Yakima stories

The last episode of Life In The Bus Lane took us to Valdez, AK where we set up camp in the Tailgate Alaska parking lot. As with any Alaska snowboarding there were the cloudy days and the waiting (or drinking) game but when it went “code blue” we made the most of our time and got after it. We pushed further onto the Tonsina, Tasnuna and Deserted glaciers and found some new and unique lines. We witnessed Kaelin Bamford and Mike Hood descend on a burly line that ripped out into an avalanche right in front of Kaelin. He recaps the experience in an interview while sitting in the outhouse at 19 mile. Alaska is no joke and we learn

After the long drive to Alaska and waiting in the grey clouds for almost 9 days we were finally able to hike lines and ride some beastly terrain in Haines, AK. Glacier travel and crevasse crossing was a must to reach these areas but the pay off was worth is as we tilted the noses of our snowboards into steep, deep and technical lines. More snow came in as we were just getting started but an uneasy snowpack made us think twice about spending more time in Haines. Colin Spencer gives insight to his first time in Alaska choosing and riding big lines. Our two biggest tools to get to the lines were our snowmobiles and Verts. The biggest and

It’s 2,500 miles from Salt Lake City, UT to Valdez, AK and the Alaskan Highway while stunning can also be treacherous if weather is present. We were lucky on our drive up to only hit a little weather and enjoy the landscape. Before we hit the Yukon we were able to camp out each night in Wal-Mart parking lots and took full dumping advantage in their restrooms in the mornings. A little hiccup at the border crossing with emigration for our cinematographer Brian but once we got into Canada we put the petal to the metal and kept the rubber side down. Gas station junk food such as Cheezies kept us going while we averaged 13-16 hour days to make

Episode three of Life In The Bus Lane takes Brock Butterfield, Jacob Carey, Sam King, Adam Chuntz and Claudia Avon to southern Colorado where a predicted seven foot storm total was expected to hit. The first night sleeping on a mountain pass Brock, Jacob and their cinematographer woke up to snow higher than the hood of the bus. With avalanche danger on high alert the Bus Life Adventure crew found themselves staying in The Respect Hut just outside Silverton, CO where they found some deep and safe snow on low angle slopes and in the trees. As snow began to settle they make their way into different zones outside Silverton in hopes of riding some bigger and more technical lines.

    Episode 2 of Life In The Bus Lane features the beginning of last winter when we met up with Mike Hood on Vail Pass and tested out the snowpack. It wasn’t as deep as we would have liked it but we did find some good snow and were able to get some filming in before chasing a storm that just hit Jackson Hole. In Jackson we were joined by Colin Spencer, Byron Bagwell and Rajat Bhayani and we ventured into a zone deep in the Wind Rivers where a lake surrounded in natural features greeted us. We played the weather game but were finally able to get a couple blue bird days were we rode some pristine Wyoming