Shane drew the short straw and was stuck guiding us for the day. After doing a quick beacon check, the group quickly started the skin up the terrain with Shane leading the way. We were all marveling at the snow and commenting on how lucky we were timing wise. There appeared to be about 4-5 inches of fresh snow on top of a very consolidated base that had at some point frozen. About 1/3 of the way up we came up on a slight obstacle (down tree) and we all watched and got a giggle as Bob wrassled with tree as if someone had lathered it in baby oil. Soon enough, we were all moving again and working our way up.
I was curious about our group as we had never collectively skied or snowboarded together so the first day was also going to be a day of discovery relative to our collective skill set.
We worked our way to the top where Shane showed us the playground and we dropped in on a nice little bowl and we all put in some fresh tracks. The snow was riding superbly and I started to get really excited about how well the snow would hold up over the coming days.
As we made our way out of the bowl, we got into the trees and enjoyed a great run that continued with nicely spaced trees. We eventually ended up at the meadow where we re-grouped and transitioned back into skin mode to go back up.
Soon enough the fireball (cinnamon whiskey) that Nathan brought made an appearance and beckoned for a quick pull and nip on the go go juice. After a quick hydration break, we started the climb back up to the ridge. This time, our target was the bowl below Probiscus.
Shane broke trail and showed us our next objective for the day….a sweet bowl that was just asking to be torn apart with new tracks….we obliged.
We dropped in and all got some fresh tracks. Once again, the snowpack was amazing and our trip was only getting started!
After we all got our ear to ear grins on from the ride, the group split into two. Part of the group headed back to the yurt and the rest of us wanted to head back up to the top of Probiscus to scope out the terrain there.
We peaked at the lookout and then Shane took us down one of the lines on the skier's right. We were absolutely shocked! The snow was even better here!!! The terrain was better too! We took turns laying down fresh tracks and regrouped at the next little plateau for the next pot of snow gold. The next little drop provided better snow still! The snow here was totally untracked and undisturbed…this was by far the best run of the day. The snow was buttery and the slope was dreamy…it just kept getting better and better. Soon enough we were through the next drop in and riding through the trees. We darted through the trees and finally got to the bottom where us snowboarders had to get our ski poles out to push along through the flats.
Our ride and skiing was coming to an end for the day, but our evening was just beginning. We thanked Shane profusely for showing us the goods and he was nice enough to hang out for a little as we shared a couple of brews with him. He headed back to the parking lot and left us to our own devices for dinner and aprez ski fun. We quickly made ourselves at home and relived the day's events. It was a huge thumbs up and it was only the first day…this was going to be a good, no….a GREAT trip!
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