Our adventure partners are our life-savers, our hype-men, our drinking partners, our mentors and educators. We share rain-soaked tents with them, laugh with them, and trade epic stories with them. Our partners in adventure make it all happen.
Thanks to the Partner in Adventure Grant, sponsored by TINCUP Mountain Whiskey, Jamie and Sam made the adventure happen. The two joined forces to take a ski mountaineering course on Mt. Baker, and though there was plenty of learning happening, shenanigans also ensued.
Though long-time friends, Sam and Jamie’s preparation styles were a little mismatched. As Jamie reports: “In preparation for the course and the potential summiting of this 10,700 feet volcano, Sam did innumerable days ski touring in the months prior, whereas I opted for a more off-the-couch approach, riding a dozen days in the resort and half-a-dozen or so mellow tours surfing low-angle pow.” These different styles of preparation didn’t slow them down, but the weather would.
The crew and their guide, Arthur, settled on an approach from the south via the Squak Glacier, camping in a glade of trees at 6,500 ft. as the rain and sleet began to fall.
“The next morning we awoke to a beautiful glimpse of Shuksan wearing a cloudy coat of purples and blues, before returning to life inside a ping pong ball.”
Despite the poor visibility and permeating wetness, the team were able to practice skills like kick steps, self-arrest technique, and glacier rescue close to camp. Soaked to the bone but in high spirits, Jamie, Sam, and the others in the ski mountaineering class rolled the bottle of TINCUP —that Sam had “heroically” hauled up to camp—back and forth between their tents, hoping to beat the chill.
With the whiskey warming their stomachs alongside the comradery of Type II fun, Sam and Jamie went to bed with newfound hopes for a better weather window tomorrow and big dreams of perfect turns. But life inside the ping pong ball persisted the next day despite those whiskey-fueled hopes. To make the most of it, the team set off into the clouds to make their acquaintance with some crevasses.
That day, Jamie, Sam, their guide, and the other students enjoyed 1,000+ feet of good turns, practiced crevasse rescue techniques, and returned to camp to learn a few more lessons about ski mountaineering.
“Upon returning to camp, we were met with the horrific sight and smell of the remnants of one of the other student’s homemade wag bags having been ripped apart by a marmot, a stern reminder not to be cheap when it comes to packing one’s poop.”
“With everything finally packed up, we rode back down through sun-cupped snow before entering the forest where we dodged debris in classic Washington survival skiing fashion.”
Jamie’s final reflections on their educational adventure reveals that partnership in adventure is both a matter of breathtaking moments of flow, of flying through sun-kissed snow with epic views, and also a matter of dodging debris. Adventure partners are with us through it all, and they recognize that dodging obstacles gets us closer to better summits—together.
“Despite not reaching the summit and spending most of the three days soaking wet and miserably cold, the course was still a great trip, saved by great company, high stoke, and lots of laughter.”