I seem to have pretty good timing when I go to Steamboat. Last time I came in the winter was for Christmas 2007--the year Kayla moved out the first time. We got a little 15" dump on Christmas Eve. I got to spend the day skiing with ski buddy Paul.
We didn't quite get 15" last night, but the report said 5" which is enough for me to get excited about. I bought a big fat pair of Armada JJ's last spring and then put some touring bindings on them in December. The big idea was to have something fun to ride on a powder day. The JJ's worked just fine on the groomed surface last night, but this is what I got them for.
Scott gave me a ride to Gondola Square at 8:15. I was in line at the Cristie when it opened. Looks just like a snowstorm on a powder day.
It took a few runs to catch up with Paul, but we finally rendezvoused on Longhorn off the Pony Express lift. That led us into the trees.
Steamboat is about trees; specifically Aspen trees. My biased evaluation is that the trees at Willamette are better on a powder day, even if the vertical is considerably less. It was still relatively early season conditions, so there was lots of stuff poking out.
Paul enjoys the new snow.
We kept getting deeper in the woods each run. The snow kept getting deeper too. The best snow was out the gate off of Middle Rib. Paul shreds on the golf course.
I got a photo of this woodpecker right as we made our way back onto the run.
Our our last venture off the Middle Rib, we got deep into the woods. On that side of Steamboat, it drops off into Fish Creek. There were some amazing slots that had knee deep snow. There were also a few sketchy areas where big rocks and cliffs abound. After some nice lines and a few hairy jump turns we made it to the main trail. We had a good mile or two to hike out. Fortunately, we were not the first ones (or the only ones) there. We ran into several people on the trail. Eventually we got back to the BC Skiway and hopped the Thunderhead back to the top of the Gondola. There we met Ruthanne, Kayla and Mandy for lunch.
Ruthanne and Kayla listen to tales of deep powder and white out conditions.
Paul and Mandy.
Kayla and Mandy.
After lunch we were to meet Ruthanne and do a run down Vagabond to the Gondola since she was going in. We waited a long time and finally left--she got down below us and took off. Just like I would have done when I was younger.
We finally met up with Kayla and Mandy again and did a run over at Wally World (Sunshine). Then we went over to the Broadway Trees off the South Peak lift with the idea of skiing down to Highway 40. It was great for the first few lines, but then we follow some tracks right when we should have stayed left. It got pretty tight in places between the pine trees and the bushy baby Aspens sticking out. We finally hit a road and follow some ski tracks and came upon a yurt with a fire going. Two people stuck their head out said 'hi' and then asked if we would consider renting the yurt. Our response was 'well, there's probably people who would. Might be a bit of a problem finding it.'
In the woods above Highway 40.
We hiked around the yurt, skied past a cabin and then got on a road for a long ways. At least two miles. I was pretty worn out by the time we met up with Paul's son, Jacob, who we had arranged to meet at the corral at the end of the road off Highway 40.
The end of the line.
That was interesting and pretty fun, although I'd like another shot at it. There's definitely better lines than we took.
I talked Jacob and Paul into dropping me off at Scott's. Everybody came over later for pizza, including old ski buddy Dan Hedrick who was in town for a competition for his son Joel. Joel is a nationally ranked mogul skier and will probably hit the world cup this season or next.
Postscript: Sunday, January 4, 2014
We planned on leaving early in the morning for Fort Collins. I was driving back with the folks and then Beth and Catherine would take me to DIA for my 6pm flight. It was rough--it snowed another 9" and what I really wanted was a few hours on the mountain.
Going over Rabbit Ears was a bit of an adventure--it was blizzarding pretty strong. Fortunately, it cleared a bit in North Park, where it would have been really bad. We made it to Fort Collins around 1pm. I got some lunch and then we departed for the airport around 3. The trip back was uneventful--which was good since bad weather back east was causing all kinds of travel delays.
Have a great season Kayla!
No comments:
Post a Comment