Happy New Year!!The Monkey

The 31st I took the Monkey out on a solo hike in an area I've wanted to take her for a long time now. She's 12, and amazingly fit and strong for that age, but won't be able to do hikes like this for that much longer (but that's what I said last year). So, a resolution for the new year is to do more of this - take the Monkey exploring because she thrives off of hikes like this. Just look at that smile!

New Years Day I sent myself out on a ski tour to the Tunnel and up to the right of the pass. The wind was whipping, but in the trees it was pleasant. "Any day above treeline is a good day" as CosmicPete claims, and I would agree. I'd add: any turns are good turns. My mom always said, "expect nothing and you'll always be surprised." Not a great outlook on life, but it kinda works!

Onto the ski. Headed up the trail on the Stelvios inspired by those crazy Swiss dudes and mountains I'd love to ski one day. I'm still having blister issues with these new boots, but nothing some duct tape can't handle. Inspired, I made the 2K climb to the lake in less than an hour twenty, then turned right to get the hell off the hollow snow wind tunnel near the alpine lake you see in the above shot. Survival turns on the way down and around, certainly a learning experience for me trying to learn the alpine turn again. This day was part of my new found exploration bug - to find more places to grab turns and a great tour. The tour part is the "easy" part - you can always go anywhere on skis, but finding those rare places to get turns is always a struggle. They have to be covered in soft snow - good aspect and sheltered from the wind, safe slope angle, no hangfire (big avy-prone slopes above), and no terrain traps below. Up at the train tunnel it's like finding a needle in a haystack sometimes. I've spent hours upon hours only to find a few good short runs. Here, it's rare to find a 600ft vertical run that is safe to ski in the winter.

But today was a good day, like any day in the mountains is...but today i found the above run, and three or four more lil chutes and alleys to come back to when the snow is softer. Only 400ft vertical at the most, but there are multiple of them located right in one small area that is protected from the wind (relatively, of course). Mission successful, and tomorrow possibly the next cirque with some co-pilots. I would not be bored as unemployed.

Happy sleepy Monkey back at the Ranch.