Friday, January 22, 2010
JT and Timy in Russia
Trip Report Russia 2010
We are 10 days into this Russia trip and I wanted to share some images. The first is from the World Famous Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg. Fascinating stuff in there, an excellent way to spend an afternooon. Obviously none of us are typically museum types. There was this peculiar photo of a guy burning in an apparent wingsuit flight gone wrong. Seems to be depicting the story of Icarus, but Icarus was a boy, and this guy is a balding old man, and Icarus’ wax melted on his wings, this guy straight up caught on fire. It is interesting that even in ancient days people dreamt of flying wingsuit style.
The conditions over here at the moment are quite poor, but due to a good crew we still have fun. Highlights include some pow on top of bushes and leaves our first day, another day when avalanche conditions were %100., some buttery groomers that we had to poach (my first time poaching a groomer) and yesterday, we all seemed to go out there and jump off of whatever we could find. It was the type of snow you tend to find in May in Squaw. Heavy glop that runs really slowly and wet avalanches everywhere. The lower elevation groomers are turning brown, it really is just like late spring.
We are here for the Freeride World Tour’s first stop. Sochi Russia. The same place that MSP produced that killer segment with Pep Fujas and Eric Pollard for the movie Hit List. The ski resort and village is called Krasnaya Polyana, and they will be hosting the 2014 Olympics, hence a tremendous amount of construction in the valley, a statistic was shared that every 7 seconds, a big truck drives by in this town. The overwhelming consensus is that the construction has thrown off the mini climate of the valley, raising temperatures angering the mountains. Muddy roads, workers burning the forest away, boulders being ground into gravel, dump trucks, back hoes, front end loaders, massive drills, storage containers, you name it. It is really quite ugly, but at the same time quite entertaining. Seems like utter chaos. Twice we have spotted guys running huge machines completely asleep with the engine still idling. The first 3 chairlifts carry us right through one of the many construction zones. We have to actually ride with our skis on our lap, because there is no snow for the load and unload stations. Of course we have to download at the end of the day. Another unique thing about the skiing experience here in Krasnaya Polyana in 2010 is the loudspeakers on the chairlift towers with a constant buzz to them, and a repeated message in Russian of course that states: “Freeriding off-piste is strictly forbidden. Skiers must not ski when drunk, and skiers under the age of 14 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.” I guess they have a lot of drunk 14 year olds going out and ripping lines!
Chairlifts here are soon to be replaced and are SKETCHY. peep this photograph of the chairlift cable with a bulge/ fray to it. Not cool. Yesterday the lift started going backwards. It was scary, we almost jumped.
ALso, peep this blue steel I got out of world famous sexy skier, Henrik Winsted. Henrik. So hot right now.
and a camo dog.
I know we have nothing to complain about, most people would kill to have Timy and my schedule for the winter, summer, all of it. Exotic locations, culture, helicopters, new terrain, cameras parchutes, all sorts of fun stuff, but ma oh man, when Tahoe is firing there is absolutely no place I would rather be without a doubt. I can honestly say that when I miss storms like this I feel like I have missed a once in a lifetime opportunity, akin in magnitude to being out of town during the birth of your only child.
Hell, why am I even blogging? everyone is either skiing, shoveling sleeping or building fires. No one is gonna read this.
We are 10 days into this Russia trip and I wanted to share some images. The first is from the World Famous Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg. Fascinating stuff in there, an excellent way to spend an afternooon. Obviously none of us are typically museum types. There was this peculiar photo of a guy burning in an apparent wingsuit flight gone wrong. Seems to be depicting the story of Icarus, but Icarus was a boy, and this guy is a balding old man, and Icarus’ wax melted on his wings, this guy straight up caught on fire. It is interesting that even in ancient days people dreamt of flying wingsuit style.
The conditions over here at the moment are quite poor, but due to a good crew we still have fun. Highlights include some pow on top of bushes and leaves our first day, another day when avalanche conditions were %100., some buttery groomers that we had to poach (my first time poaching a groomer) and yesterday, we all seemed to go out there and jump off of whatever we could find. It was the type of snow you tend to find in May in Squaw. Heavy glop that runs really slowly and wet avalanches everywhere. The lower elevation groomers are turning brown, it really is just like late spring.
We are here for the Freeride World Tour’s first stop. Sochi Russia. The same place that MSP produced that killer segment with Pep Fujas and Eric Pollard for the movie Hit List. The ski resort and village is called Krasnaya Polyana, and they will be hosting the 2014 Olympics, hence a tremendous amount of construction in the valley, a statistic was shared that every 7 seconds, a big truck drives by in this town. The overwhelming consensus is that the construction has thrown off the mini climate of the valley, raising temperatures angering the mountains. Muddy roads, workers burning the forest away, boulders being ground into gravel, dump trucks, back hoes, front end loaders, massive drills, storage containers, you name it. It is really quite ugly, but at the same time quite entertaining. Seems like utter chaos. Twice we have spotted guys running huge machines completely asleep with the engine still idling. The first 3 chairlifts carry us right through one of the many construction zones. We have to actually ride with our skis on our lap, because there is no snow for the load and unload stations. Of course we have to download at the end of the day. Another unique thing about the skiing experience here in Krasnaya Polyana in 2010 is the loudspeakers on the chairlift towers with a constant buzz to them, and a repeated message in Russian of course that states: “Freeriding off-piste is strictly forbidden. Skiers must not ski when drunk, and skiers under the age of 14 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.” I guess they have a lot of drunk 14 year olds going out and ripping lines!
Chairlifts here are soon to be replaced and are SKETCHY. peep this photograph of the chairlift cable with a bulge/ fray to it. Not cool. Yesterday the lift started going backwards. It was scary, we almost jumped.
ALso, peep this blue steel I got out of world famous sexy skier, Henrik Winsted. Henrik. So hot right now.
and a camo dog.
I know we have nothing to complain about, most people would kill to have Timy and my schedule for the winter, summer, all of it. Exotic locations, culture, helicopters, new terrain, cameras parchutes, all sorts of fun stuff, but ma oh man, when Tahoe is firing there is absolutely no place I would rather be without a doubt. I can honestly say that when I miss storms like this I feel like I have missed a once in a lifetime opportunity, akin in magnitude to being out of town during the birth of your only child.
Hell, why am I even blogging? everyone is either skiing, shoveling sleeping or building fires. No one is gonna read this.
Labels: henrik winsted, JT Holmes, Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi Russia, Timy Dutton
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At least you have Timy (He spells his own name wrong) to keep you company!