It didn't start snowing at the ranch until 7am but it apparently had been snowing more up higher over the last day or two. The big-snowflake type of snow finally - an upslope! The rock stars picked me up after a crazy drive up the canyon and we headed to old faithful. It seems I get stuck going here every weekend but it's just so close and contains the best snow in the area per mile of skinning. And so far, I haven't been to the same run more than twice so it keeps it fun.
We go there...?
Pilot JHK has become quite the BC navigator. He has surpassed my sense of direction up here and walks and talks like he's skied BC up there for years. His GPS and route-finding skills made me so at home today that I was happy to take the caboose in the back and follow (it was also nice cause he broke lots of trail and is 10x's as fit as me!).
JHK heads first down Splitrock alley
We chose a route in the car that would entail making our way up and down "the Thumb", from one alpine cirque to another - north to south. This way we get all the aspects and see where ths snow is the best and also get lots of runs in! The various alley's, trees, and historical avalanche chutes of the Thumb proved immensely fun today and we just cruised effortlessly from one alley to the next without even a hint of getting lost (I know, incredible!). Just amazing light Colorado powder made our skis flow and carve like not many days I've had up here. We did 4 runs total in the 5 hour tour, and that's also a record for me. It was great to have a crew always up for grabbing those extra 20 turns and happy to do the skin back up (thank you Sir, may I have another?). I have to admit, I felt a little old today trying to keep up with these two.
Pilot Irmiger on upper 'secret trees.' This slope once again flows the best turns of the day.
After some flat-land navigation to find the last turns of the day, we were back at the automobile. But wait, JHK realized his GPS had literally jumped out of his jacket on a slight fall not a half-hour back (ok, it was a pretty good rollover). He was consulting the GPS so much in the last leg of the tour that he kept his pocket open for quicker access to the GPS and then when he fell it must've fall out. (Of course, I did this same thing with my clinometer last weekend and it found it's way out on some slope between the parking lot and the Divide sadly. I never found it, but nor did I try). But JHK's another story. Like a good Pilot, he wasn't about to lose this awesome piece of equipment in the woods to get buried in snow and never be found again, so he grabbed his pack, re-skinned up, and turned around to go find it. I gave him my Spot tracker so we could track him back at the Ranch in case something went askew (it was after 3pm already and darkness was only a couple of hours away). But amazingly, an hour later and an additional 1,000ft ascent to the crater site, he found it lying right on top of the snow. Might as well buy some new skis cause you just saved yourself $500!
Tomorrow night we head to Aspen for a hut trip at Margy's. I may post from the road, but more than likely I'll be talking to you next week. Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment