Backcountry Snowboarding in Colorado

[-MountainDog-]

A buddy and I do quite a bit of backcountry riding using splitboards (http://www.splitboardlife.com/site/Splitboard_Home/Splitboard_Home.html). They're a snowboard that splits down the middle into skis that you stick skins on to ascend, and then clamp the board back together for the ride down. Pretty ingenious invention so we don't have to use snowshoes and carry the boards on our backs.
Colorado's been getting some good snow that last couple of weeks so the riding been great. Last weekend we had some knee deep powder in the Jones Pass area. It was mostly gray skies and snowing on and off. I bumped up the EC a bit, but still wasn't quite enough.
All photos are shot with my Rebel Xsi and the Canon 15-85mm IS. I'll usually bring the Canon 55-250 IS for some more reach, but didn't feel like changing lenses with the blowing snow. And need some wide angle for the scenics.

1. Martin and Huggy coming down
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250) Aperture: f/8.0 Focal Length: 85 mm ISO Speed: 100 Exposure Bias: +2/3 EV
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4378270138_5d788168d9_b.jpg

2. Martin in the pow
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250) Aperture: f/6.3 Focal Length: 32 mm ISO Speed: 100 Exposure Bias: +2/3 EV
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/4378271672_f1e6bdb687_b.jpg

3. Climbing
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400) Aperture: f/11.0 Focal Length: 15 mm ISO Speed: 100 Exposure Bias: +2/3 EV
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4377524323_57eb8f0435_b.jpg

4. Blue sky decided to pop out for a second
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400) Aperture: f/11.0 Focal Length: 27 mm ISO Speed: 100 Exposure Bias: +2/3 EV
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2775/4378273820_d9010e7dd0_b.jpg

5. Transitioning from ski to board mode
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800) Aperture: f/7.1 Focal Length: 50 mm ISO Speed: 100 Exposure Bias: +2/3 EV
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2784/4377525845_ac89eb63c0_b.jpg

6. Coming back down
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000) Aperture: f/5.6 Focal Length: 85 mm ISO Speed: 100 Exposure Bias: +2/3 EV
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4377526175_aee3d49f85_b.jpg

7. Powder is fun!
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000) Aperture: f/5.6 Focal Length: 85 mm ISO Speed: 100 Exposure Bias: +2/3 EV
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4377527509_6722de547f_b.jpg

8. Still climbing
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250) Aperture: f/6.3 Focal Length: 42 mm ISO Speed: 200 Exposure Bias: +4/3 EV
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4377529581_c22fdcaf4f_b.jpg

[Mikeroscope]

looks like a lot of fun! Except the climbing up part. That looks tiring as hell. How is the climb with the split deck as opposed to regular snowshoes?

[WaFp]

so does Huggy just follow you up the hill and then chase you back down? LOL

looks like a blast!

[laxplayer9352]

I've got that jacket :D


Very jealous of all that pow. Excellent shots

[-MountainDog-]

Thanks for the comments guys!

looks like a lot of fun! Except the climbing up part. That looks tiring as hell. How is the climb with the split deck as opposed to regular snowshoes?

The climbing is really good. The splitboard set up comes with some fat skins so you get a lot of surface area for gripping. I like it better than snowshoeing since it's a little easier to traverse than with snowshoes. Snowshoes are wide and unless you have real soft snow they're harder to side hill with. Plus, the huge advantage is getting the weight of the board off your back. Also, it's usually windy above tree line and a board on your back acts like a sail.

so does Huggy just follow you up the hill and then chase you back down? LOL

looks like a blast!

Yeah, a dog will follow you anywhere. Although we try to be very responsible when bringing dogs. It's tough for them to do long trips where they're post holing all day long. On this trip it's a fairly popular trail in, so it's packed down. Then we'd planned to just lap the same runs, so our skintrack up off the trail got packed down too. Some times if the dogs are getting tired, they'll actually take the skintrack back down instead of running through the soft powder behind us.
We also don't take them when we're in an area that has higher avalanche danger.