Report from April 9, 2022

Yesterday, we had a big day.

We started the day not knowing what the avalanche conditions would be like after 5+ inches of new snow and strong winds.

We started it off with some wide-open glacier skiing and mellow spines.

After testing the snow and taking in all the information possible, we found good stability, and we were able to take it into some steeper spines.

We did four laps in our wide-open glacier spine zone and they held terrific snow and long smiles.

For run #5 we took it up a notch into “White Wall”.

Steep, spines, great snow, long.

World Cup & Olympic ski racer Travis Ganong opened it up with strength, power, and perfect turns.

We loved this zone and could have done another, but we moved onto a bigger, steeper face named “Jacques Cousteau”.

“Jacques” was the real deal.

Our buddy and fellow guide Eric skied the main spine like a boss and avoided the big bergschrund at the bottom.

That was the end of our day that day.

As I walked into the airport, I was taken aside and informed that I was invited on a strike mission to ski Mt. Benet with Travis Ganong and former US Ski Team member Bill Gibson.

We were off to ski 7,193′ Mt. Benet and its 50º steep for a 1,000-vertical-foot planar face, its large bergshrund at the bottom, its intimidating visage.