IN THE DEEP

Another glorious day with the powderhounds in search of the mid-mountain 14 that fell since yesterday. The morning report clued us in to stay low, reporting only 7" up top, so we did mostly that...

Starting with a lap down Norther to Four Points, somewhat bumped out but still good. Next we hit Nelson's to Twister to BC, where the powder was knee deep and not as tracked. From BC we did the liftline back down, arguably the best run of the day with wide open glades of powder and empty at that, so we stopped for a few photo shots. Go Alicia!




Then we got the text I was waiting for, Craig was headed up the hill! So we hit Oops to Vertigo, also among the best of the day, lower thigh deep, glorious light powder. We ducked under the lower T-Head lift line and found the untouched stash hiding there! 

Riding Thunderhead up, we were tempted by what was below us, and hoping we were timing it right, (frankly we couldn't help ourselves) so we hit Concentration and the top was the deepest stuff we found all morning - upper thigh deep and then knee deep to Mother Nature. Wow. Back into the liftline, and back up to the saddle where Mr. Powderhound was waiting.

We took a rare trip down Vag to Surprise to get to Storm Peak so we could hit 3O'Clock and 1:30, otherwise known as ... errr, ask me in person next time you see me.   Very nice in here, all the way down the right side of High Noon even. 


From the top of Sundown we did the Face Mustache to Hurricane, freshies in both! At this point it was 10:45 and Alicia and I were hitting our limit, and apparently so was Craig's rig, which blew a bearing on the way down just before we got a chance to hit Vertigo again unfortunately.  Anyone got a new sit-ski they want to get rid of? ... yeah. Any kind will do, Craig's Revolution Pro Comp is a whopping 17 years old with 1300-1500 days on it!  A new one is $5000...

Well, we've been chewing up this mountain since before Christmas, and it looks like we will all finally get a bit of a respite to rest the old knees, backs, necks, ankles, and sit skis... a week of sunshine on the forecast should make a few people (non locals) happy for the New Year.

And when the snow returns... you'll see us In The Deep!
 

There's nothing better than waking up to a foot of fresh on Christmas! The presents can wait (unless you're us, and have to work on Christmas, so you opened your presents on Christmas Eve!), the powder is calling!

Craig had to work, so I was solo today, and other than having to ride the Gondola with grouchy, loud, hungover 20-something locals, it's often nice to have a day of silence in the snow.  From then on, every lift ride was pleasant, talking to folks from Orlando, San Antonio, Cody, and even Australia, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas with a smile.

I had one mission today and one mission only, enjoy, and find some new openings, and I got buried several times on the Sunnyside in the 14" inches since yesterday!

In spots, it wasn't that deep for sure, but if you know where to look, it was above the knees. Being Christmas, it was empty; the locals seemed to head right for Pony, so I was virtually all alone on the other side. 

I started with a gloriously deep run down a bumpy Norther, laughing at my solitude and headed right for Four Points. Sunset had been groomed, so next I headed there, also up to my knees, and then into the Moonlight Trees - very fluffy, very deep (the rope had been dropped today I think), and so I took my first video.