Evening on Whitewater. Photo: Lindsey Ross

Headed up to Whitewater with the tele boys, Adrian (local Nelson snowboard ripper), Ben (sweetgrass creator), and the legendary Nelson photog Dave Heath – author of a gazillion magazine covers. Unfortunately conditions were a little uninspiring on the hill. But we battled through the fog, and Adrian and I had a great afternoon session with Ben on the R.E.D. in this cool slackcountry zone. Had a cool 15 foot drop into these 60 degree fingers with a nice runout. When I landed, I spent at least 100 feet engulfed in powder before I emerged into the daylight! My last line was a doozy. Made a quick slash on a 65 degree spine, popped over a runnel onto this equally steep rock slab with about 2 feet of powder on top. The whole thing ripped, but I managed to escape onto an nice low-angle spine. Got to the bottom and realized my first turn was several inches from this overhanging cliff.