It dumped all afternoon, yet the lines were like this.

The snow continued to fall all day long. When I took a quick break, I came out and my skis had been quickly buried.

The skiing got better and better throughout the day. And during our last two runs, we decided to grab a few quick shots.

Frank sporting his tele-steeze.

Me.

Like children on Christmas Eve, we went to sleep while dreams of pow turns and face shots danced in our heads. And we awoke to this.

9.5 inches new and over 15 inches storm total. Ullr, the God of Skiing, finally delivered

Lift lines were considerably higher, but it didn’t deter the stoke level as we rode the Silver Queen for our first run of the day.

The skiing in the morning was far too good to be wasting time on the camera. We took time to enjoy it. Besides, we had to outski a few thousand of our other best ski buddies But, near the end of the day, there were still a few powder stashes to be had. And I finally whipped out the camera for a few pics.

Frank.

Ben.

It was good to feel the cold smoke on the face again

As we skinned up, the windscouring was evident everywhere. And even though temperatures were forecasted in 20′s, it felt much warmer, as we all stripped down to our thermal layers.

Mike dropped in first.

Though the snow was certainly wind-affected, we did find some good turns. However, our turns were most abruptly interrupted when we hit old frozen tracks beneath the new snow.

Grete.

Rachel.

Mike.

Though I enjoy blue skies, it’s certainly good to have the white clouds this week. With snow falling every day since Saturday, this season is finally starting to turn

The rime (or was it rain?) layer in the Anthracites yesterday:

Skiing 7th bowl through the rime crust was interesting- Zach’s skis made the most fascinating sound skiing through it, and at first I thought it was his carbon DPS skis. But no, it was just a weird snowpack.

So, we’ll be spending more time than usual at the resort. Heck, I’ve been spending most of my time on my tele gear. The bummer in this case is that the resort needs a ton more snow to get the steep stuff open, and once we do get snow all the steep terrain will likely slide right back down to the ground. There hasn’t even been enough snow this season for the bootpackers to stomp the sugar down in much terrain other than the Headwall and Teocalli bowl. So we’ll need some really big and prolonged storm systems to get much of the steeps open, and even then it’s doubtful that all of our terrain will open this season (i.e. 3rd bowl and the frontside and possibly even Phoenix/Spellbound).

Yes, I realize I’m being pessimistic, but the reality is that it is late January and Crested Butte Mountain Resort has recorded 40-some inches for the whole year. So we’re finalizing plans to get the heck out of here. Girdwood Alaska looks like our first stop in late February. I hope to find myself in BC at some point in March. April will hopefully find us in the Tetons and/or the Wind Rivers, and if all goes well, we’ll finish out the season on Rainier and other peaks in the Cascades. Suddenly, I’m looking forward to this winter again.

Brittany shredding it up:

Given the state of this year’s snowpack, it didn’t take much new snow to increase the avalanche danger. You can see a small slab that broke loose, but didn’t move, in this photo:

It will take a lot for avalanche conditions to improve this year in Colorado and Utah, so keep it mellow in the backcountry this year, ski the resorts, and travel to places with a better snowpack. Do a little snow dance- it sounds like we might have a better chance at snow in the near future.

The parking lot was busy, filled with like-minded mountain bikers, trail runners, and dirtbikers. If someone told me it was October, it wouldn’t be hard to believe. Conditions were incredible- every trail is rideable and the short sections of snow have been ridden enough that they’re barely noticeable. If this winter stays like this, I’ll be back. Here’s a short video, with a few photos mixed in as well:

Biking was fun and everything, but I’ll still be thinking snow:

We grabbed our skis and headed to the ski area. Yelps and smiles and shouts of elation were everywhere. Two inches became three inches and three inches became five as snow continued to fall throughout the day. I felt my edges carving through the newly fallen snow as if they were razor sharp, something I rarely feel on the man-made frozen congealed slop.

We made our way to the East River lift. “Scrape, scrape, brush, brush,” was the sound our skis made as we glazed over rock after rock and blasted through the small trees and bushes. The coverage was thin, but it was natural snow- natural snow with fresh snow on top of it. And that made it fantastic.

Last year we were spoiled. We would have either laughed or cried at the desperation we find ourselves in today, where skiing a black diamond bump run laden with rocks and bushes has been the highlight of our lift-served experience, where two inches of fresh is declared a pow-day. But, no skier on the mountain yesterday could deny that it wasn’t a good day. Because it WAS a good day!

Sometimes the best days are the ones that remind you what you’ve got

In any case, Brittany and I will keep trying our best to keep the faith and have fun with what little snow we have. So rather than party hard on New Year’s eve, we stayed in and were joined by our friends Ben and Jonathan on a tour up Richmond. In addition to the lack of snow, we’ve also had a steady diet of strong winds, so rather than attempt to seek out powder, we were actually hoping for smooth wind buffed snow. We found some, as well as punchy crusts and scree-covered snow. The conditions weren’t all that surprising, but what may have been surprising was how much fun we still had despite it all. On with some photos…

Skinning:

Near the summit we transitioned to booting, which went fine until the windpacked snow turned back into sugar and we decided to skip the final 100′ of climbing. Beautiful ridge, though:

Fun skiing off of our highpoint (Frank):

Brittany sends a rooster tail:

Brittany finds the light:

Frank:

Ben:

Jonathon (I can’t imagine dropping a knee in variable crusty conditions like that.) He killed it:

Brittany:

Like I said, we actually had fun and found a number of good turns along the way to go with some absolutely horrible ones as well. The wait for snow will continue, and we’ll continue to make the best of it. Support 14erskiers:

Skinning.

Enjoying the views near the top.

Sydney dropping in.

Janae.

Sydney.

Janae.

Thanks to Janae and Sydney for a fantastic day out with the ladies!

View of Ruby, Owen, and Purple from the top.

Frank.

Me.

Frank.

Notice the bird Frank disturbed.

Heading towards the saddle between Treasury and Crystal:

Climbing Crystal from the saddle was a lot of fun despite some wind and even had a nice short scrambling section:

The chimneys of Treasure Mountain. These formations are apparently excellent climbs, often done on Outward Bound courses.

Treasury from the summit:

The Marble side of Schofield Pass sits far below. The vert on this side of the mountain is huge. Sharp eyes can see the turnoff for Lead King Basin:

More lines on the Treasure massif, looking towards Marble.

Snowmass and Hagerman:

Santa’s Chimney, a line we skied last year:

The snow on the face was surprisingly good, despite all the wind we’ve had lately. Zach ripped it:

Crystal Peak:

Awesome day. And we’re getting snow today! Get that Christmas shopping done: