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It had been snowing for days with no end in sight. The riding at the village was as good at it gets and it was only New Years Eve. Steve Jones of TGR had set up the trip for a fuel TV show months ago selecting Travis Rice, Mark Carter and Myself to spend five days at books lake lodge exploring the snowmobile access terrain up on Togwotee pass. We were all dragging our feet a little due to the fact that the snow was deep and when the mountain is good there’s no better place to be. With invitations to some great parties the thought of leaving early on the first wasn’t very realistic.

I got the call that the trip had been postponed until the 2^nd on the way out to celebrate and was relieved to hear the decision. The snow was falling wet and heavy in valley casting a glow under the streetlights as I drove into the darkness thinking about how the trip would unfold. The snow must be getting deep and the realization of the growing avalanche hazards haunted me. It was going to be difficult if at all possible to access the higher reaches of the pass safely. With the limited time getting enough riding shots to produce a show in these conditions would be a true challenge.

It took us well over the standard hour and half drive to reach the parking lot. Our crew consisted of Steve Jones, Dustin Handley, Curt Morgan+1, Jesse Brown, Travis Rice+1, Mark Carter and myself. Once at the trailhead to the lodge we met up with our Snowmobile Guides Mike and Palmer completing our crew. It was getting dark and the temperature was dropping fast. After unloading our sleds, loading our gear/girlfriends into the snow-cat we geared up and hit the trail. We rode 7 miles winding through the forest hitting the powder loaded banked turns and any other visible feature along the way. After fun filled night ride we came around a corner and there was Lodge glowing bright against the night sky. It looked warm and inviting, a contrast to the dark and frozen landscape we had just experienced. We had a warm welcome by the staff after the squadron of 2 stroke arrived pulling right up to the front door to check in. The Lodge was built in 1922 in an astonishing 4 months and is considered a historical landmark. The walls are filled with old photos and trophy racks of just about every fur bearing creature that inhabit these parts. It’s located at 9200 ft surrounded by the Pinnacle Mountains soaring cliff bands above the picturesque Lake just off the continental divide. It has been utilized as stop over to Yellowstone as well as successful destination dude ranch since the 1920’s. After a checking in we went into the dinning room, it was a large beautifully furnished room with 20 ft tall vaulted ceilings, rustic lodge-pole furniture and a huge fireplace with cozy carpets placed with precision. We sat down at a large table and were treated to an amazing gourmet dinner, white tablecloth, red wine and all. We had a few drinks after dinner while discussing our options for the morning then went to bed as the snow continued to fall.

We ate breakfast while reviewing the latest weather and avalanche reports and went over our maps planning our day. After breakfast it was such a luxury to walk a few steps out of the lodge and fire up our sleds, it usually requires waking up super early and driving for hours to get to this spot. We eased into our day by staying in the trees avoiding terrain traps and avalanche paths and checked out the snow stability. The snow was deep and the stability was good despite all the recent snow. Mark Travis and I shuttled as high up as we could to the base of some interesting features. We started hiking from there and the snow was really deep, up to your waist in most spots so we were moving slowly. After hitting a couple cliffs and making some turns we scouted out some other options knowing we had to get up higher to find some better terrain. Travis and I began breaking trail up the side of a ridge that leads to the high alpine and more challenging lines. We took turns cutting a track up the mountain along the trees and after several laps reached the top. The wind was blowing snow and almost no visibility so riding up there was out of the question. The track was set for the next clear day allowing easy access to the goods, so long as it cleared.

When we got back to the lodge they had coffee, cookies, and assorted cheese & crackers ready for us to tide us over till dinner. The staff here really has it down and we were really digging this 5 star treatment. Riding snowmobiles and hiking at this elevation really takes it out of you and it was super sweet to relax and enjoy the amenities.

Later that night Travis and Mark decided to rally the crew to do a night session on some roadside pillow topped pillar a few minutes away from the lodge. Steve, Dustin and Jesse got their camera gear together as Travis Mark and I put on our wet boots and the warmest clothes we had. The cameramen spent the next few hours fumbling with the generator, extension cords and lights while we set up the jump. After a few technical difficulties due to the extreme cold Travis and Mark got the session going towing in to the jump at high speeds and throwing down some cool variations on the hit.

