We didn't get up early today, and instead watched the snow fall in piles of snowflakes the size of pancakes from our offices until we could take it no more. The 2" and 5° on the 5am report kept building and building, and by the noon report there was a foot. So sometime after lunch we both started putting our gear on for some late day turns and made it to the top by 2.
The wind, snow, and cold were relentless all day apparently; Storm Peak was such a blizzard we couldn't even get across the plain to drop off onto the Face and had to cut across the track to Sideburns, where we dove into thigh-deep powder, blind as bats. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face; even the top of Sundown, which is sometimes milder than Storm, reminded me of Eric Weihenmeyer's ascent up Everest- blowing sideways, bundled mountaineers huddling together deciding which line to take, and visibility nil. Needless to say it was not a day for the camera folks; apologies.
We headed for the favorite stashes as usual, and if there were tracks in 1:30 trees at any point today, they were already covered. Craig buried himself in a treewell, luckily landing upright, because he just plainly couldn't see! Faceshots and fog combined, we were both as blind as Weihenmeyer. By the second lap up Sundown my goggles were toast, and I had to nip into the Patrol shack for a quick clear up.
From there we dropped down Sundown liftline, enticed by skiers below our previous ride, and despite a few screeching halts, Craig bombed those knee deep bumps like a porpoise, getting hoots from the riders above, while I surfed behind to make sure he didn't find another hole to hide in. By the time we hit the bottom of Moonlight we were already spent.
We headed to the top for a frosted-goggle top-to-bottom through the meadow below Storm and the untracked left side of Hurricane. The blizzard was just as bad at the bottom, six inches of fresh lay waiting at the bottom. It's gotta be snowing several inches an hour.
Tomorrow is going to be ridiculous! WOOT!
"See you in the deep" is an understatement.
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