J.Spin
New member
There has been some moisture this past week in the Bitterroot, so I was interested to see how things had gone up at Lost Trail. Today, we headed up for some skiing with Ty, unsure of exactly how we were going to handle the logistics of skiing without the lifts running. One thought was that we could just drive the Subaru up the Boomer trail and run some car-serviced laps. To be safe, I also brought our Kelty child carrier pack and my skins so I could easily hike up with Ty if needed. That way, no matter what the driving surface was like, we?d be able to get some skiing in. E decided not to ski since it is becoming difficult in her last month of pregnancy, but she was still coming up to the hill to help out with Ty?s slide time.
Heading up the pass, we could see that a little new snow had fallen. The first new accumulations (just a dusting) appeared at around 5,800?. Up at the top of the pass (7,000?) there was an inch or two of new snow, which was enough to cover up the old crusty snow and create some really pretty views. Since Lost Trail is closed, I don?t have an official ski area update for the snow accumulations higher up, but data from the Saddle Mountain SNOTEL at 7,900? suggest there may have been as much as 4 inches of new snow on the upper mountain. For our outing near the base, the sun was out at times, and the temperature was 30 degrees F.
I wasn?t sure if there would be a snowmobile race going on at the mountain today, but we saw just a few snowmobile trailers in the parking lot, and a handful of recreational snowmobilers playing on the slopes. I decided to try our plan of driving up the Boomer trail in the Subaru. I went cautiously at first, making sure that the snow wasn?t so soft as to get us stuck, but the base below the new snow turned out to be firm enough. The Suby made quick work of the slope, and I was impressed. The tires did start to slip a lot on the steepest pitch at the top, and although I probably could have pushed it, I decided to spin around and park there. It almost felt like a bit of automobile high marking. As a bonus, we actually got to watch a couple of the snowmobilers doing some real high marking over in the Femur Ridge Bowl.
Ty and I geared up for skiing, and started the first run by descended from the car until the slope flattened out. I had actually brought my old Atomic ATC 3X straight skis, since I hadn?t used them in quite a long time, and I knew straight skis worked quite well for a lot of snowplowing. The snow surface was a bit groomed by all the snowmobile traffic, but it was still much rougher than an official snow cat-groomed run. Ty handled it pretty well however.
Once Ty and I were at the bottom of the slope, we considered having E come down and pick us up in the car, but we eventually decided it would be simple enough to hike. E walked down and grabbed my skis, and then she carried them up while I brought Ty on my shoulders. This procedure was relatively quick and easy, so there?d be no need for laps in the car. When we?d hiked back up to the elevation of the car, Ty said he wanted to go higher, so we continued on up to the top of the Boomer lift.
Resuming the skiing, E was even able to walk beside Ty on some parts of the slope and he had a good long run where he had minimal support from either of us. E worked on getting Ty to keep his hands up in front of him, which he seemed happy to do. After that productive run, we all hiked to the top again, but Ty seemed to be getting tired. I really had to support him a lot on the next run. So, at the bottom of that run, E drove the car down and we loaded up to go home. The Avocet recorded 195? of vertical for the day, and although it was far below Ty?s usual vertical, he showed some good advancement in balance.
We thought we?d avoided the big snowmobile race that takes place about this time every year, but the folks at the Sula Store indicated they?re having it next weekend. From the look of the forecast for this week, there should be some light snowfall without any dramatic warming, so they should be in good shape for the race. Hopefully we?ll be out of their way over on Boomer if we head up next weekend. I packed the camera in a bag today, but forgot to bring it, so we didn?t get any pictures. I?ll try to remember it next weekend since we plan to try a similar ski setup anyway. Hopefully the scenery will be as pretty as today.
J.Spin
Heading up the pass, we could see that a little new snow had fallen. The first new accumulations (just a dusting) appeared at around 5,800?. Up at the top of the pass (7,000?) there was an inch or two of new snow, which was enough to cover up the old crusty snow and create some really pretty views. Since Lost Trail is closed, I don?t have an official ski area update for the snow accumulations higher up, but data from the Saddle Mountain SNOTEL at 7,900? suggest there may have been as much as 4 inches of new snow on the upper mountain. For our outing near the base, the sun was out at times, and the temperature was 30 degrees F.
I wasn?t sure if there would be a snowmobile race going on at the mountain today, but we saw just a few snowmobile trailers in the parking lot, and a handful of recreational snowmobilers playing on the slopes. I decided to try our plan of driving up the Boomer trail in the Subaru. I went cautiously at first, making sure that the snow wasn?t so soft as to get us stuck, but the base below the new snow turned out to be firm enough. The Suby made quick work of the slope, and I was impressed. The tires did start to slip a lot on the steepest pitch at the top, and although I probably could have pushed it, I decided to spin around and park there. It almost felt like a bit of automobile high marking. As a bonus, we actually got to watch a couple of the snowmobilers doing some real high marking over in the Femur Ridge Bowl.
Ty and I geared up for skiing, and started the first run by descended from the car until the slope flattened out. I had actually brought my old Atomic ATC 3X straight skis, since I hadn?t used them in quite a long time, and I knew straight skis worked quite well for a lot of snowplowing. The snow surface was a bit groomed by all the snowmobile traffic, but it was still much rougher than an official snow cat-groomed run. Ty handled it pretty well however.
Once Ty and I were at the bottom of the slope, we considered having E come down and pick us up in the car, but we eventually decided it would be simple enough to hike. E walked down and grabbed my skis, and then she carried them up while I brought Ty on my shoulders. This procedure was relatively quick and easy, so there?d be no need for laps in the car. When we?d hiked back up to the elevation of the car, Ty said he wanted to go higher, so we continued on up to the top of the Boomer lift.
Resuming the skiing, E was even able to walk beside Ty on some parts of the slope and he had a good long run where he had minimal support from either of us. E worked on getting Ty to keep his hands up in front of him, which he seemed happy to do. After that productive run, we all hiked to the top again, but Ty seemed to be getting tired. I really had to support him a lot on the next run. So, at the bottom of that run, E drove the car down and we loaded up to go home. The Avocet recorded 195? of vertical for the day, and although it was far below Ty?s usual vertical, he showed some good advancement in balance.
We thought we?d avoided the big snowmobile race that takes place about this time every year, but the folks at the Sula Store indicated they?re having it next weekend. From the look of the forecast for this week, there should be some light snowfall without any dramatic warming, so they should be in good shape for the race. Hopefully we?ll be out of their way over on Boomer if we head up next weekend. I packed the camera in a bag today, but forgot to bring it, so we didn?t get any pictures. I?ll try to remember it next weekend since we plan to try a similar ski setup anyway. Hopefully the scenery will be as pretty as today.
J.Spin