Griffin Post

Everyone loves a treasure hunt… Nearly 90 years ago Bradford Washburn and Robert Bates abandoned a gear cache remote in the Yukon in their attempt to make the first ascent of Mount Lucania. “What it grieved Brad most to leave behind was his large-format Fairchild F-8 aerial camera, which exposed five-by-seven-inch negatives, the first of a series of heavy and expensive apparatuses with which Washburn would capture his matchless aerial images of the mountains of Alaska and the Yukon,” wrote David Roberts in his 2002 book, Escape from Lucania. While no climbing party had ever reported finding it, most people speculated that the cache had fallen into one of the numerous crevasses on the Walsh Glacier. But what if it didn’t? Excited to (finally) share this story with the world Memorial Day weekend at @mountainfilm . 🙏 A doc by @tetongravity produced in association with @protectourwinters and @thenorthface .

The odds of finding something lost on a glacier nearly 90 years ago are low, but never zero… What started as a search for legendary photographer Bradford Washburn’s lost camera gear slowly turned into film about exploration, history, and the cost of obsession. Part treasure hunt, part science lesson, and part excuse to wander around the mountains with good people and ride some amazing terrain, at its core this film is a wild idea that got a bit out of hand. Proud to finally share the trailer for “The Lost Cache" and screen the full film next weekend at @mountainfilm with more dates to come. Hit the link in bio to watch the trailer and grab tickets for the premiere. Thanks to @thenorthface and @protectourwinters for the support along the way and helping bring this far-fetched idea to life 🙏

In June 1937, legendary mountaineer, photographer, and cartographer Bradford Washburn and his partner Robert Bates left behind a cache of gear, including cameras and film, during a daring ascent of Mount Lucania. In our upcoming Science in the Mountains program, big mountain skier and adventurer Griffin Post (@griffpost ) joins us to share a gripping story of exploration, history, and discovery as he recounts a multi-expedition journey to uncover the long-lost gear cache. You won’t want to miss this special virtual event on May 8th; register for free via the link in story/bio or at mountwashington.org/events. Image courtesy Bradford Washburn Estate

This week was the crescendo of a two+ year journey. I got to go to DC for the first time, we met with Senators in the Capitol building and screened Inaccessible for members of Congress. It was surreal to say the least—never in my wildest dreams did I envision my initial email, that first spark, leading here. In 2023 I was asked a simple question: what does the ski community do for public lands that benefits other user groups? I didn’t have a good answer. Hunters and anglers contribute over $1 billion annually. ORV groups remove hundreds of tons of trash from our public lands. So, comparatively, I couldn’t say skiers and snowboarders do a whole lot. That moment stuck and the spark of an idea was born. The thing about ideas is they don’t really care about timing. They show up when they want to and, if they’re meaningful, they linger. But ideas don’t mean much on their own. They need the right people and, at some point, you must commit—even when you’re not totally sure how it’s going to work. Inaccessible was just that, the right people having faith that an idea would work. This project wouldn’t have gotten here without the tireless efforts of @mollyiay and @rjmarcelliano with @onx_maps who mirrored my enthusiasm from day 1 and trusted that this idea would work. @kmuededonck and the team at @smartwool for seeing the importance of public lands and backing a project that was constantly shifting. @ejackshreds , who I’d literally never met irl until practically the trailhead, and @curlsinthewild for signing up for a trip into the mountains that had some, er, faffing from the get go. The teams at @deckedusa and @tincupwhiskey that supported the vision at the last minute. I’m a pain in the ass to work with, so thanks to the production team for putting up with me in the field and in post @blkmtnfilm @treadwayfilms @bdanncreative @sam_saarel . And, not insignificantly, everyone that I had a passing convo with that shared just how important public lands are to them. Thank you. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but I have no doubt that we have the numbers and passion to do it. 🙌

Start in the dark. Startle some bears. Sandbag your friends. Bring lots of snacks. Refuse to backtrack. 🙏😂 Fine day in the mountains with @kakiorr and @flannertanagan .

