2008 April Archive at nickdevore.com

So far I have only heard myths about the dreaded periods of prolonged bad weather, I have been very lucky and only experienced short periods of cloud cover and storming. We just recently had the first two semi clear days in over a week and without hesitation got a lift from the first heli out and dropped onto some awesome lines. The rest of the days were spent booting up steep couliors and then skiing back down them. We got a bit skunked on the light but the skiing was off the hook. After booting up almost 2000 vert of 45+ degrees I dropped in and got “chugached,” taken out by my sluff and got a bit worked but snuck out to the left to finish the big line. Its dumping again and we are spending the day recuperating and getting stuff done at the Valdez library which is a very chill place. Following are some of my photo’s from the past week and then Jay Beyer’s shots.

This is just the backyard of Valdez Heli Ski Guides!

Bad Ass Eagles

Jay Beyer photo’s

Jay Beyer Photo’s

As we flew into Alaska the endless snowcaked mountains were glowing orange with the sunsetting, it was then that it hit me that I was about to spend two months exploring Alaska. An overwhelming felling of excitement rushed over me.

First of all I want to thank Alyeska resort and the ski patrol for opening some sick terrain for us to compete on. They put lots of time and energy into getting us competing on some permanently closed terrain that long time locals have only looked up at. In the Alaska big mountain style we were given no inspection run and had to choose our lines from the bottom and then go try an flash them, it must have been quit an intimidating and awesome first Alaska line for those who hadn’t skied in Alaska before. I dropped into my first run not knowing what to expect. The snow was great and I cruised to my first air which was a thin choke with a small cliff at the bottom. I pulled up and a huge sluff blasted down the shoot so I had to wait a bit for it to pass by. I aired out the choke and made a few turns before airing out into the apron, the light was flat and the snow was variable. After skiing the venue and watching everyone else I looked at the run in a new way. We were given a second run and I flashed it, making minimal turns and sending a series of three drops into the powder fields of glory. Unfortunately my new friend Ben Johnsen got himself into a cliffed out shoot and after hanging out for almost 10 minutes he pointed it and aired at least 100 feet, exploding upon impact and then going limp. The crowed was silent while he laid there limp waiting for help. He was helicoptered to the Hospital where he was worked on and is alive and doing well. The comp ended with that run and since there was 7 competitors left to ski they only counted our first run leaving me in 4 th place and 18 year old Jake Sakson in the lead. Jake blew everyones mind with a scary line, he cruised down the same cliffed out shoot that stumped Ben and then without hesitation aired into a small pocket and then jumped about 50 feet out. Jake is another product of Kayo Ogilby and the CRMS tele team.

It snowed a few inches over night and continued to snow and blow all day but the visibility was good enough to have the finals on the North Face. My line started with an extremely steep face ending with cliffs and then I cut right across a thin “hand rail” ribbon of snow and then doubled out into the open. When I drop into big lines or competition runs something takes over and I surprise myself, I lined up my next air, not planing on going that big and next thing I know I was flying through the air going way bigger than planned, luckily I landed and went pretty big of my next cliff and safely into the finish arch. I was stoked on my run and so were the judges because it put me into first going into the superfinals. I skied the same run and ended up going even bigger, it was awesome, I had so much fun. My two fast runs were enough to win the World Championships. I felt great after the comp and was relieved to be finished. It was difficult to give it my all and risk an injury before a two month trip in Alaska but everything worked out pretty well. I finaly beat the raining champion, Dylan Crossman who has swept all telemark comps in the past and helped push my skiing to higher levels. Jake Sakson ended up in third Place and Will Cardamone in fifth place. Megan Michalson won for the women and Kate Cardamone took third.

I am now in Valdez with the Powder Whores waiting for the weather to become nice so we can heli ski and film. I will be in AK for the next two months skiing big lines and hanging out with good friends, Life is good!!!

Check back for trip updates and photos.