Somehow, we once again got into terrain that was sketch...and once again we were kicking ourselves for not having brought crampons...we loaded up on the dosage of kicking by having to kick-step our way through the steep section until we got on mellower terrain again.
We gained the ridge and then got into some open meadows that treated us to some phenomenal views of the valley and the cascades. We could see Pelican Butte, Brown Mtn, Mt McLoughlin, Mt Ashland, Union Peak, Mt Bailey, Mt Thielsen, Mt Scott, Mt Bachelor, Paulina Peak....
The weather was a little warmer than the day before and we theorized about how good the split boarding was going to be...the snow was softening up and spring corn was in the air! We made our way to the peak proper where we hung out and just filled our heads with the views. We were more than happy to just take it all in. While we were hanging out and grabbing a bite, we saw a skier come up and then drop into the scooped terrain and swoosh some turns. The best part was that we did not hear that scrape sound that comes when skiing hard snow/ice. It was setting up perfectly!
We changed from tour mode into ride mode. As we were doing that, we noticed the skier's skin tracks on the edge of the cornice! DOH! It made my heart skip a beat just thinking about how insane that was.
Bob dropped in first and got some nice arcing turns as he went down the feature. I pointed my split board downhill and did the same, albeit on a line further south to try and find untracked snow. It was full on sweet nectar of the spring snow gods. It was difficult not to enjoy the sweeping turns in the enormous terrain around you.
The plan was to ride the scoop, and then instead of riding all the way back down, we were planning on skinning back up for another quick lap. After another skin, we reached the peak again and cherry picked our line. I dropped in first and rode while trying to enjoy every moment. Within what seemed like seconds, we were at the bottom of the first feature and trying to figure out where to pick our way through on the terrain. We picked a line and tried to maintain as much momentum in order to keep moving on the slightly flat meadow section. Soon enough our speed ground to a halt and we walked over to a little knoll that would allow us to milk some more downhill out of the ride.
The lower we got, the heavier the snow got as the temps were warming up. Before we knew it, we were back in the trees and dropping back on to the access road...all too soon, it was over! An hour plus of skinning up, took us all of about 10 minutes (or less) to descend). It was all good though - it was food for the soul and head. Nothing like a little backcountry therapy to cleanse....mmmm mmmm good...thank you, may I have another!
Pictures of Day 2:
No comments:
Post a Comment