and follow me.

852
00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:54,680
Let's go.

853
00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:56,280
Yeah.

854
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:57,180
Oh, sweet.

855
00:38:57,180 --> 00:39:01,880
Well, let's, let's bore everyone too much with our Iceland tales.

856
00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:07,280
But I wanted to ask you what was your, what was like the most memorable part of

857
00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:11,480
the trip or something that will, something that really stands out to you?

858
00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:17,280
I think it's the combination of sharing experience with people you love and a

859
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:18,580
magical landscape.

860
00:39:18,580 --> 00:39:24,780
And we got super lucky where we just had these kind of all time tours day after

861
00:39:24,780 --> 00:39:29,580
day and they were very unexpected because the weather was looking pretty rough.

862
00:39:29,580 --> 00:39:35,080
And just, you know, a lot of the train we are in, we were skiing blue square

863
00:39:35,080 --> 00:39:41,280
terrain, meaning under 30 degrees and no overhead hazard.

864
00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:42,880
We were out of the run out zone.

865
00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:49,180
And so we could ski together and skiing behind Eli was fucking hilarious.

866
00:39:49,180 --> 00:39:53,080
Just like, it's like kids being like, Hey, you want to go red bikes and just goofing

867
00:39:53,080 --> 00:40:00,580
off and, and, you know, pass and Frank and you guys and, and just goofing off in a

868
00:40:00,580 --> 00:40:05,880
really low stress environment where if we had pushed it, it would have been really

869
00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:08,280
stressful and not nearly as much fun.

870
00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:13,180
And I think in the past I would have had when I was younger in my career, I would

871
00:40:13,180 --> 00:40:16,980
have had that feeling of man, all these guys are rippers.

872
00:40:16,980 --> 00:40:23,580
Like do with these guys were on the pro circuit and I need to deliver the goods,

873
00:40:23,580 --> 00:40:27,480
but the persistent week later could be anywhere according to the bulletin and

874
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:30,480
D threes and D fours, no way.

875
00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:31,680
That's that's ludicrous.

876
00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:33,380
I can't manage that as a mountain guide.

877
00:40:33,380 --> 00:40:35,180
I'd just be getting lucky.

878
00:40:35,180 --> 00:40:40,280
And so it was great to have a tool where we could just all get on the same page

879
00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:42,880
with touring and everyone was like, yeah, we don't want to mess with that.

880
00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:44,280
We just want to have fun.

881
00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:48,880
And so let's go sniff out the good snow and a lot of the party skiing together

882
00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:53,080
when we're out of avalanche train was just so playful and goofy.

883
00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:57,180
I felt like a bunch of dolphins playing in the waves together and stuff like that.

884
00:40:57,180 --> 00:41:03,780
And then that adventure of, Hey, you know, I think we skied maybe one peak

885
00:41:03,780 --> 00:41:07,580
that I'd skied the year before maybe and the rest was all on-siting.

886
00:41:07,580 --> 00:41:11,980
So it's fun for me to go explore with you guys as well.

887
00:41:11,980 --> 00:41:16,880
And I love that sense of we're not really quite sure how it's going to turn out.

888
00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:23,280
Let's go find out and, you know, you hit a few patches of frozen corn

889
00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:26,980
and to link up the powder patches and kind of don't remember those.

890
00:41:26,980 --> 00:41:29,980
You just remember the good times with your friends.

891
00:41:29,980 --> 00:41:34,380
Totally. Yeah, no, it was definitely, I think one of the most memorable things

892
00:41:34,380 --> 00:41:39,680
for me overall was the mindset was so different of, and when we go out here,

893
00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:40,980
we're familiar with the train.

894
00:41:40,980 --> 00:41:45,080
So we have expectations of this should be this way.

895
00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:48,180
And so we kind of start creating these expectations before you even get out there.

896
00:41:48,180 --> 00:41:53,480
So immediately, if we get out there and it's not the same, we're kind of like,

897
00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:55,480
but with this, it was totally adventure based.

