Mt. Judah - South Bowls with Jeff & Gary

The two day storm broke this morning and left us wonderful light and deep snow right in the backyard. The 90 mph+ winds that came with the start of the storm died off yesterday afternoon so that last 12" were deposited evenly and without a crust. The Lincoln lift at Sugarbowl was not running, so we hiked up to Roller Pass from the top of the Christmas Tree lift - no a soul on the ski slopes up high. Taking care not to mislead any subsequent skiers we ducked out of bounds well before the pass and stayed in the trees until over the first rise and well on our way to Mt. Judah proper. We farmed the powder, run after run, moving over just a tad with each lap to find sweeter and sweeter powder stashes. As the day wore on however, the temperatures rose, and a crust began to form on the south facing aspects. Checking our watches, we called it a day, climbed one last time to the shoulder of Judah and relished an unusually solitary run down untracked snow on "Century Club" and back into bounds.

Lost Trail Lodge with Ed, Eva, Don, and Margaret

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Sugarbowl Sidecontry March 2010

This week we were blessed with two storms dropping fresh snow. The temperatures have stayed cold, so even though there has been bluebird days between the storms, there are still pockets of incredible untracked snow to be had.

The deep snow has been tough on the wildlife. The first photo is an unusual coyote track - more like a trough plowing through the soft surface layer.

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We were headed down to Mt. Tallac, but I discovered I had forgotten my poles at the trailhead (urrgh!) so we turned around and made the best of the remains of an incredible day skiing the sidecountry around Sugarbowl. Hunting for pockets of light powder left over from the two storms earlier this week, we looked all over the place, finally finding a perfect stash off Cross Nest Peak towards the late afternoon. I lapped it a few times after parting ways with Jeff,then pointed tips towards home down and through the woods, skating back across Van Norden Meadow in the balmy afternoon sunshine. Gotta love California ski touring.

Jackson Hole Trip with Alpine Ski Buddies

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I was joined by Andy, Dave D., Sam, Chris, and Bob for our annual alpine ski trip. Scott and Paul had last minute conflicts and could not join us. Run after run, we challenged each other to find great lines, ski in great style, or in general participate in a wide variety of high jinx. Highlights of the trip included multiple hikes to ski the various chutes of Caspar Bowl, Pepi's run in the afternoon sunshine, a quick lap to Grand Targhee resort, no lines, and fantastic home coked meals - especially dog stew, and dog stew 2 ( you had to be there to appreciate it). Let's start planning next year's trip soon.