This post, written by Brian Mohr and Emily Johnson of Ember Phototography and first appeared on The Karhu Where Will You Ski Today site.

Pedal Powered Skiing

Earlier this spring, with our options for skiing out the back door melting away, we loaded our skis, poles, day packs and boots into our bike trailers. About an hour later, we’d be stashing our bikes in the woods and skinning toward the base of our local Mad River Glen ski area. We’d spend several hours skiing a mix of lift-served and sidecountry terrain, catch up with a few friends, and when the shadows chased us off the mountain, we’d enjoy a bonus off-piste ski descent to our bikes in the woods.

Back on the bikes, our soon-to-be-cycling-season legs appreciated the early spring warm up. We’d spot crocuses in the valley blooming along the edge of snow patches, hear our first peepers of the season and watch the sun dip behind the Green Mountain Divide along the final uphill approach to our home. More than anything, it just felt good to spend the afternoon out skiing in the big mountains, without having to drive.

On the bikes, the trip (60-70 minutes) takes approx. 45 minutes longer than it does by car (20 minutes)… no big deal. We once pulled off a three-day pedal-powered ski trip in the Rockies, biking a little, skiing a lot. Now, with gas prices climbing (finally!), glaciers melting (not cool) and fossil fuel combustion causing all sorts of global problems (oil spills, air/water pollution, war), it’s time for something different…

Imagine… 2 weeks, countless peaks and a great variety of ski descents, pedaling bikes primarily to move to new trailheads and terrain every so often, or to roll into town for some supplies or a lil’ culture. A SKI trip, not a bike trip… starting and ending right here at our home in Vermont. It would be an epic, human-powered skiing adventure.

For now, here are a few images – from a day we spent with our friend Peter Wadsworth – that might inspire you to get out on your own pedal powered skiing adventures…

Think snow!

Editor’s Note: Due to lack of timing device, author Dax Kelm says times are entirely approximate, and possibly made up.

We’re hoping this gives folks some ideas for Memorial Day Weekend activities. Enjoy yourselves out there in the season where, as Tim Nickles said, “none of your gear is stored and everything’s on!”

6 a.m. Saturday morning, I’m up. Went to bed early last night figuring the sun would be shining bright for the first time since last June. When should I call Tweece and Holladay? It’s sunny! Too early for sure, they went big at the Coach last night…no way they’re out of bed yet. I’ll give them a few hours. Time for my 6 a.m. Yerba Mate. Clifford and Stella, my dogs are up, wife is not … we take a quick walk to the park. Lucky dogs!

8 a.m. Time to wake the crew. First text. “Glory lap?” No response from Tweece. Holladay says yes. I immediately pepper Tweece’s phone until he picks up. “Get ready, we’re going up Glory,” I say. “Could be the last good day of the year.” By Jackson standards way too late for a morning start. “I’m in, holy shit…too many boozes last night,” Tweece says.

9 a.m. Waiting at the Stagecoach bar (where we park for skiing Mt. Glory on Teton Pass). We drive to the top of the pass and the lot is pretty full for a May weekend. Pack our bags load up the skis and snowboards. Let the pain set in for Holladay and Tweece. Nothing like being hungover and looking at all the leftover dog shit the first 50 steps. Glory: you love and hate her.

10 a.m. Hanging at the top. Talking about the night before. Beautiful morning and not one cloud in the sky. I’m going down in my boardies. Why not? Just don’t fall. A few friends make it to the top, we talk about where we’re headed. Straight down the gut, no questions asked. Snow is perfect. A clean slate of spring corn and not one person following us down. Make it to the last choke before we hit the road and there’s a guy skinning up the gut. Not sure what he’s on. A mission, perhaps.

11 a.m. D.O.G. burrito at Pass Gass in Wilson. Awesome, but this is going to hurt! Tweece makes the call to head to town, where I live, and check out the bike swap at Fitzgerald’s. The kid can’t pass up a good deal on a bike! “I’m going to get Pops and the cruisers,” Tweece says. “ Meet you at your place in an hour.” Get home, Caroline is up and drinking coffee. Must clean the windows before more fun….

12 p.m. Windows done, no problem. Crew shows up – dogs, cruisers and all. Time to cruise Jackson on this beautiful Saturday.