898
00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:57,780
We're like, we think it's going to be this way.

899
00:41:57,780 --> 00:41:58,780
Could be.

900
00:41:58,780 --> 00:41:59,880
Might not be.

901
00:41:59,880 --> 00:42:01,380
The weather could suck.

902
00:42:01,380 --> 00:42:02,380
It might start blizzering.

903
00:42:02,380 --> 00:42:03,180
It might get sunny.

904
00:42:03,180 --> 00:42:05,180
Like we just had no expectations.

905
00:42:05,180 --> 00:42:11,080
And I think that was such a cool way for us to approach that this, this type of skiing.

906
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:14,580
I kind of just, it made it feel, I don't want to keep saying adventure,

907
00:42:14,580 --> 00:42:20,780
but it made it just made it feel almost more relaxed in a sense of we were all kind of seeing

908
00:42:20,780 --> 00:42:24,280
how it was going as it was going.

909
00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:27,580
And that was, that was a really cool experience, especially when we ended up having,

910
00:42:27,580 --> 00:42:28,680
you know, we got incredibly lucky.

911
00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:35,380
We had so many good days going into it with that mindset and then having the result be these incredible,

912
00:42:35,380 --> 00:42:44,580
incredible runs, like 40 minute runs of just like endless powder at like sunset most days.

913
00:42:44,580 --> 00:42:46,780
So it was just like, I was like checking all these boxes.

914
00:42:46,780 --> 00:42:51,180
I thought that was just, I think that's probably the most memorable thing for me was just that.

915
00:42:51,180 --> 00:42:59,780
The mindset going in, I think produced an environment that allowed us to have a really open,

916
00:42:59,780 --> 00:43:05,880
like open to the conditions and end up delivering us a really epic experience.

917
00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:06,180
Yeah.

918
00:43:06,180 --> 00:43:08,680
You know, it makes me think of a couple of things.

919
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:16,780
I wonder if one being jet lagged off the plane and swimming most days in the beach in the Arctic Ocean,

920
00:43:16,780 --> 00:43:23,980
if that kind of helped get us into that beginner's mind where you're just open to possibilities and expectations were,

921
00:43:23,980 --> 00:43:30,680
I don't know, I always felt like my expectations were really low where I was like, man, the forecast is not looking good.

922
00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:32,480
Snow quality is not looking good.

923
00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:34,880
And wow, we got lucky again.

924
00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:39,580
And, you know, we did quite a bit of planning to set us up to get lucky,

925
00:43:39,580 --> 00:43:43,180
but I didn't feel like I had much control over the outcome,

926
00:43:43,180 --> 00:43:48,480
which normally as a mountain guide is really uncomfortable feeling as far as the outcome of,

927
00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:50,880
are we going to have good snow quality and good visibility?

928
00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:55,280
Or are we just going to be skiing in the pink bong ball on frozen crust?

929
00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:58,880
Which to me, to be fair, happened to us a couple of times.

930
00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:05,280
But it wasn't, it wasn't like all, yeah, but I think so.

931
00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:12,080
Yeah, I wonder, I wonder if we had that mindset of everyone was in sync of just like open to possibilities,

932
00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:13,880
really low expectations.

933
00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:17,780
And so your H equals R minus E.

934
00:44:17,780 --> 00:44:24,080
So H is happiness is really high when your reality is much bigger than your expectations.

935
00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:27,380
And every day we're kind of like, well, expectations are pretty low.

936
00:44:27,380 --> 00:44:29,980
And then we got out there and we were like, oh, actually it's really good.

937
00:44:29,980 --> 00:44:34,780
So then it felt like we were getting away with something like, how did we get good snow again?

938
00:44:34,780 --> 00:44:36,280
It's supposed to be crap out there.

939
00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:37,480
This is amazing.

940
00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:38,080
Totally.

941
00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:39,080
Yeah.

942
00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:41,780
No, it was, that was a really, really fun trip, man.

