I recently got a promotional email from Silverton Mountain pitching their heli ski sale. $50 per drop for something that's usually several times that at a minimum. I know the snow isn't working out well in Colorado this year but I thought it was worth a try. We also get a Silverton day on our Monarch passes, so that was even more incentive.

I went down with a couple of friends and we stayed at the Triangle Motel in Silverton. We headed up to the mountain early to make sure we got spots. The base area experience at Silverton is pretty rustic with a yurt for a loge and simple manual systems for everything. Our heli passes were made with duct tape and a sharpie.

The snow looked kind of shiny near the top of Silverton Mountain's only lift.

After a warm-up run on some pretty thin and firm snow it was time to go get in line for our ride.

The pilot seemed to be enjoying his job and really banked some turns and made me wonder if I was going to lose my lunch for a moment. But I kept it together and took in the scenery. That's a pretty neat way to see the terrain!

Here's our destination, Pyramid:

Then suddenly we were there and it was time to hop out and ski!

There were guides posted at the drop zone to direct us. They had helpful advice like "Stay left there; going right heads into the no-fall death zone." I heeded those helpful tips!

Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of our run. It was very difficult skiing with breakable crust and a few big slabs of ice. I came out of one of my skis when the tip went under a very stiff crust and had to work pretty hard to just make it down in once piece. But we all made it and even with the poor skiing I have to say it was fun and worth the price.

For the rest of the day we just did some lift/hike served skiing. We found that boilerplate firm snow was the best skiing of the day! I hear they got more snow after this so hopefully snow conditions have improved significantly! I imagine heli drop prices went back up too.

Finally, a bus shot. This is the new upgraded bus which is pretty nice compared to the old bread truck they used a couple of years ago. Stuff like this is what makes Silverton a quirky and rustic skiers mountain. I hope they keep it that way!

Think snow!

-MattB

Update: Sadly, there was a fatality there the next day. A young woman fell about 1500 vertical Feet and didn't survive her injuries. I can see how this might happen and it's very sad. My deepest condolences to her friends and family.

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IMGP8987.jpg, originally uploaded by MattB.net.

I was mountain biking on Saturday which is odd for January around here and I brought the camera as I often do. Near the end of the ride I was thinking I should have just left it at home because the light was no good and I was getting tired and cold. Then suddenly the light broke through and illuminated this squall over Gunnison and having the camera became very worthwhile! I forgot about being cold for a little while and got these photos before a very brisk ride home reminded me.
Sadly the storm didn't give us any significant much-needed snow, but it was enough to enjoy a little skiing at Monarch the following day.

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IMGP8764.jpg, originally uploaded by MattB.net.

I was out late the other night trying to shoot another meteor shower, this time over Blue Mesa Reservoir. I saw three nice bright meteors but didn't wind up with any really good meteor shots. In fact, I only got this one and I have to admit it's not all that impressive (meteor trail is faint in the upper left quadrant).

But the night was not a total bust! In the process of trying to get a good meteor shot I took two sets of about 50 exposures each using a home made IR intervalometer since my camera doesn't have one built in (I'll dedicate a post to that project soon).

Using ImageStacker software I combined each set of individual images to create these star trails photos. I'm fairly happy with how these came out and that my cold night next to the lake was not spent in vain!

All shots in this post made with a Pentax K-x and a Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye lens

The streak in this one is a plane flying by.

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IMGP8657_stitch.jpg, originally uploaded by MattB.net.

I've shot this formation before but it was so calm and clear today I just had to stop for another session.
This is two images stitched with MS ICE.

This is the same body of water as yesterday's post, but 10 Miles West.

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IMGP8379.jpg, originally uploaded by MattB.net.

This is the first New ear's day I haven't skied in a long time. We skated Blue Mesa Reservoir instead and had a fun day. We have a very big slab of ice out there!

Happy New Year and all the best for 2012!

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