Winter has finally arrived on the East Coast. On the heels of a half-foot of new snow on a week ago today, a large snow storm approached interior New England last Friday. The storm actually broke into two and resulted in a more powerful portion of the storm creeping over northern New York, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire overnight Friday and all day Saturday and into Saturday night.

As the storm exited the region, strong northwest winds resulted in significant additional accumulations which nearly doubled the National Weather Service’s forecasted snowfall amounts. As of Friday at 4 pm, NWS’s forecast for 1,000 ft. in the vicinity of northern Vermont's Jay Peak was as follows: 2-4 inches Friday afternoon; 10-14 inches Friday night; 3-6 inches Saturday.

Between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning, the storm deposited 40 inches at Jay. Another 5 inches fell yesterday, and the northeast is expecting another 10-15 inches tommorow. Buckle up.

-Tim Fater

It finally started snowing in Wyoming and I was there as the storm began. It started a week and a half ago and the flakes didn’t come singularly, they came in the hordes dumping over 30 inches on Targhee over four days. Thankfully my buddy Rudy had the Chalet, an early ‘90’s rustic truck camper, parked on the ridge a mere quarter mile from the Ghee’s lifts. With plush ski in ski out accommodations and the first true storm of the season puking on us it was sure to be a killer few days of pooter hunting. The first day of the storm the Targhee ski patrol and lift crew battled to get the Dreamcatcher, the center point of Traghee, spinning and finally did mid after-noon. While they battled the elements we were farming low angle powder off the Sacajawea lift and dipping into the Toilet Bowl for some faceshots and cliff drops. Once the Dreamcatcher was spinning the Headwall offered up free refills all day thanks to Mother Nature and the fact that most already retreated to the Trap bar for nachos and pints. For the next two days the routine continued; the flakes fell, the ski patrol bombed, the lefties desperately tried to get lifts spinning and we skied. Unfortunately my camera passed on the trip due to high moisture content in the ol’jacket caused by a few  to many tomohawks in the deep pow.  Thankfully a few of the shots survived the ordeal. Here they are! –Ryland Mauck-Duff/MHF

The one action shot that survived.

The Chalet's hi-tech gear drying system.

Storm skiing!

Skinning up to go shred Mary's Nipple.

The Chalet and the Mountain High Freeride Yota after day one.

It’s a well-known fact that this winter has started off slow for us skiers in the lower 48. While it was easier to cope with the lack of snow before Christmas, once the New Year hit, I decided it was time to take action and seek out snow. While some have traveled to Alaska, Canada, Europe, and Japan, I didn’t quite have that time or budget, so after scouring the weather and finding a willing ski partner, we headed north: first stop central Oregon.

Busting out of Tahoe on the 1^st day of 2012, it was eerily warm, we made quick time up to the Oregon border where we saw our first dusting of snow on one of the higher passes east of Shasta. We rolled into Bend that evening and met up with some local skiers who were injured, but gave us some beta. The next morning, we headed up to Mt. Tumalo, a quick backcountry jaunt across from Mt. Bachelor. It was windy, but the skies were mostly clear. A mellow skin amongst the trees led us to the summit where we could witness the wind piling the snow into the northeast facing bowl. “Game on” we thought as we transitioned, did a quick snow assessment and dropped in. The first powder turns of the season -- so effortless and fun. We skinned back up for five more laps, upping the ante each time and connecting with a local professional skier and photographer. Small cliffs, then doubles, then a 30-footer, and finally a few flips off a natural kicker; we finished the day with high fives, snow on our goggles, and some new friends (all photos by Court Brock).

a windy skin

small hits to warm up

oh yeah, that's the stuff!

big hits with deep landings

stoke rubbing off! time to throw some backies!

We headed back to Bend to refuel and plan our next destination and ended up at Deschutes Brewery where the atmosphere was buzzing from a combination of locals night (1/2 off!), the Ducks playing in the Rose Bowl, and the fact that it was the last night open for a few months and they were planning on knocking the wall down that evening to kick off the remodel. The Bend locals seemed to welcome us and we even found a place to crash for the night and hatched a plan for the next day -- central Oregon was paying off so far, why leave a good thing?

The next morning we headed to the Three Creeks Sno Park to access the Tam McArthur Rim. We knew it was a long approach on a snow-covered road best done by snowmobile. We also knew there were yurts back there, but they were booked last time we checked. So the plan was to head up there, skin out to the base of the ridge, waving down a snowmobile for a tow if possible, and then ski out the road that evening by headlamp. Until we met Shane, who runs the Three Sisters Backcountry Huts on the road in. He had a group book both huts, but there were five no shows and one heading out that day. He offered us a ride in to the yurts and the chance to stay there for free. He even went back to our truck and got our sleeping bags and a change of clothes for us while we were out skiing! We couldn’t believe our luck so far in Oregon.