943
00:44:41,780 --> 00:44:43,380
Those epic.

944
00:44:43,380 --> 00:44:48,380
I, to anyone who's thinking about going skiing in Iceland, I don't want to blow up the spot

945
00:44:48,380 --> 00:44:50,980
because it's pretty cool and quiet there right now.

946
00:44:50,980 --> 00:44:53,680
But it was, it was really something.

947
00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:54,580
I recommend it.

948
00:44:54,580 --> 00:44:55,780
It was epic.

949
00:44:55,780 --> 00:44:59,980
The other, the other, oh Jeff, I got one more thing that surprised me about our trip.

950
00:44:59,980 --> 00:45:00,580
Yeah.

951
00:45:00,580 --> 00:45:02,780
You eat so much.

952
00:45:02,780 --> 00:45:07,680
Like, yeah, I have to finish with this one story because it is hilarious.

953
00:45:07,680 --> 00:45:11,180
And I told a couple of my friends this story and they were like cracking up.

954
00:45:11,180 --> 00:45:15,780
So we went to see the Northern Lights one night because we, we heard they're going to be popping

955
00:45:15,780 --> 00:45:20,980
off and the only place where there was like a little dot of no clouds was like two hour

956
00:45:20,980 --> 00:45:21,580
and a half away.

957
00:45:21,580 --> 00:45:22,180
Something like that.

958
00:45:22,180 --> 00:45:23,980
We had to hop in the car for a little bit.

959
00:45:23,980 --> 00:45:29,180
So anyway, we go see the Northern Lights kind of like they're kind of through the clouds,

960
00:45:29,180 --> 00:45:32,280
but we saw them and then we're driving home.

961
00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:33,280
Frank was driving.

962
00:45:33,280 --> 00:45:34,580
Thanks, Frank.

963
00:45:34,580 --> 00:45:37,480
And Jeff was asleep, like the whole drive home.

964
00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:41,080
He was just out because it was like, I mean, I don't know what was one thirty.

965
00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:41,680
Two in the morning.

966
00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:42,580
It was late.

967
00:45:42,580 --> 00:45:46,280
You have to wait till it's super dark because the sun, it doesn't get proper dark until

968
00:45:46,280 --> 00:45:47,580
midnight.

969
00:45:47,580 --> 00:45:49,980
But anyway, we, we do this drive, we do this adventure.

970
00:45:49,980 --> 00:45:53,780
We get back to the apartment, to the condos or cabin, whatever.

971
00:45:53,780 --> 00:45:58,180
And it's like two thirty in the morning and I go straight up to like the loft where I'm

972
00:45:58,180 --> 00:45:59,780
sleeping and then I go get my water bottle.

973
00:45:59,780 --> 00:46:03,980
I come down and like get ready for bed and Jeff's just in the kitchen like fully cooking.

974
00:46:03,980 --> 00:46:06,880
He's been asleep for like an hour and a half in the car.

975
00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:11,980
And he's just like fully cooking up like a pasta dish at like two thirty in the morning

976
00:46:11,980 --> 00:46:13,380
and I was just like, oh my God.

977
00:46:13,380 --> 00:46:15,780
And then the best thing about it was just like, dude, are you serious?

978
00:46:15,780 --> 00:46:16,980
Like you're eating right now.

979
00:46:16,980 --> 00:46:18,580
And you're like, yeah, man, I'm super hungry.

980
00:46:18,580 --> 00:46:19,180
Dead serious.

981
00:46:19,180 --> 00:46:21,880
And then you like, I was, you know, man, I'll have some noodles.

982
00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:25,180
It was like totally validated that you were cooking at two thirty in the morning.

983
00:46:25,180 --> 00:46:27,580
I was like, well, all right, I guess I'm the asshole.

984
00:46:27,580 --> 00:46:28,580
I'm going to bed guys.

985
00:46:28,580 --> 00:46:30,180
Yeah.

