FLY BY PRESEASON PYROCLASTINATION Words, Photos and Captions Pete Alport An easy build, big air and four feet of snow over pyroclastic material makes for a remarkable early season moment. Ben Ferguson, frontside 360. CENTRAL OREGON has a unique mountain landscape, lined with pyroclastic material ejected from Cascadian volcanoes when they erupted thousands of years ago. But perhaps more important is its particular mixture of shattered volcanic rock; a light material that is easy on the snowboard base if it happens to hit bottom. This means when the first snow comes—sometimes as early as Sep-tember—potential for riding up high comes along with it. All we need is a foot or two to scratch out those first few lines, and when four or five feet are on the ground, splitboard-accessed sessions are a go in the high country near Bend. It’s a summer hobby of mine to seek out pyroclastic zones so when the snow falls, we can ride them without worrying about shark fins de-stroying our boards and bodies. All I need are riding partners who are game to get up high when fall is still in the air. PVC-pipe and wood-rail sessions have their place in early season stoke, but building jumps, hitting cliffs and riding real lines are possible as well. For the last couple of years, my go-to partners have been Ben and Gabe Ferguson. While the teenage brothers are known for their transi-tion skills, they’re also all-around riders who love boarding. But their competitive obligations also bring with them worried parents when it comes to early season backcountry missions. I started bringing Ben and Gabe into the backcountry before the lifts started spinning a cou-ple years ago, and within a few trips their parents put some trust in my judgment and ability to keep them safe. So when 15 inches fell above 7,000 feet on Sept. 17, 2015, we set out for a cinder cone an hour off the Cascade Lakes Highway. It was bone dry below snow line, and an hour or two of hiking took us to the top. But once we reached 7,000 feet, it was full on winter. We built a jump to get things rolling—a good warmup mission. THE SNOWBOARDER’S JOURNAL 101
The Snowboarder's Journal frequency 14.1: Page 101