1 p.m. Head to the Fitzgerald’s Bike Shop. There’s talk of bike swap and Tweece can’t miss a deal…and I need a new chain for the mountain bike. Get to the swap. Red Rob is there scoping the scene and selling the new local mountain bike flick. I check out a few bikes and decide I need to save the cash for a surf trip with the lady. We stop at Sanchez for a few shrimp tacos and to watch the sunny Jackson scene.

2 p.m. Come home check on the dogs. Caroline has the house under control. New plan. “We’re taking the cruisers up Cache and then down Putt-Putt,” Tweece says. I’m thinking not a bad idea, but my Electra cruiser only has 3 gears and coaster brakes. Why not? Time to scratch that one off the list. Cruising up Cache, flip-flops on music playing from the iPhone we see Paul Huser and he invites us up to Jackson Peak for a Sunday morning ski. I think to myself ‘Cool idea but not going to happen.’ We crush the ride…flip-flops, no wrecks just a few odd looks. One guy did give us a little sarcastic jab. Don’t knock it till ya try it, bud.

4 p.m. Snake River Brew Pub. Going down from here. Haven’t had any water all day. Epstein shows up ready for a few suds. Beers are flowing out on the front deck, people are talking…I’m drinking…time to get the hell out of here! We decide to check out the view from the new parking garage across the street. Great view and good times! Check it out sometime.

7 p.m. Need food….Teton Thai. Best food in Jackson Hole hands down…And when the deck is going off, there’s no better place to eat in town. BYOB by the way and the DJ is spinning sick rasta tunes outside. Lot’s going on but I’m fading a little. What the hell? Getting old I guess.

9 p.m. “Hey Jackson Peak tomorrow morning,” Tweece says. “Jackson said we’re meeting at Huser’s house at 6 a.m.” I think to myself, ‘Why not?’ Never been up there before to ride. Time for another Blue Moon….then I’m biking home to pack.

10 p.m. Get home. Pack the gear. Fired up. Make a few PB&J’s and go to bed.

SUNDAY May 17, 2009

5 a.m. Alarm goes off. No way I’m going. Too tired and a little foggy from Saturday’s double trouble. I text Holladay and Tweece to say I’m out. Holladay texts back….”Bullshit, get out of bed…see you at the parking lot by the rodeo grounds.” Roll over in bed, tell Caroline I have no choice. It’s a done deal. I’m going on a walk-about to Jackson Peak.

6 a.m. Rodeo lot. Chad Jackson just pulled up and Paul Huser is fired up! He’s ready for some corn skiing on Jackson Peak. Meanwhile, I’m still pulling the cobwebs out of my eyes. We pile the gear in Holladay’s truck. It’s time. The morning is perfect and we see a few elk out on the refuge. I’m going to get my elk next year!

7 a.m. Make it to the Curtis Canyon overlook. The gates are still up so we park there and get the gear ready to roll. I rode my bike up here a few weeks ago. I can tell we are in for a trek. By this time, the crew consists of Jeff Wogoman, Chad Jackson, Holladay, Tweece, Paul Huser (the leader) and Andrew…sorry man forgot your last name. Time to start walking…no snow until we get to the trailhead off the road about two miles or so ahead. Bushwhackin’!

Time is getting fuzzy at this point…so bear with me.

8:30 a.m. Board is split, skins are on. A little snow in front of us, but the mountain is way far away. Let the fun begin. Huser is filling us full of Jackson Peak info. If you ever need beta about skiing off Jackson Peak or the Ski Cabin, Paul has it. Awesome guy!

9:30 a.m. Getting closer, I think. Good thing I’ve been skinning this season…just a little. Glory laps all day long…skinning not so much. Better late than never! Starting to think to myself skiing back down on the split board is definitely going to be a pain if the snow doesn’t soften up on this trail…could be a long ride back. I don’t care. I’m just happy to be outside.

11 a.m. Like I said, time is off the back end. So we may be here sooner than later. Make it to the boot pack. This is going to be a sick morning. Snow is starting to soften up. Huser points out his favorite couloirs on the west side of Jackson Peak. Looks sick and no tracks. By the time we make it to the top, prime conditions. We can see the tracks from the day before by JK and his crew. Nice lines!

12 p.m. Quick lunch and time to make the first run. I’m psyched, never boarded or skied Jackson Peak…as the rest of the crew, other than Wogo and Huser. Check out a few lines. Time to watch Holladay make a his turns. Looks good. Time to go. Make the first turn and it’s money. I can see the others finishing up. I wait in a safe spot and let the sluff go down. Make it to the bottom! Awesome. Favorite turns all season. Time for another lap!

12:30 p.m. The call is for another! Huser is psyched because he usually can’t get a group of seven to go up, let alone do a second lap. Skins are soaked. We head back up. No pain no gain.

1 p.m. Hiking back up. Huser is talking about the west couloir. We checked it out on the way up the first time and it looked good to go. We split the crew up, 3 to the north (suckers) and 4 to the West. Huser gives us (Holladay, Tweece and I) the lowdown on how this is his favorite run off the peak. I’m cool. Looks pretty mellow but has a good angle and the snow looks nice!

2 p.m. It’s on. The others head to the north side of the summit, while our group stops just short to enter the west couloir. I’m psyched. Spacecamp is starting to set in. Huser directs us in and gives us a little history. “Who’s up,” Huser asks? Holladay takes the plunge and I follow right after. Yep, another perfect spring line. No ice, just good ole’ soft spring snow all the way to the bottom. I’m psyched! We all slap fives and decide it’s time for the bushwhack back.

3:45 p.m. Make it back to the truck. The north side crew had the fort ready. Beers open, tunes playing and a sick view of the Tetons to the West.

I can’t complain it turned out to be one hell of a Wyoming weekend. Just the way I like it: no plans and letting the day dictate our adventures.

When not on impromptu adventures with friends, Dax Kelm works for Backbone Media.

As Jess McMillan trains by chopping wood, skiing in other countries and doing pilates and dryland training, others take a different approach. Backbone Media’s Ian Anderson’s tells more ….

From Ian:
Our boy Len Zanni from Big Agnes/Honey Stinger had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to race with Lance Armstrong this summer at the 12 Hours of Snowmass race. Len is a typical Roaring Fork Valley sandbagger, so you’d never know it from talking to him that he’s one of the best cyclists in the Valley, if not the state.

At the Snowmass race, Len held his own, riding laps just a couple minutes slower than Lance and helping their three-man team to victory.

As winter sets in here and the snow starts to fly, Len and I have been trying to squeeze in as much riding as we can, unlike the rest of the Backbone crew, which is solely focused on skiing now.

Len and I were plotting our winter training yesterday, talking about getting in one road ride per week, with lots of gym time and skate skiing to maintain fitness. Then I stumbled across Lance’s winter training plan as explained by Chris Carmichael on Bicycling.com.

Lance’s Training Outline
2 x per week 5-5.5 hrs endurance pace
2 x per week 3-4 hrs endurance pace with 2 x 20minutes at just below LT pace (380-400watts)
1 x per week Tuesday-night ride
1 x per week 3-4 hrs with 2 sets of 4 x 20seconds max effort x 40 seconds recovery
1 x per week–day of for travel, rest.

Uhh yeah, Len, you’re going to have a tough time keeping up with Lance next year.

With 16 days until Jackson Hole Mountain Resort opens, Cloudveil ambassador Jess McMillan is training, training, training and blogging, blogging, blogging.

She’ll be in Jackson for the mountain’s Nov. 29 opening and here through December before she leaves for Russia in mid-January, taking the first step in her path toward reclaiming her 2007 championship crown from the International Freeskiing Association.

The 30-year-old, who learned how to ski through Wilson Elementary School’s winter sports program and won state skiing titles at Jackson Hole high school, is chopping wood in Wyoming, skiing powder in Argentina and even turning some tricks at the Olympic splash pool in Salt Lake to prepare for this year’s competition roster. Read more here about last year’s experiences that inspired her to hit the ground harder this year.

The latest from McMillan’s blog highlights the Wild Card pics for the Sochi, Russa competition in January. Russia is the first stop on the Freeride World Tour, a different, but equally badass competition series from the International Freeskiing Association Tour (mentioned above).

When you go out to the Village, watch out for the blond streak zooming past you in her Volkl Kuros and Cloudveil coat.

From Jess:
The Freeride World Tour just announced the Wild Cards for Sochi, Russia. Congratulations to everyone who received a wild card. The FWT is an amazing tour. I am really excited to see more women on the tour this year. I think having more women will push all of us to ski our very best and bring the level of competition to a new height. Can’t wait to see you in Russia.

