Day 13: Freshies still there, just harder to find
It was another beautiful day in the Wasatch today. 12 days of skiing in a 16-day stretch, however, are starting to take their toll -- my body is revolting. It's a good thing I had to leave in time to pick up The Wife at the airport at noon, or else I think that I'd collapse in agony tonight.
From 9:15 to 11:15 I only got in two runs, but that's because we went way, way out on Patsy Marley, farther than I've ever been before, on an expedition off Supreme that lasted well over an hour. Getting there was the first run, up Collins and down Devil's Elbow, and across Supreme Access that is finally open.
We had a large group today: The Kid, Bob Dangerous, Sam, Kelsey, Dean, and two college kids from Pittsburgh who Sam knows. Sam was enjoying his first day on new Gotamas, and we had the right snow for him today to put them through their paces: powder and chowder.
We headed out the Catherine's gate ("This is the way to the bunny hill, right?" "The hot tub's this way, right?") and across Sunset to Snowshoe Hill, then out even further toward Last Chance. Four of us -- Bob, The Kid, Sam and yours truly -- then struck out toward Patsy Marley, breaking trail to set a traverse much higher than the existing one to lead to the top of the Rock Garden. It was here that Sam first began fearing -- rightfully so -- for his Gotamas. We billy-goated down, through, and across granite boulders topped with 2" of fluff, threading our way through evergreens at times. A large uphill party climbed below us, presumably a Wasatch Mountain Club outing or something similar, some on skins, and others on snowshoes with snowboards strapped to their backs.
In his efforts to preserve his new skis Sam ended up on a traverse line below us, and thus opted to instead descend when he found a clean line. Bob, The Kid and I kept heading north, finding lots of untracked to lead back to the in-bounds "Patsy Marley" trail before heading back OB down the summer campground road to keep working the trees amongst the chalets back to the Albion base lodge.
Sam and the rest of the posse were nowhere to be found. Bob and The Kid headed for Wildcat to get to Snowbird as I left for the airport.
It was another beautiful day in the Wasatch today. 12 days of skiing in a 16-day stretch, however, are starting to take their toll -- my body is revolting. It's a good thing I had to leave in time to pick up The Wife at the airport at noon, or else I think that I'd collapse in agony tonight.
From 9:15 to 11:15 I only got in two runs, but that's because we went way, way out on Patsy Marley, farther than I've ever been before, on an expedition off Supreme that lasted well over an hour. Getting there was the first run, up Collins and down Devil's Elbow, and across Supreme Access that is finally open.
We had a large group today: The Kid, Bob Dangerous, Sam, Kelsey, Dean, and two college kids from Pittsburgh who Sam knows. Sam was enjoying his first day on new Gotamas, and we had the right snow for him today to put them through their paces: powder and chowder.
We headed out the Catherine's gate ("This is the way to the bunny hill, right?" "The hot tub's this way, right?") and across Sunset to Snowshoe Hill, then out even further toward Last Chance. Four of us -- Bob, The Kid, Sam and yours truly -- then struck out toward Patsy Marley, breaking trail to set a traverse much higher than the existing one to lead to the top of the Rock Garden. It was here that Sam first began fearing -- rightfully so -- for his Gotamas. We billy-goated down, through, and across granite boulders topped with 2" of fluff, threading our way through evergreens at times. A large uphill party climbed below us, presumably a Wasatch Mountain Club outing or something similar, some on skins, and others on snowshoes with snowboards strapped to their backs.
In his efforts to preserve his new skis Sam ended up on a traverse line below us, and thus opted to instead descend when he found a clean line. Bob, The Kid and I kept heading north, finding lots of untracked to lead back to the in-bounds "Patsy Marley" trail before heading back OB down the summer campground road to keep working the trees amongst the chalets back to the Albion base lodge.
Sam and the rest of the posse were nowhere to be found. Bob and The Kid headed for Wildcat to get to Snowbird as I left for the airport.
