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We began by meeting around 7:30 in the parking lot of my building and all piling into Ann’s truck for the short drive to the ski area. Headwall was our goal. Sonya, Gerlinde, Susan, Me, Pam, Kim.

Photo courtesy of Ann Driggers

The snow has been gradually melting. As a result, we had to hike about 15 minutes on a dirt road until we reached the snow.

Photo courtesy of Ann Driggers

Photo courtesy of Kim Ross

Photo courtesy of Kim Ross

Ready to skin- Me and Gerlinde.

We were happy and chatty as we made our way to the top. Nothing like a fun bunch of girls who all share the same love for skiing. Beautiful blue skies and golden sun made the snow sparkle and put smiles on our faces.

And the skiing was pretty good too! Kim.

Photo courtesy of Ann Driggers

Me.

Photo courtesy of Ann Driggers

Of course we had to pause for a group shot What a beautiful place to be! Ann, Me, Sonya, Pam, Gerlinde, Susan, Kim.

Photo courtesy of Ann Driggers

The best part of the ski was the “Powder 8 Gully”- a sort of couloir feature on the Headwall. Ann.

Sonya.

Pam.

Gerlinde.

Susan.

And we had fun all the way until the snow ran out

Photo courtesy of Ann Driggers

And when the snow ran out, who would we find? Our friend Chris, Pam’s husband, who had biked his way up equipped with all the proper fixings for a wedding-day mimosa, table included! Thanks Chris So, naturally, we asked him to take a picture of us sporting our wonderful hard-earned drinks

Photo courtesy of Ann Driggers

Thanks so much girls for joining me out on a fantastic pre-wedding ski! I cannot think of a better way to escape the wedding chaos than to join six other fabulous girls on a fun, simple, yet wonderful ski! Thanks ladies

The snow has been slow to melt. I would estimate we are about 3 weeks behind recent snow melt levels. Because of this, I’ve been able to continue to easily do after work laps at the ski area.

The ski area on the last day of May.

Runs on the front side of the ski area are interrupted by plowed roads. But, head to the backside, and you’ll find perfect icing on cake. A lap on the Headwall can easily be done in two hours if you park at the ski area boundary on Prospect. Frank and I have taken advantage of this easy access and great skiing a few different times in the last couple of weeks.

May 25
Frank making his way on the road. After parking at the top of Prospect, there is a 5 minute walk on the road to the Teocalli lift.

The Headwall in the distance. It looks better than it does during the heart of the ski season!

Skinning was pretty easy.

Frank, wishing the ski area was still open.

The peak still looks good.

The views always seem better when you work for them.

Snowmass in the distance.

The skiing was excellent.

A look back at our tracks.

May 31
Beginning the skin.

The lighting was perfect for photos.

The snowline is definitely creeping upward! Compare this shot to the one from the week before.

The skiing was still good

June 3
A shot of Frank and I near the top of the Headwall entrance.

Frank, enjoying a Miller High Life that he stumbled upon while skinning below the Paradise chair.

Over to the Headwall.

At 7 pm, the skiing was perfect corn. Unbelievable!

A look back at our tracks.

The last couple of weeks have brought warm temperatures which seem unseasonably warm, but they are probably fairly standard for this time of year. As a result, the snow is melting fast. It’s incredible to see the day to day change as white is replaced with green. Still the Headwall is holding and I predict there will still be good skiing there for at least another week, maybe even two. So, those of you who haven’t fully replaced the bike for the skis, go get some It’s still good!

While the peak of Crested Butte isn’t exactly gnarly or very high, it’s an ambition all the same when done as an after work skin. I usually make it a ritual to visit the peak during closing day every year. Well, last Sunday’s closing day the weather was poor and the peak never opened. Feeling sad that I was missing my annual ritual, I vouched to skin up to the peak later on during the week.

Tuesday was the day. It was bluebird and wonderful- the perfect day to be outside. I began at 5 pm and headed up International. The peak was still 3000 ft above me.

Getting closer, but not really.

I was enjoying myself.

The views, of course, were great. White.

The town of Mount Crested Butte below.

After ascending International, I wrapped around to the left, passing under the Twister lift.

