We are finally out of the mountains after 27 days camped on the ice.  It was the most incredible experience of my.  The challenges were large but the rewards were larger.  In 20 years of snowboarding I have never felt highs like I felt on this trip.

The trip was an experiment with a lot of question marks going into it and I am proud to say that it was a total success.  We road world class lines in unexplored mountains with out the use of a helicopter. Living in the mountains at the base of our objectives gave me an intimacy with my surroundings that I have never felt before.  We knew every layer of the snow-pack before we even went out because we lived threw the storms.  It seemed like everyday I was learning something new in the mountains and doing things I have never done before.

We consistently had to back down on lines waiting for the right conditions because hiking the lines from the bottom up left no room for error.  For the big lines we would be exposed for 3 to 5 hours as we hiked up the faces we would ride.  With a heli you can limit your exposure to minutes.

Now I am in “shock” mode as I settle back into society.  I will role out some journal entries and pics as time permits.  Below is some highlights and a few pics from the first two days of filming.

-12 ft of snow fell while we were camped on the ice. (a 10 day storm, and a 5 day storm)

-We ate 100 pounds of Clif Products.

-Filmer Garry Pendergrass wins the “Toughest Bastard Award” for lasting the whole month in camp.

-Travis Rice was the MVP.  Putting in 25 days with non stop energy and stoke.

-Tom Burt is truly the God Father of Big Mountain Riding and a huge reason for our success.

-Jonaven Moore is my favorite person in the world to ride with.

-I had 31 runs

-Hiked 30,000  vertical feet.

-Rode 17 out of 18 days.  (I missed the 10 day storm for Shane’s Funeral….Thanks Shane!)

-Climbed 3 major unnamed peaks and rode world epic lines off them.

-Named the biggest and baddest one Mount McConkey

It took about an hour to get up and going. Soft boots turned into froozen ski boots in the morning. By the end of the trip we were getting up at 4 AM to hit our morning lines. TB, Johan and Rice warming up and waking up.

It took about an hour to get up and going. Soft boots turned into froozen ski boots in the morning. By the end of the trip we were getting up at 4 AM to hit our morning lines. TB, Johan and Rice warming up and waking up.

Rice came out of the gates firing. This was his first line of the trip and one of the better lines I have ever seen him hit. His year in Jackson has payed off.

Rice came out of the gates firing. This was his first line of the trip and one of the better lines I have ever seen him hit. His year in Jackson has payed off.

We were all ridng with two to three times heavier packs then normal. This was the hardest part but we got use to it. TB's pack was over 40 pounds but it did not slow him down in this line.

We were all ridng with two to three times heavier packs then normal. (About 25lbs.) This was the hardest part but we got use to it. TB's pack was over 40 pounds but it did not effect him once he got into the steeps.

It was awesome to be back in the mountains with Johan. It was the first time in years that I have seen him really amping on snowboarding again.

It was awesome to be back in the mountains with Johan. It was the first time in years that I have seen him really amping on snowboarding again. Later in the day I got a good line off the highest peak to the right.

Jonaven momnets away from a serious triple air sluff racing line.

Jonaven moments away from a serious triple air sluff racing line.

Rices's Wyoming roots shined bright on this trip. He was in his elellement camping, hiking and ripping. This is the second part of a line that started with a big cliff drop to spines.

T Rice making the first track count on this crevace gap. This was the second half of double line that started with a cliff drop to spine wall.

Mid day refueling at camp while the light switches from the North East to the NorthWest faces.

Mid day refueling at camp while the light switches from the North East to the NorthWest faces.

Waiting my turn as Jonaven tunnels his way up a schetchy section over exposure.

Waiting my turn as Jonaven tunnels his way up a sketchy section over exposure.