Conditions Report
Saturday October 26th:
Usually a ski day this time of year would be epic just due to it being so early in the season. In Colorado, we’ve been spoiled this year, though. This was the 5th Saturday I’ve ventured out in a row. It was the first without recent snow and the conditions were good, but not great. The snow ranged from wind-affected to sun-affected to recrystallized to soft. But you’ll hear no complaints from me, cuz hey, It’s Still October!!
So, I know that i’ve taken a picture from here before, but when you round the bend out of Empire and see this it is hard to not take a picture.
Headin’ to the Mountains. [Photo: Aaron Rice]
Parked way down low with the hopes of skiing a line I’d been eyeing for a few weeks. Remember this for later on.
Love my car, now if I could only lift it 18inches. [Photo: Aaron Rice]
Because I parked at the bottom I had a long walk, but was able to start skinning not too far in. The total distance on the day ended up being over 7 miles. Furthest day of the year!
Long road walk. [Photo: Aaron Rice]
On the way up, there was one slope that had a group of 3 headed down, and 3 groups of 6, 1 and 2 headed up, and it was already tracked out. Mind you there were dozens of other slopes with no tracks and more snow. I didn’t cross one track all day and did 3 long runs. Some people like to follow, but there’s always better snow over the horizon.
Like sheep to the slaughter. [Photo: Aaron Rice]
The sun was super warm and it hadn’t snowed in almost a week, so there were some very bare spots on the skin up.
South Faces Melted a Bit. [Photo: Aaron Rice]
Setting up the Shot. [Photo: Aaron Rice]
October 26th, only 5 days till Halloween.
Almost Halloween at 12600′. [Photo: Aaron Rice]
The wind and sun had really had an effect on the landscape.
Wind and Sun. [Photo: Aaron Rice]
There was no one around for all 3 runs!
Fun Creamy Turns. [Photo: Aaron Rice]
The other day on the Facebook I won a trivia by Garuka bars. They sent me 6 bars, awesome! So in return I decide to take a picture of a Garuka bar on the next 6 adventures I go on. So here is the first pic!
Garuka Bar #1. [Photo: Aaron Rice]
Remember how I parked my car at the very bottom. Well here is the rest of that story. On my last run I was planning on doing this big slide path I had scoped-out the past few weeks. It would drop me right out at the car. However, on the way there I skinned up an awesome steep and deep treed run. It was too good to pass up. I still checked out the other run and it looked ok, but I decided to ski the trees, all I would have to do was cut hard right at the bottom of the run and I’d be right back at the car.
The trees were really good. At the bottom I started cutting right as planned. However the trees got denser way faster than I expected. I tried to ski for as long as possible, but soon they were so thick that I had to walk. I ended up spending almost an hour bushwacking, slipping on logs and galling on my ass before I got out of the woods. In the end I was right at the bottom of the slide path I had planned on skiing and right at my car, only an hour behind schedule.
Woods like this for an Hour, not so Fun. [Photo: Aaron Rice]
Another great day in the BC!!
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Strong work, great report. Looks like a big hike but definitely worth it.