Dakota and Kristo were in town for the past two days to finish off the ski season, which we did at Highlands on Sunday, despite the rain. On Monday we went back country skiing just outside of the Snowmass ski resort, using the lifts to gain about 3,500 free verts. Joining us were my friends from ski school, Jemma and Lee. Jemma is a fun-loving Kiwi who works here in the winters, and Lee is an American turned New Zealand resident who also teaches skiing year round. The weather was quite variable throughout the day, but it began with us freezing in low dense clouds on the lifts. Eventually we reached the top of the resort and began climbing up a ridge through a second, higher, cloud layer which oddly enough was sweltering hot and had us all down to our tee shirts. After no more than half an hour we found ourselves on top of a sub-peak of Mt. Baldy at around 13,000ft. The couloirs which dropped off the ridge from beyond this point looked a little less filled in, so we decided we would ski to the west down a huge broad gully coated with about six inches of fresh powder. Here is Lee and Jemma joining us on the top.
After putting on our skis the clouds rolled in thick and we were forced to wait for a quick break to begin our descent. Dakota won a quick game of rock, paper, scissors, and took the first turns with Jemma looking on. The snow was fresh and heavy and the turns were great. Unfortunately we were continually plagued by the mist.
The bottom half of the run turned into a huge gully between cliff bands. It was not too steep, and the thick fresh snow was super supportive for big, fast, GS turns. I had the luck of getting the freshies through here, and ripped it for all I was worth, giggling and whooping the whole way. I stopped to take photos and Lee passed on by, charging down with Kristo and Dakota watching. Moments later he suffered a spectacular wipe-out, and I took the chance to lead through some fun little airs out the bottom of the chute. Our adventure was only beginning, as we now had to ski about three miles down the valley. The rain that began falling contributed to the super weak snow pack, and at times we were sinking to our knees with our skis on! Eventually we reached the melt-out zone, which around here has already risen to about 10,000ft and had to do a bit of walking. From here we were able to curve around and get back on to the trails of Snowmass, where we wasted no time making our way to the bar at the base. A super great day skiing with good friends, both new and old.
Dakota and Kristo were in town for the past two days to finish off the ski season, which we did at Highlands on Sunday, despite the rain. On Monday we went back country skiing just outside of the Snowmass ski resort, using the lifts to gain about 3,500 free verts. Joining us were my friends from ski school, Jemma and Lee. Jemma is a fun-loving Kiwi who works here in the winters, and Lee is an American turned New Zealand resident who also teaches skiing year round. The weather was quite variable throughout the day, but it began with us freezing in low dense clouds on the lifts. Eventually we reached the top of the resort and began climbing up a ridge through a second, higher, cloud layer which oddly enough was sweltering hot and had us all down to our tee shirts. After no more than half an hour we found ourselves on top of a sub-peak of Mt. Baldy at around 13,000ft. The couloirs which dropped off the ridge from beyond this point looked a little less filled in, so we decided we would ski to the west down a huge broad gully coated with about six inches of fresh powder. Here is Lee and Jemma joining us on the top.
After putting on our skis the clouds rolled in thick and we were forced to wait for a quick break to begin our descent. Dakota won a quick game of rock, paper, scissors, and took the first turns with Jemma looking on. The snow was fresh and heavy and the turns were great. Unfortunately we were continually plagued by the mist.
The bottom half of the run turned into a huge gully between cliff bands. It was not too steep, and the thick fresh snow was super supportive for big, fast, GS turns. I had the luck of getting the freshies through here, and ripped it for all I was worth, giggling and whooping the whole way. I stopped to take photos and Lee passed on by, charging down with Kristo and Dakota watching. Moments later he suffered a spectacular wipe-out, and I took the chance to lead through some fun little airs out the bottom of the chute. Our adventure was only beginning, as we now had to ski about three miles down the valley. The rain that began falling contributed to the super weak snow pack, and at times we were sinking to our knees with our skis on! Eventually we reached the melt-out zone, which around here has already risen to about 10,000ft and had to do a bit of walking. From here we were able to curve around and get back on to the trails of Snowmass, where we wasted no time making our way to the bar at the base. A super great day skiing with good friends, both new and old.
No comments:
Post a Comment