We woke up after what felt like just a few hours of sleep as the sunrise lit up the mountains surrounding us. For the first time since we arrived we could see the jagged mountains coated with fresh snow. In no time we were crossing Brooks Lake’s frozen surface riding as fast as our sleds would go floating effortless through smooth light powder. We retraced our tracks from the day before winding along the deep single track cut through the dense forest and arrived at the hill climb Travis and I had cut the day before. It took us a few try’s to reach the top, it was a pretty technical climb. We rode back down the gulley setting a new easier track for the rest of the crew to access the alpine. It took our crew a few tries to get everyone to the top. We had a couple sleds get stuck in the gulley requiring a lot of “digging and dead lifting” to free them. Once out of the gully we arrived at the top and the views were amazing. The jagged jaws of the Pinnacle Buttes surround us and off in the distance you could see all of the surrounding mountain ranges the Tetons , the Winds, Gros Ventres, and the Absorokas. We were right around 12,000 ft it was flat desolate and highly exposed to the elements with cliffs dropping off for thousands of feet at the end of the plateau, not a good place to be caught in foul weather. We came to a large cirque formed by the recession of glaciers millions of years ago. It was an arena of chutes, spines and wind lip’s a surreal landscape at the end of the earth. We excitedly scoped out our lines from across the steep bowl and geared up to ride. After picking out some lines we shuttled over to the tops of the lines with ease. The cirque was perfectly set up for snowmobile access with a safe pick up and easy shuttle back to the top. We took a run or two and found that it was a little thin hitting a few shallow rocks so we decided to move on and hit a wind lip kicker we found. After a few tries we got the jump dialed in and got a good session going. After the session we ate some food and decided to check out some cliff drops we saw from the trail on the way up. We packed up a rode down to the spot and broke trail to get a better look. Everyone was riding around trying to find a way to get up to the cliffs and eventually some sleds got stuck and it turned into another “digging and dead-lifting” session. Mike and Palmer brought a spring-loaded device you connect to the stuck sled and attach onto another to pull it out. It worked well and helped us get unstuck more than a few times. The cliffs turned out to be too sketchy and we were all exhausted so we headed back to the lodge’s spa to soak in the hot tub and rest up for the next day.

The next morning was clear and a lot warmer than the pervious day; it felt good, kind of like spring. We had exhausted our gas supply and had to ride down to a station to refuel down the road. We got off to a late start and were riding fast to make up some time as a thin grey layer approached. Jesse took a corner a little to fast trying to keep up with Travis and ended up going off the trail and down a steep bank into a dense section of forest. He was lucky, he and his sled were unscathed after threading the needle through the tight trees narrowly avoiding tragedy. It took about an hour to get his sled out of the forest and back up the steep bank. It was a good example of teamwork and we got back on the trail a little humbled by the experience.

After gassing up we set out to scout a new zone about 15 or 20 miles away. We followed several trails and kept running into dead ends or losing our direction. We finally reached the area we were looking for but it ended up being a total waste of time, it was just too rocky and not filled in enough. After we regrouped we decided to backtrack and explore some other areas. After about an hour of recon we found a good road gap and decided to get on it right away. We had wasted the better part of our day on a wild goose chase and were ready to do anything at this point. The session went well and some three’s and five’s went down saving the day from being a total write off. On the way back to the Lodge just before sunset we found some pillow lines in the trees. We got one run each on the pillows before the sun went down and rode back to the lodge in near darkness. It was a long day but turned out to be good despite the set backs we experienced.

That night at dinner we decided to celebrate with some red wine, which turned into a full on party, popping bottles of Dom, food fights and general misbehavior late into the night.

We woke to more snowfall, moving slowly and drinking coffee while contemplating what to do. We had seen a cliff band not far from the lodge and decided to stay close and check it out. We motivated and began the process of exploration, basically riding in circles until some one finds a way through the dense forest bringing us closer to our lines. We stumbled upon some good looking cliffs and decided to give them a try. Travis picked a line and jumped the cliff, landing square on a rock. He was suspicious before he hit it but went anyway, something I don’t recommend. He was O.K. and we were all relived because it could have been bad. The snow really started coming down hard so we decided to call it quits. It had been a good trip and we were all exhausted and satisfied. We called the Lodge by radio and ordered our meals so when we arrived it would be ready. It was another great luxury to add to the perfect trip.

Just want to give thanks to TGR for setting up the trip and all the Staff at Brooks Lake for a truly amazing stay.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 at 10:45 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.