With our new friends, we headed up to the top of Tam McArthur Rim and checked out a zone called the Playground. It had great terrain and soft snow. With a rare windless day in the Cascades, we decided to leave the group and do a more scenic tour of the Sisters Range and headed out to ski Broken Hand and Ball Butte. It was a slog, but a beautiful one.

heading out to Broken Top (Photo by Court)

chalky snow on Broken Hand

skiing amid a volcano sunset

making the most of the short days and good snow

With no snow to even tour on in Tahoe, it was just what we needed -- a full day out in the mountains. Back at the yurts, we enjoyed a gourmet meal prepared by our new friends.

the beautiful three sisters yurt

The next day we focused on objectives closer to the hut, hitting a sunny line in the morning and numerous lines in the Playground -- skiing and skinning until our legs gave out on any landings we tried.

sunny soft lines on Tam McArthur

last round of soft turns in the Playground

Skiing out the 5.5-mile road was quick and we thanked Shane in the parking lot for a memorable time and headed back to Bend for a quick soak in the Turkish baths before the long drive back to Tahoe. Both of us were reluctant to leave since there was still great snow out there and central Oregon had treated us so well, but it was time to get back to Tahoe. But right before we crossed the border back into California, I had to make one last stop -- to buy a lottery ticket in Oregon because that is how lucky skiing powder with friends in beautiful places makes you feel. —Meghan Kelly

Every fall little companies like Flylow and our friends at Trew have to wait patiently for our gear to arrive. We make ends meet with Ramen, dinner at our parents houses and we think about when the gear will finally get here. Some times there are delays because larger companies take precedence over our orders, or maybe things happen like a horrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan that cause delays at the YKK zipper factory (amongst more pressing issues for them of course). Or sometimes the shortage in cotton slows down the production of our nylon or a snow storm in Denver keeps the train from getting to town on time or... you get the point. We try so hard to get the gear to fit right, work right and look right. And in the end sometimes it just does not show up on time.

50% of our inventory was shipped via air this season for all of the above reasons. But, the mother load just rolled in. So the back order tags on our website will get lifted and we are officially, fully open for business!

So, we are sorry for any delays. They delay is over!

See below, Flylow's Director of Operations Molly Miner checking inventory. Welcome to work Molly!

Here is our Dynamic Individual, Ben Hitch, crushing order for all you good people.

I am in Seattle, sitting in a hot tub playing angry birds on my Iphone. Just kidding (kind of).

-Dan

Flylow's growth and new designs have raised a lot of eyebrows over the past few months. After our most recent success winning the Something Independent Entrepreneurs Award last week we were ready for the final round of the Rising Stars fashion show.

To get the gist of the situation we defer to Denver Post's Sarah Brown:
"It seems that just about anyone with a good idea and a sewing machine is whipping up a fashion business in Colorado these days. They are creating leather bags and wedding gowns, 1930s-inspired sport coats and fine jewelry, to name a few.

But to make a success of it, style entrepreneurs have to have a well-defined market and a solid plan to reach it. A number of those who are showing such promise have caught the attention of Fashion Group International of Denver, which on Saturday presents its biennial Rising Star awards. FGI, a group of fashion professionals in retail, manufacturing and related industries, solicited entries in the competition last spring and selected 13 companies it felt have the potential to build national business."

We were flattered to be invited to participate in this new competition, and although we did not win this time, it was a great experience and provided us with great exposure.

At this time of year, ski films just keep coming through our towns. It's like the holiday season, just substitute the family and insert your ski family.  I run into my favorite ski 'tunah,' that random guy that always drives to A-basin in his 60s VW wagon (I know your name Tele Dave), the guys from the Bent Gate and my posse from Loveland.  Ski film premieres become my number one thing to put on the social calender.  On, Oct 15, KGB Productions' "Wyoming Triumph" will premiere at Jackson, Wyoming's Pink Garter Theater. And although I won't make this one in Jackson, I wish I could.  Chris and Pop always put on a good show and have a great time doing it.  Cheers.

-DA

In this, the ski business, there is no greater praise then when your peers give  you a review.  This is why we were so excited to see Powder Magazine review two of our redesigned styles in their most recent issue.

Powder editor Matt Hansen also takes the time to explain what our high tech fabric does at the beginning of their apparel guide.  It was a great read for a fabric dork like myself.

Enjoy!

-d

After much debate, our favorite sons of Utah have produced a backcountry ski film that includes skiers and snowboarders.  Don't worry, there are still Tele skiers there too.  Check it out and support the Howells!

Congrats are in order for our very own Drew Petersen, who placed third at the World Heli Challenge in New Zealand this past week. He competed with Ted Davenport, Mike Basich, Ben Schmitt, Ian Borgeson, and other amazing athletes. Drew had never competed in the men's division before and feels that he is now able to compete at this level. Congratulations to Fraser McDougall for placing first and Sam Smoothy for placing second.

Nick Waggoner, one of the Sweetgrass Productions founders, emailed us this morning proud to announce: "I'm gonna need a ride to the hospital cause this baby's (movie trailer) done ready." Check the release of their new trailer for 'Solitaire':

SOLITAIRE: A Backcountry Skiing, Snowboarding, and Telemark Film from Sweetgrass Productions on Vimeo.