One week ago I thought that Thunderstruck 9 was going to be a great film. We rode in the most amazing sun-filled deep powder days ever this season. In fact, it was the deepest powder we’ve ever filmed… We had quite a few crazy first ascents, up rock-lined chutes, with tons more great climbing from trips all over the Rockies. We had great technical riding, tree riding, finesse riding, TS9 was slated to have it all! Then the weekend of MAY 13-15, 2010 came. And now, Thunderstruck 9 will be an unbelievable film.
It is very hard to put into words what transpired this weekend. Brad and I hopped in the truck and headed to Revelstoke. We had lunch with Trennis on the way, stopped and visited with Devin from Nash Trailers for an hour or 2. I invited Brad because I told him of these amazingly HUGE chutes Randy and I had scouted from the chopper last year. I wanted Brad to see one and perhaps climb one. We stopped in Golden, BC for a day and rode a new area with Troy Lakusta and Mark Dixson, along with Chuck Gorton from Mountain Sports Distribution.
Day 1, in Golden, was amazing. 6 first ascents, all amazing and technical, were conquered by Mark, Brad and Troy.
Day 2 was the “big” day Randy and I had been planning for a year. We woke up to sunny skies, but by the time we made our way into the backcountry, the skies had clouded over. There was talk of 3 huge chutes and we had 4 guys wanting to pull them. Shawn Hastings, Trennis Baer and Randy we in line before Brad Story and they were ready. The plan was to airlift 4 sleds into this pristine new area and let the guys on turbos pull out to the ridgetop. After we harnessed up Shawn’s and Trennis’ sleds for the lift in, Brad got a bit crabby. I had literally told him NOTHING of this amazing chute we had in store for him. With clouds set in, I told Brad to hop on the helicopter and go for a ride. Randy and the boys took Brad to his chute… Brad was inspired. Huge. Immense. Unfathomable. CRAZY. All four chutes were explicitly CRAZY.
We watched in awe as the chopper came back and landed with all riders aboard. They were supposed to be dropped into the next valley awaiting the airlift of their sleds. But Randy smiled when I opened the chopper door and said they had scouted a way to RIDE their sleds into this enormous valley. The 4 of them jumped out of the chopper, grabbed a couple of support crew, and took off for glory… Suddenly, the clouds parted and out came the sun!! Tyler Hicks (secondary film cameras), Richelle Maser (primary still cameras) and I quickly jumped in the chopper and lifted off. We had directed Troy and Mark along with Tina Thomas into a new bowl of chutes called the Magic Bowl and alas, when we came over the ridge they were ready. Each of them bombed a chute with Troy and Mark calling theirs the “HANGTIME” chutes because they caught huge air at the top (over 100 feet!!). Then, with the sun still shining brightly, we left them alone for a spell.
We flew over the high ridge and found Randy and the boys. They were ready to climb. The chopper hovered almost ONE MILE above them as Randy started his climb!!! WHY!?!?!?!? Because in the next 2 minutes and 20 seconds, Randy would gain over 3300 feet in elevation and travel well over one mile all the while CLIMBING a huge alpine chute! CRAZY! Not to mention, the last 200 feet slithered through a rock cliff in an ‘S’ shape! It truly was an amazing sight, watching Randy climb for so long and rip through the rocks at the top!!! For those of you who watched TS7, this chute is MUCH taller than the SUPER CHUTE!! Randy had done it!! He conquered the tallest climb ever pulled by a snowmobile!!! Aptly, Randy called his ‘S’-chute “SNAKE-N-BAKE.”
(The reason we hovered so high is because the helicopter cannot keep up with the speed of the big turbo sleds once they go hammer down, so we met them at the top filming the whole time with a good elevation start to keep up!)
After Randy topped out of his pull, Shawn Hastings went next and finished in style! Then Trennis Baer launched and pulled his 3300 feet of vertical! But as Trennis climbed to the ridge top where Randy and Shawn were, the sun went behind a cloud… We jumped over the ridge where Troy and Mark and Tina were waiting again and as we filmed them the snow and rain and wind hit the chopper!! CRAZY!! We knew we had 4 friends (Tyler was dropped off on top to film Randy and the boys) on a high ridge top in gale force winds and blinding snow… We had 3 other friends (Cam Hicks, Brett Coupal, and Brad Story) over the high ridge top getting pounded by wind and rain!! And we had Richelle and I and Matt, our pilot, wondering what to do now… Time to put down the chopper! But where?!?!? I asked Matt if he would fly through this crazy storm to the other side of the ridge where Brad, Cam and Brett were sitting. He said he would try!!! On the way we looked for Randy and the other 3 on the ridge top and could not even find them!! It was so cold and windy up there! We made our way to the valley bottom and landed next to Brad and Cam and Brett. On came the rain….
Brad was very dejected as this whole trip was about this one amazing chute he was waiting to climb. Again, over 3300 feet of vertical and NO OUT. Meaning, Brad would have to park on top of the rocks on the right side of the chute and be helicoptered off (there was a solid rock wall hundreds of feet above the cliff preventing Brad from going to the ridge top). We sat in the chopper, huddled out of the rain and wind, eating lunch, praying for our friends. We could not gather up what we wanted and head out as the storm literally had all of us at a stand-still. Radios were not working well as everyone was spread out over miles and miles of rugged terrain. Suddenly, we got a cackle on Brett’s radio… He lifted his arm high in the air to try to get reception. It was Randy yelling from the storm high above…. Blue Skies were 20 minutes out!!!!!
Brad immediately woke up (yeah, I think he was napping in the chopper!) and we all started smiling again. This was it, Brad’s huge attempt was in his sights! The rain finally stopped and we could see blue skies coming over the high ridge. We fired up the A-Star helicopter and lifted off. The whole time it took us to get to elevation, Brad sat alone and thought…. Ready for this nerve-racking moment. Our pilot radioed down to Brett and Brett sent Brad. Up. Up a LONG ways. And Brad pulled it… Plowing through the huge rock cliffs at the top, he said he was so nervous until he was half way through the rocks… Then he started having fun! He rounded out the rocks and pulled to a careful stop on top of the right cliff. He looked toward the Heavens and thanked God as we left him on his majestic perch… The “Dragon’s Perch”.
By the time we got back to the ridgetop, Troy, Tina and Mark had made their way to Randy and the boys. They were laughing and having fun in the sun on one of the tallest ridges near Revelstoke!
But Brett and Cam were still in no-man’s land!! Brett radioed up and said he wanted to pull out one of the big chutes. We were running low on fuel in the chopper but we needed this for Brett. We flew over to him. Unfortunately, Brett only made it about half way up before crashing his turbo Nytro. After seeing this, Cam decided he would not attempt the huge climb and he and Brett went the long way around to meet us all back where Richelle and Tyler and I had originally left our sleds….
These 4 chutes took almost 10 minutes to climb… The 4 guys covered over 13,200 feet of vertical. And the 4 sleds traveled almost 5 miles of up-hill pull… All 4 said their arms were jell-o by the time they topped out. It truly was the coolest thing I’ve ever witnessed while snowmobiling. 4 unofficial world records, one right after the other. Amazing. Awe-inspiring. Crazy.
Oh, and yeah, we plucked Brad off the DRAGON’S PERCH. About 20 minutes later 🙂
Day 3 led us back to a secret zone we have went to many times in the last 3 years. A certain chute, which Randy and I found 3 years prior, had still eluded the Team Thunderstruck sleds and riders. We called it the “ANOTHER DAY” chute because as we left it alone the first time we saw it, Randy said he would leave it for another day… Many times in the next 3 years big turbo sleds and great riders would sit at the bottom and stare up it, all saying no and retreating to the trucks with tails between their legs.
WHY?? Another Day was NUTS. Certifiably NUTS. Very Narrow. Off-camber entrance. Off-axis-off-camber change in the middle. Windlips, More narrow. 60 feet of jagged rock on both sides. And of course, steep… Almost 65 degrees steep!!!! Trennis said no. Julio said no. Hastings said no. Brad said no. Randy said no many times. Everyone who ever saw it said no.
Until this day, day 3… Randy said today was the day. Today was ANOTHER DAY. And he pulled it. He did it. One line, one try, one perfect climb. Awe. That is all I feel as I type these words.
3 days, 17 first ascents, tens of thousands of vertical feet climbed…
– May 20, 2010
AWE.
Thank you Team Thunderstruck for the most amazing filming/riding season ever, by far. Thunderstruck 9 will reflect these amazing accomplishments and these 3 days will be remembered forever by these great riders. Thunderstruck 9 will without a doubt be the best film I have ever produced. And I thank the boys and girls of Thunderstruck for that…. The best powder ever. The sunniest skies ever. The craziest pulls ever. And bar NONE, the tallest climbs ever. By far……. Over and Out, Jim Phelan