mbaydala":bi76gl3a said:
Lots of fun, overall a great day.
Yes, it was. I just wish I could have enjoyed it more and skied a bit more. I suffer from seasonal allergies and am greatly bothered by grasses and, especially, conifer trees, in particular, cedars. Since that elevation is 2 to 4 weeks behind the valley growing season, the cedars are at their pollenific height right now. The skiing was fun, but my eyes were constantly tearing, burning, and stinging - felt as if someone had poured a mix of lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and red pepper into them. Met up with Bob D in Little Cloud bowl and he asked why I was holding snowballs against my eyes.
Only did 5 runs, but they were a blast. The highlight, and my final run of the day, was Jaws to Anderson's trees to Surprise Gully - all buttery goodness. It involved 50' of walking to and over the lip of the Cirque to get to the snow. There's also an easily avoidable rock poking out at the throat, but there's still enough coverage for it to be "Gums" and not Jaws yet. There was one tactical error where we went one turn too low in the trees and ran out of snow, necessitating a steep side-step back up to where we should have zagged to the right. I headed home after rehydration and benedryl on the plaza amidst quickly building thunderheads.
Rocks are starting to show through here and there and the bottom is melting out fast - a descent to the base without mandatory walking probably won't be possible by next weekend.
