at least for long--ie the whole winter--after all it is only the first of december.
i saw the forecast earlier in the week and figured friday was my window to get up and ski cardigan. plus, mr wilson had stopped in on thursday and reported that he was still cleaning out the 2 feet of snow they got up high in orange. that would mean there would be plenty of coverage up on the mountain.
the winter lot was mostly full when i got there around 10-ish. going up, i only met two folks coming down: a friendly hunter and a "f*^king unemployed carpenter" (his words). what i ran into a lot more were low hanging, snow laden branches and blowdowns. i got the saw out early and took a long time cutting things out and whacking at snow as i went. i kept my hood up.
one skier and one snowboarder had made tracks before me. probably josh who always gets out early, and adam who had emailed he had gotten a split kit. the snow was dense, deep, and best of all drier than it was on wednesday. that meant my skis were sliding smoothly rather than clumping and i needed to skin up as soon as i got to any steep.
it was incredibly beautiful. when i turned off the hiking trail, it was also trackless. the amount of snow only a week off thanksgiving was impressive. everything was filled in and then some.
well, almost everything. once i got up into the low spruce zone, at the east to amc sign, wet, open holes were everywhere. up the hiking trail, a string of black, wet, stone patches at the bottom of each pit turned me onto the hurricane cutoff. i aimed for top of 'the chute'.
avoiding wet didn't seem like a bad idea, but the open spots were just as numerous going 'east to amc'. i press hard to the edges, often slipping down into the wet holes, catching pack straps on grabby trees, having to stop to adjust my binding after one of my skis fell off--finally, doubting that the chute would be worth it. as i passed the bottom of the chute, the lone snowshoe tracks going my way, turned up. i chose to stay on the trail going around to the top. the wet-bottomed pits and overhanging snow-heavy spruce got worse, but turning around would have been just as hard as going forward--i continued on.
soon enough i broke out onto the ledgy south east shoulder up by the fire warden's cabin and turned up to the top of the chute. i opted to skip the summit and took pictures looking up and down where i took off the skins.
looking down the snowed in chute, most of the snowshoe tracks were covered. looking up to the bald summit, there is a tower up there, beyond my bald head.
i was smiling still when with my boots buckled, skis locked, and my baldness covered up, i pushed off and dropped in over the cornice. i laughed aloud when a handful of turns later i 'face-planted'--big time--in a desperate attempt to avoid one more extremely deep, wet-bottomed hole. a little muscle and a good bit of vinyasa yoga, i extracted myself and slid on.
sliding more carefully, at least around the holes, i zipped past 'east to amc' and didn't stop until i got to the bottom of the next ski trail section. this was the last picture i snapped as the skiing took over.
at the bottom, still smiling, maybe even bigger now, i wheedled around the gate and slid off the final snow bank and fell into the road at the winter lot. the guy getting into his car about to leave, was probably wondering what kind of fun is that?
with a last bit of yoga, i got out of my skis, picked myself up, and clomped over to my truck--wondering myself, what's not to love about 'going outside and playing!'
i saw the forecast earlier in the week and figured friday was my window to get up and ski cardigan. plus, mr wilson had stopped in on thursday and reported that he was still cleaning out the 2 feet of snow they got up high in orange. that would mean there would be plenty of coverage up on the mountain.
the winter lot was mostly full when i got there around 10-ish. going up, i only met two folks coming down: a friendly hunter and a "f*^king unemployed carpenter" (his words). what i ran into a lot more were low hanging, snow laden branches and blowdowns. i got the saw out early and took a long time cutting things out and whacking at snow as i went. i kept my hood up.
one skier and one snowboarder had made tracks before me. probably josh who always gets out early, and adam who had emailed he had gotten a split kit. the snow was dense, deep, and best of all drier than it was on wednesday. that meant my skis were sliding smoothly rather than clumping and i needed to skin up as soon as i got to any steep.
it was incredibly beautiful. when i turned off the hiking trail, it was also trackless. the amount of snow only a week off thanksgiving was impressive. everything was filled in and then some.
 |
| ('classic'--read old--picture) |
avoiding wet didn't seem like a bad idea, but the open spots were just as numerous going 'east to amc'. i press hard to the edges, often slipping down into the wet holes, catching pack straps on grabby trees, having to stop to adjust my binding after one of my skis fell off--finally, doubting that the chute would be worth it. as i passed the bottom of the chute, the lone snowshoe tracks going my way, turned up. i chose to stay on the trail going around to the top. the wet-bottomed pits and overhanging snow-heavy spruce got worse, but turning around would have been just as hard as going forward--i continued on.
soon enough i broke out onto the ledgy south east shoulder up by the fire warden's cabin and turned up to the top of the chute. i opted to skip the summit and took pictures looking up and down where i took off the skins.
looking down the snowed in chute, most of the snowshoe tracks were covered. looking up to the bald summit, there is a tower up there, beyond my bald head.
i was smiling still when with my boots buckled, skis locked, and my baldness covered up, i pushed off and dropped in over the cornice. i laughed aloud when a handful of turns later i 'face-planted'--big time--in a desperate attempt to avoid one more extremely deep, wet-bottomed hole. a little muscle and a good bit of vinyasa yoga, i extracted myself and slid on.
sliding more carefully, at least around the holes, i zipped past 'east to amc' and didn't stop until i got to the bottom of the next ski trail section. this was the last picture i snapped as the skiing took over.
at the bottom, still smiling, maybe even bigger now, i wheedled around the gate and slid off the final snow bank and fell into the road at the winter lot. the guy getting into his car about to leave, was probably wondering what kind of fun is that?
with a last bit of yoga, i got out of my skis, picked myself up, and clomped over to my truck--wondering myself, what's not to love about 'going outside and playing!'
