The video footage from The Tordrillos is now logged so we took some screen grabs for your enjoyment. Neil Provo is the splitboarder and Ian Provo is the skier in all the shots below.

Here is a bunch of photos from our latest trip to The Tordrillos in AK. All the photos are shot with our phones. We’ll release another gallery of photos of action shots soon. Enjoy.

This is the plane that flew us to the Capps Glacier from Anchorage.

This was home for 10 nights

The views from camp weren’t so bad.

Neil and Ian Provo were nice enough to join us on our little adventure.

Our first day there the light was too flat to go skiing so Ian tried to drink it blue.

Clearly Ian’s drinking helped because it was sunny for the next 8 days.

It was an amazing place

Every kind of terrain you could ask for

Cold temps and blue skies made a lot of this

Camp life

Camp life

We had some cold nights

Noah taking care of business

Our ride out after an epic trip.

Last season’s drought in the Wasatch forced us to think outside our standard formula of creating our movies. In the past, we have filmed and edited all of our own footage. In desperation we searched for other highly motivated crews venturing into the backcountry. We didn’t have to stray far from the Wasatch to strike gold with Neil and Ian Provo. These guys have been creatively documenting great adventures on video for years. Enjoy this tasty powder packed skier/splitter combo meal from last seasons feature Powderwhore film.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This year we thought we should team up with the dynamic Provo duo and capture more of their exploits. Neil and Ian have the perfect balance of experience and motivation. They know when and how to say “No”, but they maintain a consistent attitude of  ”Hell Yeah”! Tonight we leave for Alaska! Pairing up the Howell Bros and the Provo Bros for 2 weeks in the Tordrillo Mountains. And though the word is terribly over used and played out we must pronounce with the deepest sincerity that we are STOKED!

Neil’s shot from a glacier trip last year

The original trip idea was to drive to Canada for some hut skiing. We were turned around at the border- too much camera gear, not enough permits. Pretty crushing to drive for a day and a half and get denied entry.

Many options were laid out on the table and then Holden Village came up. We had first heard of the area from friends Drew Stoecklein and Garrett Grove who traveled there 2 years ago. They had encountered high avalanche hazard and kept to the trees, not much else was known except that it was really remote and run by a Lutheran community.

Holden Village is a Lutheran retreat and the most remote year round village in the lower 48 states. Who knew “villages” still existed?! A quick weather check showed 9″ of new snow on the ground in town. Reservations were made.

To add to the intrigue, the only access is to hike in or take a 40 mile ferry ride.

Neil Provo stretching out on deck and praying there will be snow.

Morale started out low, but was raised as the snow line fell.

Who knew the voyage of heathens that started out hellish would end in Heaven with a town full of Lutherans? It is a strange and wonderful world.

Michele Manning taking a leap of faith by signing on for a Powderwhore retreat.

The bus was well equipped with tire chains, shovels and a bobble Jesus.

A 12 mile bus ride and we arrived to a cheering crowd of very friendly mountain dwellers. All are welcome! And we most definitely felt truly welcome.

The village was first a very successful copper mine from 1937 to 1957. The mine was then put up for sale for $100,000. The Lutherans saw the promise of this land as a spiritual retreat and the sale was made for only $1. Thanks to thousands of volunteers and many years of hard work, the town was fixed up and operates today as one of the most amazing and inspiring mountain communities in existence.

In filming, we hope to tell good stories and ride great snow. The two don’t often line up together. Our guess was we’d find plenty of story and cool visuals in this high place. Would we find good snow was the next question. The first day there we headed out for a quick lap before dark and were shown the light (for PNW standards anyway).

Neil at play

Noah about to get………..

plastered.

Michele blowing smoke on a rare sunny afternoon in an area we named “Soul Patch”.

Holden receives 260 inches of snow on average. The lodge is at a low elevation and I think finding great ski conditions may only happen once or twice in a normal year. We were truly blessed and found great riding on most aspects and in a variety of terrain. We must be living right in the eyes of Ullr.

