{"id":926,"date":"2024-04-07T19:54:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T03:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendonconnelly.com\/blog\/?p=926"},"modified":"2024-04-14T10:53:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T18:53:44","slug":"backcountry-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendonconnelly.com\/blog\/backcountry-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"Backcountry progress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last year (’22-’23 season) I invested in a splitboard, skins, bindings and boots. I hadn’t been snowboarding for a few years because I found resort crowds and expense increasingly annoying. I started heading up easy local trails with the splitboard to get accustomed to the mechanics and cadence of transitioning from uphill to downhill modes. I loved that I could just wander anywhere in the snow.

This year I invested in the education of a Mazamas backcountry touring class<\/a> and it was a huge boost to my knowledge and experience. I’ve got better avalanche awareness and I’m making informed decisions in the backcountry. I also found some new adventure friends which is pretty nice too.

Today I planned a trip to ride the Lower White River Bowl, which is a couple of miles up the White River Canyon on Mt. Hood. I’d done the approach once before with the Mazamas class, so it felt familiar. I was surprised that we were the first tracks after a couple of days of snow. The conditions on the run were a little soft since it’d been in direct sun all morning, but still fun riding!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our trip was about 3.5 hours car to car, 1,400′ of elevation gain, and 4.7 miles round trip. It was a quick one, but definitely built some confidence. I’m looking forward to many more years of doing this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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