Been working on something special with @kaestleski for the last 12+ months… As someone that loves gear and is lucky enough to give feedback on a lot of it, there’s an important distinction to make between working on soft goods vs hard goods. Generally, the former has no downside to cranking the up performance and quality. A Summit Series jacket or pack from @thenorthface will be appreciated by anyone—even if it’s not used to its full potential. That is, it’s unlikely that you’ll have a negative experience using high end soft goods because your item is overpowered for a given objective or ability. To my knowledge, no one has been injured because they were in too much jacket. 😂 If you applied to the same philosophy to skis you’d end up on a pair of world cup race skis—the highest quality, most well-made skis in the world—and it would be terrifying. The extreme end of high-performance skis is not for everyone, myself included. I bring all this up because, with a few exceptions, there must be a business case for creating something. Every product has to have a reason to exist. With skis, the art lies in striking the balance between high-end performance and broad market appeal. The ideal ski is stable at speed yet still nimble while going slow. They hold an edge yet break free easily if you need to dump speed or pivot in the middle of a turn. They’re playful yet mean business when they need to. I could go on. Oh, and they should look cool… I won’t even get into graphics. As far as I know there’s never been a ski graphic that has been unanimously liked. Pic 5 is an example of something we tossed after months of working on it because it wasn’t well received when we printed it. All that said, super proud to be a part of the Transcend from Kästle, the deepest dive into ski building I’ve ever had (and I was only a small part of it). Five rounds of protos, countless laps of the exact same run (that’s how you test) and a lot of 7AM Zooms with Austria. Excited to release this to the world this fall, or get a sneak peak next week at the @blisterreview summit. 🙌 📸: 1-2: @sophie_danison ; 7: @vicunaclaudio

When I first got on as a flow athlete with @thenorthface the very first piece of equipment I ordered was a base camp duffle. 15 years later I still have that original (and a few more 😉). Wherever I go, it’s the first piece of equipment I reach for. From Nepal to Alaska, this bag has seen some adventures and weathered some storms on countless trips, be it a month long expedition or a weekend trip in the back yard. Can’t imagine a better travel companion. 🙏 @thenorthface_snow 📸: 1, 10 @_blakegordon_ ; 5-6 @tyler_ravelle

@griffpost | Slovenia

Trying to find a remote spring objective to ride? This is what worthy ones look like with the slope angle layer activated on @onxbackcountry . Some things I’ve learned over the years: You definitely don’t want a face that’s entirely blue ( > 45-degrees), that usually just ends up being a cliff or a slope too steep for snow to reliably stick to. (As a sidebar, I would say that skiers are great overestimaters of how steep something actually is 😂😜). This pattern is indicative of a face that’s steep, but also not so steep that snow doesn’t stick to it and has some (relative) islands of safety. And, for the record, this face was plenty steep. If nothing else, familiarize yourself with terrain that you have ridden to get a sense of how steep terrain feels compared to how it’s represented on the map. It’s a good starting point for stepping into unknown terrain…and not getting in over your head. The more you know💫.

Pump faked the drone pilot…whoops. 😅 🎥: @tetongravity // @austinrhopkins @thenorthface_snow @kaestleski @kastle_usa @onxbackcountry @smartwool

Some B&Ws courtesy of @fishercreative . @thenorthface_snow

One foot in front of the other—literally and figuratively—is the only way to describe this project. Collectively walking hundreds of miles across the Yukon, thinking about how insane trying to find a camera that was lost on a glacier 85 years ago, balancing two opposing risks and weighing what regret will keep you up at night years on: trying something and being wrong or not trying something and being right? Ultimately, it’s the latter that’s far more haunting. And then there’s the years of post production, which was a journey in itself albeit a far less cinematic one. An equally challenging slog but for the opposite reasons of the saga’s physical counterpart. I don’t know which is harder but they both come down to a simple idea: placing one foot ahead of the other—sometimes with very little idea if you’re even going the right direction—and being totally okay with that. And that moment, when you see the light at the end of the tunnel, finally, it’s nothing short of divine. Stoked to share more soon. 🙌 📸: @tyler_ravelle // @tetongravity