The Diamond and Black Dike Go: As Told by ShredDawg

Only the ShredDawg knows what he sees.

18 years after ShredDawg emerged on the digital and steep skiing scene, THR gets an exclusive tell all.

This story begins benignly enough on 12/15/07 at 8:06 AM: a forum post on NEice.com by ShredDawg querying, “Dike ski decent?” 

About nine pages of comments and responses later, ShredDawg had his answer, “the Dike,” better known as the Black Dike ice/mixed climb on the flanks of New Hampshire’s Cannon Mountain—a classic—was descentless. In other words, no one, at the time, had sent on skis, snowboard, monoski, snurfer, or blades. A blank canvas waiting for the Dawg and his mark making. 

Not trying to brag, its just that it’s been my experience that when you’re makin’ history, you just have to establish the facts or people won’t take you seriously.

Our team of gritty investigative journalists tracked the Dawg down, where he resides, mostly, off-the-grid, and mostly, on the backside of Colorado’s Front Range. Being somewhat evasive, ShredDawg, when we made contact through his MySpace account, said he lived at the intersection of the high peaks and the foothills, in view of the Diamond on Longs Peak. 

[Editor’s note: Passages from ShredDawg’s original post (which has long ago been removed by the moderators) in NEice will be italicized, to ensure historical accuracy.]

The Dawg, known for his eternal-flame stoke, not his spelling, claimed on NEice back in 2007, “I got this idea to do a qwest where I climb up then shred the raddest unskied lines that are also climbs.”

Our first line of inquiry zeroed in on the Black Dike. Had he sent?

“I did send!!!!” wrote the Dawg in a DM. “It was steeper than I imagined. If I had me one of those GoPros the sent would have looked even steeper or at least like it went down in a fish bow, hahahal. Whats with that wide-angel sitting anyhow? But yeah it did GO. Mostly of the turns I did make was dry sking. Like dry edges on rock!!!! And man yeah if someone were documenting this in a guidebook or something which would be WORTHY I’d slap an asterik by it as in 1st* descent*.” 

The line of inquiry became more detailed, because that’s what we are about here at THR, the detail. So, we asked for the details since in his original post on NEice, ShredDawg explained:

“I know everyplace is different, but I’ve honed my skills out here in ‘Rado during the last 5 yrs. have to say I’ve done quite a bit of radness hear and not just on the sweet pow-pow. Not trying to brag, its just that it’s been my experience that when you’re makin’ history, you just have to establish the facts or people won’t take you seriously. I don’t think a route done way back when should be that hard for me. No disin’ intended…”

The Dawg held court when THR went fine-tooth-comb. So what are the facts about the alleged Black Dike descent?

“Like any god line the CANDIES have to align,” ShredDawg reiterated. “And they aligned!!!! I brought along a few meters of webbing some carabiners hexes, nuts and pieces of iron. Climbers call them PINS. I had them just in case the repel anchors got tricky. And yeah two 60-meter ropes. Damn long rapps for the Dawg—I’m more skier than climber!!! I nailed the raps striaght to HELL!!. Some sparks here and there but I needed a detune hahahaha.

“The real serious skiing according to me went down at the botom where the climbers usually gain the water ice. This may be part of the ‘approach’ but when the water ice blends right into step snow you cannot argue that its STILL part of the climb. I took it all seriously. And I still dont like to brag.”

The ShredDawg proving to anyone who would notice that inner and outer strength can be displayed in the mountains and any urban setting. Photo: ShredDawg collection

This couldn’t be the end of the Dawg’s story. And it wasn’t. We heard rumors of a Quixotic image, late one spring, of SD skiing the exit slopes of the Diamond (also known as the approach slopes to climbers) with nothing but his remaining rack and the pack on his back. With the Diamond taunting the Dawg from near his front porch, we channeled our journalistic grit to ask the unasked. 

“Did the Diamond go?” 

“It went,” claimed SD. “Did it for THE KIDS!!!”

“So why the need to keep these descents so tight lipped in an era when spray isn’t spray,” asked THR. 

If the typed word could make a sound, the words SD left us with would sound like that tree falling in the forest with no one around to hear it. Of his Diamond descent, and the Black Dike, for that matter, there’s no documentation, no proof. Only the Dawg’s word.

“I just didn’t feel the need to tell anybody!” explained ShredDawg. “Brews are on me!!”