Slide paths and chutes abound. Hiking up Copper Creek and Big Creek revealed more and more. We named one “Luther Run” in honor of our gracious hosts.

Neil easily boots up a 3000ft couloir thanks to his verts. The rest of us wallowed in thigh deep snow.

Michele gets her chute skiing on…..

and on, and on, and on.

Neil finds a sneak into a neighboring couloir.

Winter is the “off” season and we were the only visitors other than one small family. Rooms were spacious, food was great and the sauna was a fine way to unwind every evening.

These are just some screen grabs from video. We can’t wait to start work editing!   Keep an eye out for a fine segment in next years film. And for some of the still photography from friend and adventurer Jim Harris.

Finding a responsible religious community actually walking the talk is a rare and inspiring thing. Getting to share first descents and deep powder there was truly uplifting.

Thanks for having us Holden Village!

Touring the backcountry is tricky business. Filming in the backcountry adds even a greater risk. In fact, it’s not really a wise thing to do. The focus in the backcountry should be on awareness to your surroundings and making good choices accordingly. The day shouldn’t be about what will look good. This is a daily balancing act we attempt to achieve at Powderwhore. You really have to trust your crew and we have always been choosy about who we shoot with. As we get older and many of the friends we’ve skied with head in new directions it’s been necessary to reach out to new riders.

Enter Zach and Cindi Grant.

With the help of Facebook it’s easy to keep tabs on who is doing what and where in the mountains. We’ve been following Zach and Cindi through friends of friends and it’s been impressive and educational to see the lines they choose and how often they get out.

It’s hard to find the right mix of talent on the downhill end and experience and patience for the uphill side. Opening our lenses to all disciplines has made this an easier task. Backcountry has become “cool” and the youth are getting involved. Zach and Cindi are young and they are smart as well. They are breaking stereotypes and trails.

Zach getting in touch with the mountains.

Cindi about to play hide and seek with the camera.

The couple that SLAYS together, STAYS together.

Both were born and raised in the SLC valley. Tired of resort riding they looked beyond the ropes, gained avalanche education and picked up split-boards. Now they ride together almost daily. Local split-board manufacturer, Voile has recently added them to their team of riders. 

People are always suggesting locations that we should go film. The Wallowas are one such location that a lot of folks have recommended. We’d never even heard of them so we thought we’d need to give them a visit.

The Wallowa range in North East Oregon

We contacted Wallowa Alpine Huts and they had just opened up the Schnieder Cabin which has access to a ton of terrain that has never been skied to their knowledge.

Charlie Cannon joined us on the trip.

Will Cardamone made it out from CO for the 4 day ski fest.

Wallowa Alpine Huts will guide and cater your trip. It is well worth it.

They will even bring up a keg of local microbrew if you so desire.

You can access all sorts of terrain from the cabin.

In just four days we had a cornucopia of conditions. We were blessed with a deep pow day on our last day. We want to thank Sunshine and Victor for guiding us around The Wallowas and for making some awesome meals. If you are looking for a cool place to visit for a hut trip make sure to check out Wallowa Alpine Huts.

We’ll be releasing some of the segments from last years film throughout the winter for your enjoyment.

Short on footage we reached out to some friends who had captured an amazing trip to South America. Jonah then picked the music and chopped it up. Beware our Spanish is a little rusty and something could have been lost in translation. Voila! Enjoy the trip down South with Jason Thompson, Drew Stoecklein, Chuck Mumford and Forrest Coots.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dear Powderwhore Nation,

We would like to announce that we have decided to change the name of this years film to Adventures Chosen. Same great film, new name.

Pick it up by clicking the STORE button above.

Thank you that is all.

On Dec 29th the sun finally came out after several days of snowy gray days. Good snow is always great but when you make ski movies you also need light to really make movie magic.

Noah Howell breaking trail.

The skiing was so very good.

Noah heading back up for more.

Dylan Freed dropping in.

Noah milking the back lit pow turns.