986
00:46:30,180 --> 00:46:34,980
It was like, well, Dave, if you've ever had a tapeworm, you got to keep those guys.

987
00:46:34,980 --> 00:46:36,780
Yeah, you got to go check, get that checked, man.

988
00:46:36,780 --> 00:46:37,980
I'm concerned about you.

989
00:46:37,980 --> 00:46:40,580
You, your food bill must be so high.

990
00:46:40,580 --> 00:46:44,180
But anyway, well, let's wrap this up.

991
00:46:44,180 --> 00:46:46,880
It was truly an awesome trip.

992
00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:49,380
Like I don't think I'll ever forget it.

993
00:46:49,380 --> 00:46:54,380
And hopefully we get to go again maybe next year or in some years soon.

994
00:46:54,380 --> 00:46:56,980
Do you got any last words for, for the peeps?

995
00:46:56,980 --> 00:46:57,580
Yeah.

996
00:46:57,580 --> 00:47:03,180
I mean, this is a little off topic, but we're really excited to announce that we're offering

997
00:47:03,180 --> 00:47:08,580
AspectAvi free to everyone who downloads it this spring and you can have it free for next

998
00:47:08,580 --> 00:47:12,780
year and for all the early adopters out there, thanks so much for your support.

999
00:47:12,780 --> 00:47:15,480
You'll have it free for next year because you've already downloaded it.

1000
00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:16,980
So thanks so much for your support.

1001
00:47:16,980 --> 00:47:20,300
We're a hundred percent back country community funded.

1002
00:47:20,300 --> 00:47:25,420
We're all on this mission together of saving lives from avalanches and our investors are

1003
00:47:25,420 --> 00:47:28,900
excited to share this with everyone.

1004
00:47:28,900 --> 00:47:33,620
It's the new standard and avalanche safety, it's preventative proactive avalanche safety

1005
00:47:33,620 --> 00:47:34,620
gear.

1006
00:47:34,620 --> 00:47:36,980
So heck yeah, store download it.

1007
00:47:36,980 --> 00:47:40,900
It's only available on iPhone right now, but hopefully we can change that in the future.

1008
00:47:40,900 --> 00:47:41,900
Yeah, man.

1009
00:47:41,900 --> 00:47:42,900
That's exciting.

1010
00:47:42,900 --> 00:47:43,900
That's awesome.

1011
00:47:43,900 --> 00:47:44,900
Yes, sir.

1012
00:47:44,900 --> 00:47:45,900
Okay.

1013
00:47:45,900 --> 00:47:48,900
We with that, I think we'll wrap this up, man.

1014
00:47:48,900 --> 00:47:52,100
It was good, good seeing you and we'll talk soon.

1015
00:47:52,100 --> 00:47:53,100
All right.

1016
00:47:53,100 --> 00:47:54,100
Sounds good.

1017
00:47:54,100 --> 00:47:55,100
Cheers.

1018
00:47:55,100 --> 00:47:56,100
Thank you so much for listening to all aspects.

1019
00:47:56,100 --> 00:47:58,900
If you like what we're doing here, please leave a rating and review.

1020
00:47:58,900 --> 00:48:01,380
It really is the best way to help others find the show.

1021
00:48:01,380 --> 00:48:04,540
Thanks again to our business daddy, Aspect Abbey, for making this show possible.

1022
00:48:04,540 --> 00:48:09,300
To learn more about how Aspect Abbey is making avalanche safety simple, go to aspectabbey.com.

1023
00:48:09,300 --> 00:48:13,500
If you want to use this powerful new tool on your next back country adventure, simply

1024
00:48:13,500 --> 00:48:17,660
download the app from the app store and enjoy 30 days free on them.

1025
00:48:17,660 --> 00:48:20,980
Lastly, special thanks to Ice Lab for helping us produce this show.

1026
00:48:20,980 --> 00:48:23,780
You guys rock and we couldn't do without you.

1027
00:48:23,780 --> 00:48:26,220
Thanks again for listening and we'll see you in the back country.