I passed by the patrol shack

and then headed up toward the High Lift. Along the way, I couldn’t resist stopping and checking out the status of the pow cam- which was still fully functioning. The pow cam captured me talking on the phone with Frank explaining to him how to take a screen shot

The peak, so close, but still so far!

The summit, as the sun began to set.

The town of Crested Butte below.

Castle and Teocalli.

I reached the summit at 7:20, two hours and twenty minutes after starting. But, I believe the 3000 ft climb could easily be done in less than two hours. I spent at least 15 minutes messing around with the pow cam and stopped several more times to take pictures. But, I enjoyed the summit at sunset.

The hues were beautiful as I skied down from the summit.

And the skiing wasn’t bad either! I enjoyed fresh pow on Big Chute and Ruby Chief. The light was fading as I arrived back to the base. But I couldn’t help but look back and think, “I was just up there.”

Frank left early Tuesday morning for the long drive toward Pemberton, just a half an hour away from Whistler. He’ll be enjoying life there for the next month or so. Thankfully, I will be able to join him for a week of it, as I fly north on Saturday. We’ll be joining up with (and invading the space of) our friends John and Susan. Thanks guys. Can’t wait for the fun

Of course, we’ll be posting up a few pics here and there, and hopefully several rounds of TR’s, from our adventures in Canada. But, until then, here’s a few random pics we’ve taken in the last couple of weeks to tide you over

CB Resort

Frank.

Me.

Axtell

Our playground.

Frank.

Catch you on the flip side, eh?

The best time to buy new ski gear is now! Scored big from this sale myself. Check it out!

Even better- patrol had all the goods open. Phoenix/Spellbound and Third Bowl along with Headwall were all for the taking. I took the opportunity to hit up a couple of lines I haven’t skied in a few years, like Toilet Bowl. Here’s Frank charging down the upper part of the “bowl”.

The day kept getting better. The highlight -we hit the opening of Sock-It-To-Me. Though the whole ridge was open, Cesspool and Little Hour Glass were sparse. But, Sock-It-To-Me proper was as good as chocolate mousse Moi.

Our visiting friends- Charlie & Carol, Mike & Lauren – joined us for round # 2. Pics of Charlie didn’t pan out, but here’s some of the others.

Carol.

Tired after a long day of charging hard

Lauren.

Mike.

What a fantastic day! Definitely in my top-10 resort days here in CB. Skade is being good to us this year

Frank.

The new tram.

Our friend Adam Smith, former Buttian turned Jackson local.

Frank.

Frank, Tim, and Al getting ready for the boot pack in Jackson Hole’s slackcountry- heading to Pinedale.
Frank.

Tim.

Frank, enjoying the view.

Frank likes pillows. Not necessarily for sleeping.

Al, another former Buttian turned Jackson local.

Me.

Great to hook up with old friends. And thanks to my old ski teammate Tim for letting us crash on his floor and entertaining us all weekend. Can’t wait to get back

Although the steep terrain at Crested Butte has been limited due to so many things sliding after the big storm two weeks ago, the skiing has still been quite good. We were able to hook up with our visiting friends Carol and Charlie for a few runs this week. Here’s a few pics:)

Charlie.

Carol.

Frank.

Snow has arrived again in Crested Butte and we’ve been enjoying freshies for the last two days. While this last storm has not brought as much snow as the last, we have enjoyed a foot and a half of snow so far. A little snow can go a long way!

Skiing the ski area has been far too fun to stop and take pictures. I’ll try to get some up in the next couple of days. For now, snow-lovers should check out this really cool video on snowflakes Sorry, the video could not be embedded.
http://gizmodo.com/5713983/the-weird-and-wonderful-world-of-snowflakes

The ski area has been skiing well. Since my last post, some considerably steeper terrain has opened. Earlier this week Headwall opened as well as the North Face to “Easy Way Out”. Unfortunately, Last Steep, Sock-It–To-Me-Ridge, and Staircase aren’t open and will not be open anytime soon- they slid naturally at the end of the last storm and slid to the ground. This latest storm is building the base for our favorite steep terrain. However, yesterday, we caught the opening of Teocalli Bowl and today we caught the opening of lower Peel.

