April just might be my favorite month of the year. The sun shines high and bright, yet the snowpack is still fat, and dreams of
summer plans loom on the horizon— seems to always make for a rarefied combination of adventure and anticipation that’s unmatched by most other months in my life.
This April was no exception as I spent the month working in Glacier Bay National Park outside of Haines, Alaska as a member of a Teton Gravity Research film crew. We were shooting freeride snowboarding for Truckee pro rider Jeremy Jones’ upcoming signature movie, ‘Deeper.’
Set for a fall 2010 release, the ‘Deeper’ project is unique as it is the first major snowboard film to look beyond the boundaries of snowmobiles and helicopters and embrace human-power as means of accessing cutting- edge big mountain terrain. For the last two winters, Jones and our crew have been breaking trail into remote backcountry zones and using splitboards and snowshoes to ascend rocky peaks and ride steep couloirs. This recent Alaska trip was no different as nine of us camped for nearly three weeks on the shoulder of a massive glacier and hiked rowdy first descents in between stormy days spent digging out our tents.
Looking back on the expedition, I have as many surreal memories as pictures (10,000). But above all, the adventure left me with a newfound appreciation for the reward of extended wilderness trips. I’m no stranger to camping, nor roaming wild terrain, but marinating on a glacier for 18 nights stirred up questions about the natural world and my humble place within it that I had never before pondered. Tackling these raw curiosities without a Google search bar in sight felt extremely empowering. I was living and breathing everything I learned, and the lessons were beyond vivid as my mind could fully focus rather than incessantly multitasking in the name of productivity.
Returning from Alaska, my backcountry bliss lingered for a while but, after a few days, was no match for tiger traps like email. Thankfully, my inbox held some exciting leads that stoked a different but equally ‘April’ fire in my brain… the first flames of cycling season.
The first cool cycling news I received was that Northstar Mountain Bike Park will return to daily operations mid-summer, up from Thursday through Monday last year. But the even bigger news I got is that Squaw Valley has made the decision to begin redeveloping its mountain bike park!
Excited to hear more about Squaw’s plans I caught up with Squaw Valley General Manager Mike Livak just before press time to get the official word.
Livak told me that Squaw is indeed developing several new amenities this summer, including bike trails. The first landmark will be a bike shop and rental facility in the Village that will cater to bike path riders and those looking to explore neighboring singletrack trails.
Continuing, Livak said that bike access to High Camp was also slated to begin sometime this summer, but it will be dependent on significant trail work and development regulations. His hope was that they will have a trail or two dropping from High Camp and a few loop trails around the Upper Mountain open sometime this year.
Icing the news about bike access, Livak went on to briefly mention that Squaw would also be installing an 18-hole Frisbee golf course, a paintball facility, and a small zipline at High Camp!
Whoa. Guess Squaw had a few more reasons than we thought to close the lifts early?
