Jake’s Backcountry Adventures
So I thought I would start a thread for this seasons backcountry adventures. I’ll start by saying that during the winter there probably won’t be too many updates as with my work I am constantly going away. This accompanied with lining up a good weather touring day to the main NSW chutes is difficult.
Come spring I should get up there much more but we will see how it goes. For those that don’t know when I go touring with my mate Erryn we try and line up chutes to ride, for us there is no point going out there to ride lazy lines, we can do that at Perisher. Here is a couple of shots of Erryn from our adventures last season.
This season I went all out and bought all new kit. Jones Solution, Spark Arcs, Jones Premium Skins. Wow what a difference in weight compared to the old Prior Board and bindings I was using. The board is exactly the same weight as my Yes Typo with Union Contact bindings. Now i have more weight for camera gear, awesome.
So we have been eying out a gnarly line at the crags for the last couple of years but the snow conditions have never been right. After the last storm we decided to give it a crack from Guthega, the trip out there taking around 8-9 hours return. This would also give me a good chance to use my new setup and get used to it. We left from Guthega with clear skies but unfortunately the weather turned on us, cloud rolled in and the conditions got sketchy.
Erryn riding down ready for the days adventure
We turned back knowing that it’s better to be safe than sorry. With the line we want to ride the conditions need to be perfect, it will be very hard to spot the chute we want from the top even with perfect weather.
We decided to make the most of a crappy situation and got some photos on an alpine lake paddle boarding which Erryn was carrying on a toboggan.
After that we headed back to perisher for an hour of shredding before the lifts closed. We have a little secret line that is steep at Perisher, it is south facing. Erryn went down and it immediately slid on his entrance, at that point we were stoked we decided to turn back earlier in the day.
Erryn buttering on the way back to the car at the end of the day
impressions of the Jones Solution are that it is super solid. I rode on some epic ice patches and super sketchy snow and it felt very stable for the conditions, I was surprised. I am so stoked with the whole setup, the skins are amazing, they stick great but are really easy to take off and put on. The transitions take no time at all and I beat Erryn by a few minutes each time.
Transition done, waiting on Erryn
This is awesome, @Jake. I will be following this thread closely. 
One day, I’ll have the time to get into this myself, looking forward to your posts.
epic Jake super stoked on the composition of those shots and the variety of backcountry toys! keep em comin man
Damn Jake, you should look into a career as a photographer! 
soooo good, makes me wish i liked walking/hiking!!!!
The most of nothing
On Saturday Erryn and I left Canberra at 0430 to head out to Watsons Crags and ride the elusive chute we’ve been eying off for 3 years now. The weather forecast looked good, bluebird morning with cloud coming in at around 1230. With the combined snow peaking 1m for the whole of last week we were excited to ride some steep lines and hopefully pow. The plan was to steam out there, ride the chute before the cloud came and then head back.
As we headed out from Guthega to Illawong bridge it was super icy. I can’t ski to save my life and I had a couple of hilarious stacks on the super icy downhill sections while splitting. We crossed the bridge and touched some of the south facing snow behind a rock that doesn’t get sun, it was perfect dry pow, the day was only going to get better….. or so we thought.
As we gained elevation and headed over the ridges toward Mt Twynam the snow went from softening to boilerplate and Sastrugi ice. It immediately had us worried, from then on I had to use my crampons all the way to the top of Mt Twynam. At 1130 we were just about at the summit of Twynam when we saw the cloud rolling in. It was about 200m lower than us, so we were hopeful.
me splitting up Twynam on the ice
Erryn watching the cloud roll in
We got to the top of Twynam, transitioned and boarded straight for Watsons Crags over the sastrugi ice. We got down into the saddle and saw a bloke coming back from the peak of the crags. When he got to us, like on que, the cloud rolled in. It was a bloke called Rob that Erryn met about 7 years ago when touring. He told us not to bother waiting for another weather window as even if it came both the north and south faces were boilerplate ice.
Rob heading towards us as the clouds roll in
riding in the white out, not much fun
We were super disappointed, all that effort getting out there over the horrible ice to not be able to do what we planned. We headed back to the top of Twynam and decided to ride down the sketchy ice anyway to try and have some fun. I rode down a ways and got some shots of Erryn riding down. Don’t let the photos fool you, the snow was horrible.
me about to head down Twynam
Erryn riding down
me riding down
I then rode down to Erryn and we found a nice cornice that he dropped, the face was solid ice.