Coverage on open terrain is overall fairly good at the ski area , but there are the typical rocky areas here and there. However, be surprised of some unusual terrain features. There are huge avalanche crowns all over the ski area as well as a few glide cracks (kind of like crevasses but in snow) that can be a huge hazard. Know your terrain before you charge down it because there can be surprises even in your favorite spots and there aren’t always signs like this to warn you

Get out there and enjoy our fantastic winter!

It seems that Crested Butte Mountain Resort has initiated a new rope drop policy that requires skiers to wear a beacon during the opening of new terrain. All of this seems to have come about suddenly- just in the last week- leaving some locals slightly aghast at the new policy.

The first we at 14erskiers.com heard about this new policy was when this email showed up in our friend’s inbox.

CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. – December 20 – Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) has been blessed with an abundance of early season powder and that means terrain is opening quickly. In preparation, the Crested Butte Ski Patrol has created new guidelines for terrain openings to maximize safety for all guests. The new protocol goes into effect immediately and has been designed to create greater awareness of the inherent risk in skiing and riding extreme terrain. The resort also wants to recognize those who take extra precautions that can be helpful in the instance of an in-bound slide.

For more information contact Erik Forsythe, Ski Patrol Director – 349-2220, Frank Coffey, Snow Safety Director – 349-4137, or Chris Corliss, Mountain Manager – 349-2341.

Now, the new policy can be seen on CBMR’s website:
http://www.skicb.com/cbmr/info/mountain/beacon-policy.aspx

A quick snapshot of some of the new rules as stated on CMBR’s site:

In an effort to encourage and reward standard practices for travel in avalanche prone terrain, the Crested Butte Ski Patrol will be allowing the users of avalanche beacons early access to said terrain on initial openings and re-openings after avalanche mitigation procedures.

Q: How will this work at gate openings?
A: As the opening nears, the Ski Patroller at the gate will ask beacon users to move to the front of the group. Once the group has been organized, and the terrain is ready for opening, the gate will be opened and beacon users will proceed, one at a time, through the gate. Once the initial wave of beacon users has passed through the gate, all others will be invited to pass through the gate one at a time. Any disorderly conduct or ducking of ropes will result in the loss of lift passes for individuals and the delay of terrain opening for everyone.

My Opinion on the Matter
In some ways, we can’t be surprised the CBMR is initiated such policies. As the ski industry progresses, more skiers are finding themselves entering “extreme” terrain than before. In addition, many skiers are adding backcountry skiing to their repertoire. Recent in-bounds avalanches such as in Jackson Hole, Snowbird, and A-Basin have caused some CBMR patrollers to take a deeper look at the safety issues at hand. And, let’s face it. We do live in the most litigious country in the world. In some ways, I can’t blame CBMR for initiating this policy.

But, at the same time, I don’t really like this policy. CBMR has always been really conservative about terrain openings. They don’t open it unless it is fully safe- no questions asked. One would hope that this new beacon policy would help CBMR patrollers open terrain a tad bit earlier or perhaps provide some “slackcountry” access gates. But, I don’t think that this is the case. Crested Butte is not Whistler- where there is so much terrain patrollers are seemingly lackadaisical about control work in certain areas. Nor is it Jackson or Snowbird. Here, patrollers are, for lack of a better word- anal. They rarely leave things untracked. Terrain is often bombed to death, ruining many of our favorite lines sometimes for the whole season. And I have rarely felt any need to wear a beacon inbounds at this resort (a testament to the safe-keeping of ski patrol), whereas I have definitely felt the need elsewhere. This new “beacons at rope-drop” policy is simply a case of CYA – Cover Your Ass. And, it’s truly unfortunate for those friends of ours who do not have a beacon because they don’t venture into the backcountry. We spend $900+ on season’s passes. Now, CBMR wants skiers to pay an additional $300 or so for a beacon too, just to ski fresh tracks in bounds- and no place to rent them, unlike Bridger Bowl which requires beacons on much of its terrain. If you ask me, CBMR needs to take a better look at their new policy and provide a supporting infrastructure for it before suddenly dropping the ropes for those only with a beacon.