Backcountry SkiingCrested Butte

TR: Axtel Tongue and Green Lake Chutes 3.18.09

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Yet another TR that’s a little bit old. I guess I need to sit at a computer more and ski less. Not. Cool joke from 1991.

My friend Andy headed down from Denver to see how things were down here on the S side of the Elks. Since I had just skied the Green lake chutes the day before and knew a booter was in and the conditions were good, I suggested that we ski in the same area. I wanted to ski the “Tongue” on Axtel, which is a pretty visible line from Mount Crested Butte. I took this photo of Axtel on the following day- the tongue is the double double-fall-lined route in the center of the long summit of Axtel.
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Being a gracious host, I let Andy drop in first:
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I went next:
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I shot a couple more while Andy switched from Pow to corn.
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Since the bootpack was in and we both felt like taking another run, we went back up to ski a quick lap in the Green Lake chutes. Andy got first dibs again:
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I went second, down a line I had skied the day before:
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On our way back out, I took a photo of our tracks down the tongue.
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Frank Konsella
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Frank Konsella

Frank loves snow more than anything... except his wife.    He ensures his food is digested properly by chewing it 32 times before swallowing. He is a full-time real estate agent serving Crested Butte and Gunnison and would be honored to send you his monthly newsletter.

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