Adam U

Adam U grew up near the ocean in Northern California and started his mountain adventures in a pair of rock shoes high in the Sierra Nevada, where he dabbled in all aspects of rock climbing in the spring, summer, and fall.  Eventually, the draw of the mountains became a year-round pursuit when fellow climbers introduced him to the joys of telemark skiing. 

It didn't take long before finding a fluid line down a mountain became his main goal.  He moved from California to Colorado to hone his skills on the slopes and even dabbled on the FIS World Cup Telemark and USTSA competitive freeskiing circuits before deciding that freeriding and adventure travel were preferable to bashing gates and skiing for judges.  For over a decade he has made the Pacific Northwest his home, but each year he finds himself traveling to far-flung corners of the world to explore different mountain ranges.

Currently the only thing keeping him from the mountains full-time is his passion for the ocean, and if you can't find him on the slopes it's a safe bet he's on a boat studying whales and seabirds or seeking
out the green room.

After a productive summer and fall of chasing whales, birds, and waves all thoughout the eastern Pacific, I'm finally back home in Glacier, Washington.  Mt. Baker has been enjoying one of the best starts to the season on record; we have had over 300 inches of snow in the past month or so, which has made for some truly epic powder conditions.  There has only been one day of sunshine which has also been the only day without measurable snowfall.  The collective excitement level is pretty high among my friends and we're all getting after it as much as possible.

So what's on the agenda for this season?  Well, if the last month has been any indication, I will be skiing a lot of pow.  Hopefully there will be a break in the storms so I can actually start touring around my home area, but while it's nuclear winter I'm perfectly content to keep my local adventures close to the relative safety of the lift-accessed goods.  I do expect to do a bit of traveling this season, with trips to Utah, Colorado, and British Columbia on the radar for the winter and I hope to top off the season with either a fly-in touring adventure in the Tordrillo Range in AK or a Northern Scandinavian extravaganza sometime in April.  Stay tuned!

So that's my basic plan for the winter, but what about Adam Ü the person?  Here are a few tidbits of information to help you get to know me:

I used to be an aggro rockclimber but after discovering skiing I pretty much gave up on the sport.  Fighting gravity is much more difficult than using gravity.

Even though I have long hair, ski on tele gear, study whales and birds, and have a Grateful Dead patch on my backpack, I am not a hippy.  Hippies don't eat meat (my main food group), listen to heavy metal (my favorite musical genre), and I don't make that many telemark turns anyways.

My ringtone matches my belt buckle (Iron Maiden's "The Trooper")

If I could give all of my skiing ability for an equal or even slightly lesser surfing ability, I'd do so in a heartbeat.

My favorite fish to eat as sashimi is Wahoo Acanthocybium solandri

If I see you sideslipping a line or otherwise proving to be a gaper while skiing or riding under a lift, I will probably heckle you from the lift.  The same goes for skiing without poles (unless you do something cool, in which case I will offer hella mad props, yo!)

After two seasons of experimentation, I will never ski a non-rockered ski in powder again if I can help it.

I totally rip on the guitar, bass, and all of my other stringed instruments*.  

Unlike some of my friends that prefer to be on the stealth-ninja all black ski clothing program, my "look" is more akin to a bag of Skittles exploding down the hill. 

The best steak on the planet is the "Bife de lomo, jugoso" at Alberto's in Bariloche, Argentina.

My friends and I have a communal blog for all of our adventures at www.coreshot.com  .  Check it out!

*I actually kind of suck, but at least I have fun trying.