Over 100 inches of snow in November

Already over 100 inches of snow has fallen in the Pacific Northwest and it's not even even December 1st yet!

Here's what it looked like through the lens of my iPhone

Julie loves face shots!

The snow has continued to to fall here in the Northwest. Last week Julie took out the GoPro and came back with some great footage from Stevens Pass.

Julie Velez Stevens Pass Pow Days from Robin Pitt on Vimeo.

Good Times At Stevens Pass

After a dismal winter, the Pacific Northwest has finally been getting a decent amount of snow fall. Well, more then just some snow fall. They have been getting pounded, all day and all night the snow just keeps dumping! Last week I was at Stevens Pass after they received 32 inches in just 24 hours, 23 of it fell after the lifts had closed the day before.
The only other time I have seen over 30 inches in 24 hours was at Grand Targhee last year. Having that much snow makes for a different kind of snowboarding. You pretty much have to just point everything, quick turns only and don't even think about going anywhere but the steeps. I think it's harder to ride that much snow, especially in the Northwest where the snow is a little heavier. A ski patroller put it best and called it "sludge".  Don't get me wrong though it was an awesome day and I hope the snow keeps coming!

Good Times from Robin Pitt on Vimeo.

2010 is over bring on 2011!

It may have been -5 and even colder than that with the wind chill on New Years but it didn’t stop us from having a great day of riding at Grand Targhee. It was hard to get out of bed after a rockin' night at the Trap Bar and fireworks show. Swagger, an Irish rock band out of Salt Lake, kept the night going till the wee hours.

The day started with some fast groomers then we headed out to find some POW. Even though we have not had a big storm for a while Targhee has so many unknown honey holes, you can always find some goods!

 Happy New Year!!!

Partying at the Trap Bar with Swagger 

4frnt team rider Gary Mackenzie

 Gary Mackenzie

 Dan Carr sending it

 Julie Velez on her new Never Summer charges through some POW

Backcounty Kicker session #1

You will rarely find me standing next to a kicker in the backcountry shooting photos. It’s not that I don’t enjoy shooting backcountry kickers or that I have anything against them. I just normally spend my time shooting POW. That being said last week was a bit different. On Thursday I spent most the day shoveling snow and shaping what I thought was a nice size kicker. On Friday I woke up at the butt crack of dawn and headed up Teton Pass. We hiked in when it was still dark and got setup at the kicker for a sunrise shoot. I was lucky to be shooting with David Duffy, Matt Arvidson and Discrete Headwear rider Ed Dujardin.

Despite it being 6am and the temperature being -5 they were throwing down some big tricks and we were definitely having a good time. The only issue was we needed the kicker to be about twice the size to really make them look good. Here are a few of the shots, check back soon for session #2 with a bigger and better kicker.

 Matt Arvidson

 Ed Dujardin

 David Duffy

 Matt Arvidson

 Matt Arvidson

 Ed Dujardin

Winter Starts with a POW

If you live in a cave you might not know that we have been getting pounded with amazing snow since Thanksgiving. But if you’re like most people who live in and around the Teton’s, you have been out getting the goods before the all the tourists show up. Lift lines have been unusually small at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and if you have had the pleasure of riding Targhee you have not waited in a line all year. Endless POW and locals only is the best way to start a winter!

Julie Velez slashes Grand Taghee

Gary Hansen gets some great Targhee POW

Dippy drops a cornice at Grand Targhee

Gary Hansen hitting a fun little hit at Targhee

Julie Velez getting lost in the white room

Back Country Kicker

Here are a few shots from a fun day up at Teton Pass. The kicker was good, the hike was beautiful, the snow.... well, the snow was soft that's about the only good thing I can say about it. It always blows my mind how fast great snow can turn to shit. Just 4 days ago it was cold and we were ripping two feet of fresh pow. Yesterday we were on north facing slopes in the trees and the snow was still pretty bad.

David Duffy

Cheers; Justin Koontz lounges back as Trevor Zarkwr take a drink

David Duffy

David Duffy

Board shorts and beers at 8,500 feet

Tetons get pounded

Over 50 inches of fresh cowboy powder fell in the Tetons last week, the snowboarding was epic! I wish every winter would end like this. As I write this, it's still puking and if NOAA is right it will keep coming till Wednesday. What a week, I was stoked to get on a snowcat snowboarding trip (thanks Shannon!) on Wednesday. It dumped all day Thursday. Friday morning the skies cleared for a few hours. It was nipple deep and blue bird! What else could you ask for on a Friday? The snow returned, dumped all night and all day. All roads into the area got shut down Saturday morning leaving Targhee empty. We had the whole mountain to ourselves. It was the best Saturday I have ever had at a resort, every run was untracked and we hardly saw another person.

Dippy

Grand Targhee snowcat guide Beach

Heath Leosh

Dippy

I'm Back

It has been a really long time since I posted anything on here. But in all fairness I hit a tree last year and I wasn't doing anything worth blogging about. With winter finally showing up in Jackson I have been out shooting a ton and getting a few good lines in as too.

Here's a link to Snowboard Magazine I have a few photos and word up on their blog
http://www.snowboard-mag.com/?q=node/37989

More photos coming soon

Goodbye Pins

Yesterday I got my pins pulled out! When I say "pulled out" I mean she just just grabbed and pulled. No drugs, no shot to numb my wrist she just grabbed and pulled hard. Surprisingly it didn't really hurt. They just came right out.
Unfortunately the doctor said I shouldn't ride the rest of the year so that sucks. I guess I'll mostly be shooting nature for a while.