I am super impressed with the Jones Solution, it held an edge on the ice amazingly well and I felt confident enough to ride fast despite the conditions. It made me feel really confident which is exactly what I wanted. From the bottom of Mt Twynam the snow was soft and as we headed back to Illawong bridge we did party lines the whole way, super fun.
me getting a nice turn in
We crossed the bridge and then split back to Guthega (a couple more stacks for me along the way, i really suck at going downhill on a split haha). We got back at around 1630, over 8 hours non stop, we covered around 23km. Regardless of the fact that the day wasn’t what we had hoped for, it was still really fun to be out there. Days like Saturday reminded me how much I enjoy being away from civilisation and how much I love the outdoors and adventure.
Man, all those trips I did out there and I only had Crouse for company 
I’m missing out!
So epic, @Jake! Thoroughly enjoying reading about your adventures and your photos are awesome. ?
Sick thread!
Awesome thread Jake!
Curious to know what camera gear you’re carrying with you on your BC trips?
Awesome thread Jake!
Curious to know what camera gear you’re carrying with you on your BC trips?
Hey mate, I take a Canon 5D mkii, 24-105mm and 70-200mm lenses. Also a Canon G16 for the shots i can’t be bothered getting the 5D out for, it takes a solid photo and has copped a flogging over the years.
Thanks for the stoke everyone, unfortunately I won’t be able to get back out there for another 4 weeks. I have to go away with work for a while which sucks. We have a fair few spring missions planned, Hoping to get the Crags chute in on the second weekend in October. I just really hope the lack of snow up there doesn’t mean it will melt before the end of October/early November.
Super Stoked your enjoying the Jones board @Jake.
And, hopefully the weather gods treat us well for a few more snow recharges soon.
See you out there!
Birthday shreds are the best shreds
On Sunday it was my 30th birthday, we assembled a crew of 6 and the plan was to take our time getting to Blue Lake, do Stag Gully Chute and come back. The weather was meant to be cloudy with a gale force wind warning for the afternoon. The gate up to Charlotte Pass was supposedly closed from Perisher, we lucked in and they had the gates open, so we drove on up as far as we could. We had taken our mountain bikes to ride up in case the gate wasn’t open, stoked we didn’t have to use them.
Erryn and I have our routine down and while we waited for the others to get ready I had to remind myself that it was a chill day. We headed off and skinned the last kilometre to Charlotte Pass before we headed down to the river. When we got down to the river crossing the water was up too high to walk across in boots. Off they came and we all walked across swearing profusely. The water was absolutely freezing, I forgot how cold it is.
The crew assembled at Charlotte Pass
As we walked over the first hill I noticed just how much snow is out there for this time of year. I immediately thought to myself how good this Spring is going to be. We covered the two hills we needed to get over in reasonable time, man I love skinning from Charlottes, the skin from Guthega sucks. I still cant ski to save my life and everyone had a good chuckle when I got fed up on a downhill section, unclipped and walked down.
My wife Liz enjoying the snow
We arrived on the south side of Blue Lake and it looked amazing, so much snow and the lake was still frozen. We noticed there had been a big cornice triggered avalanche that had stripped the face and run onto the lake, we were concerned but would get to that later. I was surprised with Birthday cupcakes and balloons that Tristyn had brought with her, how good is that! Once we finished the delicious cake the girls bid farewell to us and they headed back to the cars while we headed for the chute.
Delicious Birthday surprise
You can see us heading up the ridge left side middle
We did our snow checks and it all seemed like it was a go. Erryn checked the snow at the top of the chute as well and we gave it the green light. The only concern was slough, but that was manageable. I was going to drop first and get to the other side for photos when Erryn and Crouse dropped in. It’s a daunting chute, the entrance is steep and I’m not going to lie, the adrenaline was pumping. I dropped in and did some safety turns and got a feel for the snow. About 1/3rd down I got nice flowing turn in and I opened it up a bit down to the bottom. I was ecstatic, threw my hands in the air and gave a huge cheer, stoke was high.
Looking over the edge
Getting ready to go
Me going down
I went to the east side of the lake and got myself on a vantage point to take photos of Erryn and Crouse coming down. They both dropped the chute fine and we were all high on stoke. I caught up with them and we began heading back to Charlotte Pass. The wind was really blowing, so much so that it was knocking us over as we were walking. We rode the last little hill back and did a party line while whooping, fun times. What an awesome way to bring in my 30th year, so stoked for the rest of spring.
You can see the avalanche debris on the right
Just posting so next trip report goes to a new page, hopefully get it up in the next 24.