We are enjoying a beer at the 10 Barrel Brewing Company, Boise, Idaho. Not long landed from Amsterdam we’re surprised to see some of our fellow early evening drinkers carrying firearms. What does the law allow in this, the fifth most Republican state in the US? A quick internet search gives us – ‘Idaho permits the open carrying of handguns on the person with no permit or license. Idaho also allows for the carrying of long guns in public……’ Oooh, we are along way from home!
Kirk Bachman is a mountain man through and through. He’s someone who likes a carefully thought out plan and once made will stick to it. No shooting from the hip once on the skis. This methodical approach has kept him out of trouble for decades of skiing on the often delicate Idaho snow pack. A lovely man, he has an interesting turn of phrase which kept the Brits in the contingent guessing. We threaded the needle, chased the mouse, greased the pig, bird-dogged, avoided dancing on the dragon’s back, put less weight on the buffalo trap, enjoyed wypitty pie and didn’t noodle his tracks.
Skiing the Sawtooths with a huge persistant slab risk the snow was definitely the problem and as we know, when that’s the case, the terrain is the answer. Keep off the steep stuff. In fact the avalanche risk was high everywhere we went but fortunately there is so much fun to be had on easy terrain in the US. After Idaho we enjoyed smooth, blowy, powder cruising from Cooke City, Montana before finishing up in the Tetons for our finale.
The US is expensive these days but if your ski touring budget will stretch to it you should go. For so many reasons, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.