When the snow starts falling in Jackson Hole, it is high time for the “crazies” to hit the thinly coated slopes of Teton Pass in search of knee injury adventure.
On one hand, it is hard to fault someone for having irrepressible motivation such that they will risk their season for dirty turns. But on the other hand, such risk lends itself easily to criticism by those who think that turns through brushy, rocky minefields are not worthwhile.
The Resolution: taking that motivation and applying it to something other than the low-hanging fruit.

There are plenty of lines to ski with minimal risk at this time of year; however, one has to go farther, using more energy, to find them. There are a handful of lines in the Tetons on which one can find mid-season conditions in early November. The road is closed at Bradley/Taggart and there isn’t enough snow to skin the normal winter approaches, but that just gives you an excuse to make it a multi-sport day: hop on the mountain bike and pedal your skis farther into the park.

Two ski partners and I did just that last Wednesday. After pedaling through an inch of snow and slush, which unfortunately feels like sand under the tires, we left the road, stashed the bikes and began post-holing a certain canyon’s summer trail.

Picture this: A maze of talus and boulders in which there was just enough snow to cover both flat boulders and gaping death holes that would swallow your entire body and break all four limbs. This led to a very slow and gingerly walk probing with poles, testing every foot hold and still sliding into some of the mini crevasses occasionally.

What in summer or winter would take about 15 minutes to negotiate, took us about an hour and a half. This section was, by far, the crux of the 12-hour car-to-car day.

After a climb made difficult by the worsening storm conditions, we reached the top of the couloir. While the run was not a long one, the turns exceeded all expectations, with thigh deep powder and dropped-knee face shots on November 5!

I don’t mention any formations or lines here because 1) I don’t want to direct someone to an area they aren’t familiar with and 2) I don’t want to direct the masses to one spot, which inevitably happens when they know it has been explored. I post this because I am happy to share with those who have an adventurous spirit and motivation to get away from the road. Those who are willing to be on the move for 12 hours simply for the workout, adventure, and 25 turns in bottomless powder, know that there are rewards to be found out there.
I don’t post pictures of the turns because, frankly, we were too cold and tired to take the camera out for shots in near white-out conditions.

The slog was arduous to say the least, but isn’t that what most of us in this valley crave (to varying degrees) anyway? The trail might not be broken for you and you might not be able to ski your way to the valley floor (in fact you might have to break trail on both the way up and down), but the satisfaction of hiking or biking back to the car and realizing that you had the entire range to yourselves is well worth the travail. Days like these feel like the anti-Teton Pass vibe: the valley is not overpopulated and these mountains are not skied out.

Peter Griffin lives in a rent-free gnome shack in Wilson.

You’ve heard the saying before: “She’s not your girlfriend. It’s just your turn.” Welcome to mountain town dating politics. While the post après string-free flings and bed-hopping can be fun—there is an obvious downside. No, we’re not talking about the fact that you and your best friend have crossed swords more times that can care to count. We’re talking about STDs. And since April was STD-awareness month, everyone has the taboo topic on the brain.

Did you know that in 2006, Alaska had the highest rate of Chlamydia in the U.S., according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention? Fernie, British Columbia’s online Survival Guide sites B.C. as having one of the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases in Canada.

Don’t fret. There is a solution. And no, it’s not the Ski Condom, a neoprene sleeve that slides over your ski tip. In the midst of spring off-season trips to Nicaragua, breaking your bike out of hibernation, and warming up the BBQ, get tested. Because in our little mountain towns, the saying “It’s such a small world” really takes on a whole new meaning.

Megan is a former editor at Outside Magazine, and now an associate editor at Skiing and was crowned Telemark Freeskiing Champion in Alyeska in March. She lives in Boulder.

With Jackson Hole Mountain Resort closed for the last few weeks, the Hole has been way too quiet. Its almost impossible to go out and get something to eat without resorting to your third choice for a restaurant. Everything is closed and the streets are bare. I guess it gives us a good excuse to take care of those chores that we put off all winter. For a flashback to April 6th the last day of the season at Jackson Hole, check out this little home movie. It seems so long ago already. Life moves fast…take it all in while you can.

Chad is a mountain man raised in the hills of Colorado. He now lives in Jackson Hole where he’s trying not to grow up.