it was not "the best skiing ever", but it was a grand day to be out...on skis!
what does that mean? basically, there was plenty of deep snow, not the light fluffy stuff below 0°F would tend to favor, but with a dense under layer, packed stiff by two days of heavy wind. that made turning tricky at best--difficult at worst. but, it was sunny, and forecasted to be much warmer and less windy than the day before. that made it a perfect day to get out.
adam had been planning to go up the carriage trail on moosilauke but i convinced him mt carr, across the valley, would be just as good, if not better. moosilauke is higher, but above treeline, and a good portion of the upper 'low spruce' zone, would be brutally wind slabbed. then there was the mile and a half slog into the steeper sections, which skip and linda reported had a lot of blowdowns in the late fall. and finally, 'nobody' skis carr, so it will likely offer fresh tracks.
we pulled up to the end of the road and parked in front of the huge pile of snow left by the plow. so much for 'nobody', there was a drifted in ski track heading across the field into the woods. as we put skins on and got into boots, i suggested that a track in front of us, would make it easier, break up the depth and clear the snow out of overhanging tree branches. i tend to look on the bright side of everything.
and speaking of bright, this picture at the start shows why i should have brought my sunglasses. fortunately, i did bring the silkie saw. as soon as we got to the woods across the field, we ran into several balsams, loaded with snow, bent over blocking the trail. the ski track stopped--so much for a broken out trail.
heading up toward the waternomee falls junction, adam kept looking to the woods for possible lines. depending on snow, there were plenty of opportunities. i had tried a couple of trips through that area when there was plenty of speed. after making the turn, we were skiing by the top end where we stopped to snack & drink a bit, plus take a couple pictures.
the woods beyond adam, were what he had his eye on riding when we came down. there was plenty of coverage, but the snow had a stiff layer under a top fluff that might make it slow and grabby. with a snowboard and float, that would be easy to handle. with skis, it might be harder. it was hard enough just going up and we switched leads a fair bit.
we kept breaking trail, climbing, testing depth and consistency with pole plants. my fingers were warming with the effort, even though most of the track was pretty shadowy. whenever we passed through a patch of 'full' sun, adam's "that sun feels good" reminded us how cold it was.
besides finding the sunny spots, adam kept looking off into the distance for more lines. i took to singing "love the one you're with" to focus him on the path ahead. when the trail got steeper, the snow deeper, and climbing sometimes almost arduous, he started asking "aren't we there yet?" i always gave my same comeback, "oh, about half-way!"
several half-ways later, we started up this strip of sun. the beauty of it made all the work getting 'there', deep cold and grabby layer of snow not withstanding, a worthwhile investment.
shortly after this picture, we got confused in the spruce, trying to find the trail. that made it a good place to stop for more snack & drink, announce it was now 'all the way', take the skins off, and lock things down for the descent.
it took me a while to get the handle of not driving the front end into a carved turn. the deep cleansing reward of a face plant into a drainage definitely helped. the trick was to lean back and slide the rear end gently around. that kept the tips above the grabby layer and speed up. once i learned that, i was even able to drift by adam--after i took another picture.
it didn't take him too long to zip by me again, waving and whooping as he went. at one point i heard him, shout, "oh no, i missed our trail!" he was referring to the little path we had packed out on the way up. it led to a huge boulder that looked like a great place to launch from on the way down. as he was climbing back for another run at it, i went by and told him, "oh yes, that will give me time to get the camera out!"
as the document shows, it's obvious we should have packed things down a lot more. despite the 'non-launch'--more a tip over the edge--it was a bit of fun and bonus, nobody was hurt in the making of the video.
the next time i caught up to adam, it was my turn to yell. "going left--hope it's not a mistake!" turning into the woods looking for one of those lines he was eyeing at the beginning, was a risk. given the stiff snow and the likelihood of needing to turn quickly to avoid the trees, maybe it would be better to be wearing a helmet and goggles. despite lacking those, it wasn't half bad, with a couple of sweet steep spots, clear enough for four or five turns. coming back to the trail, there was adam. he had found his own line off-piste and was smiling as he split his board into ski mode, for the final quarter mile of flattish trail.
we made it back through the trees hanging over the trail and got to the truck, both smiling now. my comment, "even though we spent slow hours going up, the quick hour down was totally worth it!"
