Patagonia ski ambassador Bryce Phillips asked the Icicle TV crew to come over and visit his local mountain, Alpental. The phone call from Bryce went something like “Get over here fast, snow and weather are perfect!” I said okay! So I called a few friends to help with the project of shooting the Alpental backcounty. I called Joe Vasta one of our producers and Adam Mckenney our local big mountain shredder to help with the filming and still photography. I have to say I had not ridden the chairs at Alpental yet but I have spent a few days ski touring in the backcountry and was very impressed with the terrain. So I was excited to utilize the ski area and see what we could come up with.

Bryce had a few things in mind that he wanted to ski. Just outside the ski area is a traverse that leads to some of the wildest terrain I have seen at a Washington State ski area. He lead us out the traverse and pointed to a line that had massive exposure both above and below it. Well, an hour later he skied in typical Phillips shredder style. That was his first turns of the morning and we filmed it from a couple different angles ( video coming soon… ). I think he is calling it the Higher Traverse. Check it out, it’s pretty wild.

We continued to have a great couple days and got a ton of really excellent skiing in. I think I can speak for all of us and say that Alpental is wicked rad! Huge thanks to Bryce and the Alpental Ski Area for a couple awesome days in the backcountry!

The Higher Traverse with Bryce and Adam on the right shoulder getting ready.