June Skiing Wrap-Up: Baldy & Ruby (19 & 26 June 2014)
(Last Updated On: July 9, 2014)
Some people’s ski season ends when the lifts stop turning. Others may go for a couple more weeks, but quickly transition to the bike. But, for me – I keep skiing until the skiing is no longer good. And, for this year, it’s stayed good all through June 🙂
Baldy
I headed out with Jenny to ski Baldy in the latter part of mid-June. We’d skied the east side the week prior, and decided to ski both the west and the south sides this time.
Jenny climbing toward the top of Baldy with Gothic and the valley below.
Once we gained the ridge, we followed it to the south looking for the snowy entrance into the the west side. Jenny walking with Treasury behind.
The west side was still caked with good snow.
The skiing was surprisingly good. Me.
Jenny.
We then ascended the south western ridge to gain our way back to the top. Jenny skinning.
Once we reached the ridge, we dropped in to the south side. Me.
We skied all the way until the snow ran out. Jenny.
We had a little walking to do at the end, but it wasn’t bad.
Admittedly, the snow was a bit rough on the south side of Baldy – Lots of places were lumpy, bumpy, and runnely. I was beginning to thing that ski season might actually be coming to a close. But, there were a few more things I still wanted to do. One of them was Ruby……
Ruby
I’d hoped to sneak in a run on the south side of Ruby before the season ended. But, as we drove past Irwin and gazed upon Ruby itself, it became immediately clear that we weren’t going to be skiing the south side. Okay, north side it is!
Glacier lilies – always a sign that ski season is coming to an end. Also, as I recently found out, glacier lilies are edible, and fairly sweet!
Green lake was still partially frozen, but littered with dirt. This is likely a result of the huge avalanche that naturally released earlier in the spring.
At the top of Ruby, we gazed back upon Owen. The crown from the old avalanche was very obvious.
Looking west, we looked into summer. Marcellina & the Raggeds.
We only had a small strip of snow to work with for the first couple hundred feet. We made the most of it 😉 Jenny.
But, then it opened up, and the snow was pretty good!
Me.
We kept going down to Green Lake. Jenny.
Me.
Jenny, on the lower pitch.
Jenny with Copley Lake in the distance.
When the snow ran out, we paused to enjoy the nearby waterfall as is cascaded over a cliff band.
Then, we walked a little ways back to our car. It was hot. So dang hot, that Jenny decided to jump in for a little swim at Irwin Lake before we headed back to town.
“I guess it’s time for summer,” I said to Jenny. “But, we gotta do one last ski first…. 🙂 ” Stay tuned for more!
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