This winter Ian McIntosh, Dane Tudor, and Griffin Post boarded a beaver plane and flew deep into the Tordrillo mountains for a month long winter camping trip. The goal… to climb and ski massive spine lines, each visible from their small camp erected deep in the Alaskan wilderness.
It was a difficult month, with a four-day storm piling eight feet of snow on the crew. One morning to their horror, they woke up and discovered that their cook tent had collapsed. “Our guides Ed Shanley and Shane Treat were the real heroes” said TGR drone operator Austin Hokpins. “They completely saved the tent and trip”, using bamboo poles to rebuild the collapsed structure.
The idea of the trip was conceived by TGR’s resident tall guy Ian McIntosh. He was inspired by fellow athlete Jeremy Jones to dive deeper into the human powered experience. The culmination of this hard work was a line in a section dubbed the “Gnar Wall”.
The skiing was the definition of this year’s film title, “Tight Loose”. Ian almost washes out while checking speed, but somehow miraculously rides out of a double air. The trip marks a turning point in McIntosh’s career, as he focuses less on helicopters. They are great for volume, but nothing beats the intimate feeling of hiking a line according to Ian.
We at TGR are stoked to see what is next for Ian and company.