Kyle Miller splitboards Roger's Pass in an epic year-long trip report contending for the prize pack from Brunton.
Back at the beginning of November, we announced a new contest on Tetongravity.com–The BettyDee Trip Report Of The Month Contest. Named in honor of snowboarder Liz Daley, who regularly posted amazing and entertaining stories from her snow-bound adventures around the world in the TGR Forums under the BettyDee handle, the contest was started to award the many folks who post amazing content from their adventures right here on Tetongravity.com, whether in the forums or in the newer TGR Community.
For this inaugural edition of the contest, our good friends over at Brunton will be providing the winner a bucketload of their awesome backcountry power products, including their All-Day GoPro battery packs, Power Knife, and Revolt 4000 & 9000 Powerbanks.
This first month's trip reports were narrowed down to the five best, which you can vote on here (you'll need a TGR account to vote). They are:
406's Ski Mountaineering Trip to Antartica
406 took an Ice Axe Expedition trip to Antartica to rip around in a zodiac with guides like Andrew McLean and hike and ski lines right to the ocean. Seth Morrison cameo bonus! Check out his trip report here.
Packmule's March 2014 Ski Trip to Chamonix
Last March, TGR forum member packmule took a week-long trip to the mecca of off-piste skiing, Chamonix, for a healthy dose of lift-assisted backcountry skiing. They skied the Vallee Blanche, the Pas du Chevre off Grand Montets, and runs off the Buet Valley. Read all about it here.
Klar's "Inbetween Season"
After returning from a long hiatus to South America, seasoned trip report creator Klar posted about her adventures at work in the Alps as a glaciologist while taking advantage of the area's almost year-round skiing on glaciers and alpine terrain. Klar then went on to be the only woman, only skier, and only foreigner on a scientific expedition to the Himalaya with four other scientists, several Sherpa guides, three cooks, and 25 porters–who were told to drip candle wax on their cotton slippers to "waterproof" them against the knee to hip-deep snow. Read all about it here.
Powdork Goes Road Tripping Across The Desert In "The Bumblebeast"
Tahoe-based powdork and his friend hutchski set off in a converted yellow Sprinter van called The Bumblebeast during the fall off season to ski sand, climb cracks, bike slickrock, and camp in Walmart and Vegas casino parking lots before heading off for Thanksgiving. As far as multi-sport madness goes, this one's hard to top. Read about it here.
Kyle Miller's Year On The Road As a Splitboarder
If Kyle doesn't win this month's contest, he will certainly win the award for the longest and most detailed trip report of all time. Over the course of a year, Kyle Miller left his home mountains of Washington's Cascades to spend a season splitboarding what must have been every couloir, snowfield, glacier, and valley in New Zealand, but but before riding Roger's Pass, Jackson Hole, Big Sky, Mount Rainier, Iceland, and Norway.
"Over the past year I have been traveling almost non stop seeing things I could never have dreamed up," Kyle said in the intro to his trip report. "The truth of the matter is that my life has become wilder than even I could imagine and this trip report is just a piece of the puzzle that has been the past year of my life and the 2014 season."
Read the exhaustive journal of stoke here and vote for your favorite trip report between now and this Friday, December 5th here!
From The Column: BettyDee Trip Report of the Month
About The Author
stash member Ryan Dunfee
Former Managing Editor at Teton Gravity Research, current Senior Contributor, current professional hippy at the Sierra Club, and avid weekend recreationalist.