It's been a fun season so far out here in the Pacific Northwest, with everything from corn snow to over a foot of fresh. The past two months have been full of adventures for me, from mellow tours at home on the flanks of Rainier to excursions into the Canadian Rockies. While all my touring and riding is really just training for touring season, it's been exciting none the less.

It's difficult to describe in words Jason's and my experience in the Olympic Mountains. During our seven-day journey, we hiked, skinned, and climbed through unfrequented terrain near Mt. Olympus. Terrain, that had, at that point, been (as far as we know) completely untouched by the ski- or snowboard-mountaineer. Snapping photos of and skiing down peaks in the area had been a lifelong dream of Jason Hummel's, and I was eager to explore that area as well. So, with little more than a topographical map and a few outdated pictures to guide us, we set off on what would be a journey of a lifetime.

Within the last two weeks, the Cascades received more than 8 feet of snow, creating a snowpack that more resembled mid-winter than pre-December conditions. With the Crystal Mountain opening, on November 11, I really felt like the new season had officially been ushered in. I'm getting really amped up for the upcoming season, one during which I hope to really push the limits of what has and can be done with a snowboard.

It was mid-May and I was tits-deep in touring season. After tackling Mt. Shasta with some good company, Amar and I set our sights on other Nor-Cal and Oregon volcanoes to scoop up and slide upon.

Sleep should have been inevitable as I laid nestled cozily in my sleeping bag atop a thermarest and concrete parking lot, yet the continual sounds of people rustling their gear as they headed off in fifteen minute intervals kept me tossing and turning through the dead of night. As I laid there, half-asleep, my mind kept returning to what was in store for the week ahead of us.I felt fortunate to join Amar Andalkar on one of his Cascadian road trips.  Both mine and Amar's only goals for our California road trip were to climb as many Volcanoes as our legs would allow. With our only constraint being time (9 days), we decided to begin with Mt. Shasta.

Until mid-May, I had primarily focused on peak-bagging, but as the days got longer and warmer, we began to head into what I like to call, the "Volcano Season," since it's the best time of year for climbing and sliding down stratovolcanoes. So at that time, I made the switch from primarily pow-seeking touring to really working on my volcanic goals.

But before I rehash my Volcano season, I'd like to take a brief intermission from recounting last season to bring "What Up" a trip report from more recently... since October Pow is more along the lines of what's up with me right now.

It was yet another brutally cold morning as the early morning sun beat down upon my sleeping bag. My body was still exhausted from the trip to Snoqualmie that I'd done the day before, so I downed a few delicious ibuprofeins with my freshly-boiled instant coffee. Looking up from this delicious schmorgasbord, I considered the peaks nearby.

Icicle creek boasts some of the truly more picturesque peaks within the Cascades, and we were there to tackle one such massive-- Dragontail Peak. A large rock spire situated between Mt. Stuart and Cannon Mountain, Dragontail is home to an impressive south-facing chute that will yield 3000' vert of snow after quick climb. Luckily, a storm from a few days earlier had dumped over a foot of powder, that would be free for the taking-- not bad, for a glorious day in May.