Finding the Emerald at the Bottom of Mt. Baldy

Posted by – October 27, 2007

Previously posted on my Thrillhead Blog

Sometimes you find yourself in places you don’t expect. Sometimes you find yourself doing things you weren’t planning on doing. Sometimes these things turn out incredibly good- like today!

I had been itching to ski all week, yet I was a bit hesitant to ski in the backcountry for fear the week of hot temperatures and lack of snow would make snow conditions unenjoyable. I found today to be entirely otherwise!

Last night, Frank, Jack Hannon, and I had all talked about returning to Treasury again today (where we had skied last Saturday). In the morning, Frank and I were driving up toward Schofield Pass where we were to meet Jack. Near Emerald Lake, we saw Jack driving his truck down the hill. “Uh, oh,” we though, “What’s up?”. He stopped, got out of his truck and pointed up toward Baldy. We saw the line, and it was a definite YES!

Here’s a pic of the line we saw from the road:

And some more teaser pics:

Today was a great way to begin the ski season! I was challenged a bit by the climb- it’s been 4+ months since I’ve climbed anything like this. The skiing was enjoyable, yet challenging in places. It was a great warm-up for the “climbing” and skiing season yet to come. It got me in the mood to do more, yet gently reminded me of the consequences that are inherent to mountaineering and backcountry skiing. Today was one of those days where everything came together in just the right way- the kind of days you always are striving for in backcountry skiing.

Dare I say, we found our Emerald today
:)

For a full trip report click here: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99540

3 Comments on Finding the Emerald at the Bottom of Mt. Baldy

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  1. [...] Links: Halloween Bowl Finding the Emerald [...]

  2. [...] had finally figured out a way to live in Canada full-time. Before he left, we were able to ski the Emerald Couloir on Mount Baldy. It’s a heck of a ski for November in Colorado. [...]

  3. [...] to come along as well. We decided to try to ski a chute on the north side of Baldy which we call Emerald Couloir, because it takes you right down to Emerald Lake at the [...]

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