it was a good day to be outside and playing!
what does that mean? basically, there was plenty of deep snow, not the light fluffy stuff below 0°F would tend to favor, but with a dense under layer, packed stiff by two days of heavy wind. that made turning tricky at best--difficult at worst. but, it was sunny, and forecasted to be much warmer and less windy than the day before. that made it a perfect day to get out.
adam had been planning to go up the carriage trail on moosilauke but i convinced him mt carr, across the valley, would be just as good, if not better. moosilauke is higher, but above treeline, and a good portion of the upper 'low spruce' zone, would be brutally wind slabbed. then there was the mile and a half slog into the steeper sections, which skip and linda reported had a lot of blowdowns in the late fall. and finally, 'nobody' skis carr, so it will likely offer fresh tracks.
we pulled up to the end of the road and parked in front of the huge pile of snow left by the plow. so much for 'nobody', there was a drifted in ski track heading across the field into the woods. as we put skins on and got into boots, i suggested that a track in front of us, would make it easier, break up the depth and clear the snow out of overhanging tree branches. i tend to look on the bright side of everything.
and speaking of bright, this picture at the start shows why i should have brought my sunglasses. fortunately, i did bring the silkie saw. as soon as we got to the woods across the field, we ran into several balsams, loaded with snow, bent over blocking the trail. the ski track stopped--so much for a broken out trail.
heading up toward the waternomee falls junction, adam kept looking to the woods for possible lines. depending on snow, there were plenty of opportunities. i had tried a couple of trips through that area when there was plenty of speed. after making the turn, we were skiing by the top end where we stopped to snack & drink a bit, plus take a couple pictures.
the woods beyond adam, were what he had his eye on riding when we came down. there was plenty of coverage, but the snow had a stiff layer under a top fluff that might make it slow and grabby. with a snowboard and float, that would be easy to handle. with skis, it might be harder. it was hard enough just going up and we switched leads a fair bit.
we kept breaking trail, climbing, testing depth and consistency with pole plants. my fingers were warming with the effort, even though most of the track was pretty shadowy. whenever we passed through a patch of 'full' sun, adam's "that sun feels good" reminded us how cold it was.besides finding the sunny spots, adam kept looking off into the distance for more lines. i took to singing "love the one you're with" to focus him on the path ahead. when the trail got steeper, the snow deeper, and climbing sometimes almost arduous, he started asking "aren't we there yet?" i always gave my same comeback, "oh, about half-way!"
several half-ways later, we started up this strip of sun. the beauty of it made all the work getting 'there', deep cold and grabby layer of snow not withstanding, a worthwhile investment.
shortly after this picture, we got confused in the spruce, trying to find the trail. that made it a good place to stop for more snack & drink, announce it was now 'all the way', take the skins off, and lock things down for the descent.
it took me a while to get the handle of not driving the front end into a carved turn. the deep cleansing reward of a face plant into a drainage definitely helped. the trick was to lean back and slide the rear end gently around. that kept the tips above the grabby layer and speed up. once i learned that, i was even able to drift by adam--after i took another picture.
it didn't take him too long to zip by me again, waving and whooping as he went. at one point i heard him, shout, "oh no, i missed our trail!" he was referring to the little path we had packed out on the way up. it led to a huge boulder that looked like a great place to launch from on the way down. as he was climbing back for another run at it, i went by and told him, "oh yes, that will give me time to get the camera out!"
as the document shows, it's obvious we should have packed things down a lot more. despite the 'non-launch'--more a tip over the edge--it was a bit of fun and bonus, nobody was hurt in the making of the video.
the next time i caught up to adam, it was my turn to yell. "going left--hope it's not a mistake!" turning into the woods looking for one of those lines he was eyeing at the beginning, was a risk. given the stiff snow and the likelihood of needing to turn quickly to avoid the trees, maybe it would be better to be wearing a helmet and goggles. despite lacking those, it wasn't half bad, with a couple of sweet steep spots, clear enough for four or five turns. coming back to the trail, there was adam. he had found his own line off-piste and was smiling as he split his board into ski mode, for the final quarter mile of flattish trail.
we made it back through the trees hanging over the trail and got to the truck, both smiling now. my comment, "even though we spent slow hours going up, the quick hour down was totally worth it!"
it was a good day to be outside and playing!
No comments:
Post a Comment