TR: Backcountry Skiing on Schuylkill (27 Nov 2010)
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Three days of groomers at the resort was good and it was a great opportunity to really get back on top of my skis. But three days of groomers was enough. It was time to head to back to the backcountry. But, with Frank and some of my other friends out of town this weekend, I found myself scrambling for backcountry partners. It must have been kismet when I ran into my friend Ben while getting my snow tires put on in Gunnison.
Ben and I go back a few years. I met him when I was skiing in Alaska. A former patroller at Alyeska, Ben was then attending grad school in Boise. Who knew he would later move to Montrose and then eventually to Gunnison? Funny how the world works sometimes. Either way, I was happy to reconnect and have a partner for the next day!
Ben and I headed up for some backcountry skiing on Schuykill.
We dug a pit near the top of the ridge. We found that the snow was very shallow- only about 2.5 feet. Most of the snow was new snow from the last storm cycle with a few inches of old-snow facets near the ground.
A view of Redwell from the ridge.
Eventually, it was time to ski. Ben, setting up for a ski cut.
With the ski cut, nothing moved. So, he continued down our line.
I don’t have many action shots. But, you can tell the turns were fantastic 🙂
A look back at our line from further away. Our line came lookers right off the knob.
It was a great day of backcountry skiing on Schuykill. The snow is good out there, especially for November! Go get some!
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