This year's Ortler Tour will be one to remember.  Boot-top powder, blue skies and an amazing group of ripping skiers all combined for the perfect trip in the Italian Alps.  Check out the video below for a little snapshot of the fun. 

      The Ortler has always been one of Larry and Jeff's favorite ski trips.  The huts in this region are some of the best in the European Alps, with good food, private rooms, showers, and the all-important Italian Cappuccino.  Then throw in some spectacular, glaciated ski terrain right out the back door and you end up with a pretty sweet ski mountaineering trip.  

      In 2007 NCMG started running trips in the Ortler region in an effort to offer something more to guests that had enjoyed the Haute Route but wanted something a little different.  The Ortler ended up being the perfect addition.  With all of the peaks in the region just under the magical 4,000 meter mark, this area sees a lot less traffic than the other, slightly higher ranges but the skiing is just as good, if not better.  

      Over the years we've slowly tweaked the itinerary to take advantage of the great terrain and add options to the tour.  We now feel like NCMG offers the best possible itinerary in the range - multiple nights at the key huts, both good and poor weather options moving from hut to hut and the added bonus of a trip to the 2,000 year old Roman Baths at the end of the tour.  Not a bad way to enjoy a ski mountaineering trip in the Alps.  

      People have already started to register for the 2013 Ortler tour.  Spaces are filling up fast.  Give the office a call 509 996 3194 or send them an email at info@ncmountainguides.com if you have questions or would like to sign up for next year's tour.   

Black Diamond will be launching a new line of backcountry skis next season.  To help get the word out the BD crew headed out to the North Cascades with a group of ski writers to see how they liked the new skis.  Larry, Paul and Jeff had the pleasure of skiing with the crew using snowmobiles and the helicopter to access the high-alpine backcountry ski terrain around Washington Pass.  Check out the blog posts from Off Piste and The Verteblog for pictures and info on the new skis.  The favorites seemed to be the new Carbon Fiber Megawatt and Justice.  The engineers at Black Diamond ended up shaving two pounds off the Megawatt without losing any surface area.  Fat and light - just the way we like it here in the Northwest.    

There is nothing better than skiing your favorite local powder stash, except maybe finding a new one.  On Monday the D.O.T crews started plowing the North Cascades Highway and the NCH helicopter flew home for the season.  That means the high mountain skiing opportunities around Mazama are pretty limited right now.  Looks like it's time to travel.  Yesterday I spent some time skiing near Stevens Pass (see the short video below) and Sunday Larry and I head to the Alps for the ski mountaineering season.  I hope you all are getting a chance to enjoy your favorite stashes and hopefully finding some new ones.  We'll both be back in time for the highway to open and the start of the corn skiing season at Washington Pass.  See you then!

According to the calendar it is officially Spring but it's still winter in the mountains here in the Northwest.  Once again we are enjoying the late season skiing that La Nina always tends to deliver.  To celebrate/mourn the last days of winter I headed out skiing with Backcountry Season Pass holders Bob and Larina Davis, my friend from Leavenworth Shannon Fallon, and my wife.  We spent the day heli touring near Silverstar and Kangaroo.  Starting the day off with a drop from the heli and getting a mid-day "bump" to a new zone seemed a great way to celebrate.  It's the last week that the helicopter will be in the valley but the snow continues to fall and the backcountry skiing should be good well into June.  Here are a few pictures from the day.  Enjoy (you know I did).

 I was able to spend the last week in the North Cascades "riding" with a great crew of split boarders at the Barron Yurt.  The trip started out perfectly with nearly a foot of cold, new snow on the first day.  After that we enjoyed some great blue bird powder "skiing". One of the crew enjoying the low density snow on T2.   Fellow guide Einar Steinarsson nearing the top of the skin track.   Heading back up after laying down tracks on Eastern...

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The current big change in the weather got me sorting through some of my recent photos. I came across these two shots of the same range of peaks that show the mountains in two very different moods. 

The peaks seen in the photos are (right to left) Mt Ballard, Azurite peak and Golden horn.  This photo was taken as a warm front approached from the west.

This photo shows the same three mountains at sunrise during a beautiful spell of high pressure.

 We've had a bit of a break in the La Nina storm cycles lately.  This has allowed us to enjoy some mid-winter sunshine and ski some steeper lines due to the good stability, but we're looking forward to when the snow starts flying again.  Extended forecasts are calling for a sizable dump starting next week.  We all know how reliable extended forecasts are but we are going to be ready.  Last year's big dumps started around the end of February and didn't let up until May!  Are you ready?

After digging out from yet another big storm cycle that dumped snow on the Methow, it was time to explore the skiing on the hill right above my house.  I rounded up a small posse of friends and we had one of the best days of lowland skiing ever.  If its this good down here, you can imagine how good it is in the mountains right now!