Sharing the stoke

 Some stoke for your enjoyment.  We need more of it here, you people!

Sweet!

More, please!!! 

It's been a great week, but I only have pictures in my mind.

I luv both of yours though!

Thanks,

JF

 lift serviced or bc?

Here's a sequence from mid-February at Kirkwood.

Edit - just noticed which forum this was in.  Oops.  Well, I still like these photos.

OMG, you guys are killing me!!!!

Sweeeeet!!! 

From early Feb.:

I love the critter tracks in the lower right corner.

Sweet!

Pix from this weekend aren't all that spectacular, but we sure had a fun spring time corn-harvesting couple of days!  Man, it's nice out there right now... 

I have been hoping to get out & do some skinning & corn harvest myself since my local lifts stopped turning on Sunday.

The avalanche forecast has been a bit scary for wet slides, with night time temps. not getting even into the 30's.  I went for my first bike ride in yesterdays 70 degree weather.  After hearing a couple of reports of people getting some good skiing early in the morning the last couple days, I decided to take a chance with no expectations this morning, after the clear night may have created a slight surface freeze even with the high temps.  Can anyone explain that?

I got an early for me start, 6:30 AM.  The sun was just hitting the peaks, & the snow on the approach trail seemed frozen enough, but after about an hour of skinning & boot packing it became apparent that my hopes for the peak would have to wait for colder temps., as I could feel the snow collapsing under the frozen surface on just about every aspect.  I continued on till about 10 O'clock & decided I had better head down before things got dangerous.

I took this shot Saturday afternoon in anticipation of gitting up there:

After the initial trail & bushwhacking the steeper stuff begins under brilliant blue skies:

Almost done climbing to some great views, Ben Lomond Peak:

Willard Peak:

This run looks way cool:

The remanants of a recent wet slide:

The valley view while getting ready to ski:

Maybe next time:

Good corn on the first pitch:

Second pitch, getting softer:

The final slope was just about gone to mank, but still skiable:

Hope things get better before it all melts!

Thanks,

JF

These photos are useless without naked skiing girls! 

4ster, nice pics!

The snow gets a solid refreeze in above freezing temps due to radiative cooling, meaning that the temp gradient in the snow is moving to the surface and escapes quickly into the clear night sky. You'll notice that under the shade of trees there was no refreeze.

I may go up early tomorrow (5ish), if you want to go. If not next week looks a little better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zion zig zag 

4ster, nice pics!

 

The snow gets a solid refreeze in above freezing temps due to radiative cooling, meaning that the temp gradient in the snow is moving to the surface and escapes quickly into the clear night sky. You'll notice that under the shade of trees there was no refreeze.

 

I may go up early tomorrow (5ish), if you want to go. If not next week looks a little better.

Thanks ZZZ, I knew it was something like that, & required clear skies.  You are right about the trees, it was just deep sugar there. 

The freeze was very thin, so you are smart to go early.  Skiing would've been prime by 9:00.  I would've turned around then, cause I new it would be too soft at the bottom if I kept going.  Luckily it lasted a little longer higher up & the ridge at the bottom was still barely supportable.  If it is clear tonight I may try James pk. tomorrow for a better choice of aspect, & a higher start point.  Doubt if I could be ready by 5:00, or keep up with you.

If you still have my #, please give me a call once you are on the trail & let me know what's going on.

If I get a few more days under my belt, I may not hold you back too badly by next week.

Thanks for the offer,

JF

 

Thanks for the stoke, 4ster!  And glad to see good decision-making, makes for much better TRs.

FWIW, we've been at the top of the climb at 9AM for prime snow on east aspects this last week... we could honestly be up there at 8 AM and it'd be soft, with enough time for a 2nd lap if so inclined.

Anything after that = manky snow and a hotter-than-Hades climb up in a convection oven.

++++++++++++++

Bud - in your dreams, buddy...  ;)  The skiing's good, you should be here...

Some bc spring corn stoke from today (4/23) in Northern New Mexico:

 NICE!

JF

WOO HOO Bob!   

I'm stoked that I unexpectedly got to ski with some old friends up in the mountains today & it was almost like powder!  At least it was grey & white on April 25th:

JF

Sweet Thing, below the Dollar Lakes in Lamoille Canyon, Ruby Mountains

Main Ambrosia, below the Dollar Lakes, Lamoille Canyon, Ruby Mountains

More of the Dollar Chutes - good for a stable day, not yesterday.

Looks like you had similar conditions to what I experienced today Mountain girl.  I always gaze at the Ruby mountains when I'm making the long trip across the great basin.  Would luv to ski there sometime.  I did hike Wheeler peak in the summer a few years ago. Have you skied there?

Here are my stoke pics from today:

On the way up.

Skin tracks.

Looking at the top.

Looking down the run.  Tons of wet slide activity from the past week.

Looking back after the first turns.

From a little further down.

& a few more:

Bowling.

More slide debris.  When the snow is saturated, it doesn't take much to get these things going.  The last week has been the most wet slide activity I have ever seen.

Over the next ridge.

The final little halfpipe gully before the trek out back to the car.

Hope we get some more days like today!  I finished up at noon, but there was still another hour or two of good skiing to be had.

JF

This is the best current thread on Epicski.   

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Lee 

This is the best current thread on Epicski.   

 

   

I agree, afterall the site isn't named "Epichelmets" is it.
 

Thanks Mountaingirl1961 for starting it.

JF

More helmet-free bc stoke from today - 4/27:

Skin stoke - Vi tops out o 12,300 ft Deception Peak

Skiing stoke - Vi rips it up in the main Nambé Chute:

Boot track stoke - loaded up ready to boot back up:

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4ster 

 

Thanks Mountaingirl1961 for starting it.

JF

You're welcome!  I couldn't believe we've gone all season on the backcountry board without sharing stoke.

Thanks you guys for feeding my addiction!

+++++++++++

Yeah, yesterday was kind of spooky... everything that faced east had slid, including some lines I've skied this year.  Lots of slide activity.  The Ambrosia Chutes, where I was skiing, are usually pretty safe but one of them had released, too.  I ended up spending most of the day in some lower-angle trees skiers right.

We're likely to be skiing Wheeler in May, after they open the road.  I'll let you know when we're planning a trip - it's a long day but a really fun one, if we can catch it when it's not windy.  Last time I was up there we aborted at about 12,000' - winds were knocking us off of our skis.  Good snow once we got off the ridge, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountaingirl1961 

 

You're welcome!  I couldn't believe we've gone all season on the backcountry board without sharing stoke.

 

Thanks you guys for feeding my addiction!

 

+++++++++++

Personally, I'm mostly a resort skier during the season, with some sidecountry & a few BC days added in.
 

Yesterday morning I had almost perfect & stable conditions.  Today is cloudy & overnight temperatures soared, much too warm.  Hopefully, the colder nights will return.

JF

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4ster 

 

Personally, I'm mostly a resort skier during the season, with some sidecountry & a few BC days added in.
 

 

Yesterday morning I had almost perfect & stable conditions.  Today is cloudy & overnight temperatures soared, much too warm.  Hopefully, the colder nights will return.

JF

Yeah, for me it's a four hour drive to SLC-area resort skiing, as opposed to a five or ten minute drive to where I start skinning.  Sort of a no-brainer.  I 'troll at a local community ski hill that the city has just north of town, so get a handful of turns I don't have to work for.  One lift, one run, 700' of vert... open on weekends from January to mid-February (or so).  Woo hoo!  But it keeps the kiddies off the street, so it's a great place to be.

ESA was the only resort skiing I got all year.  Other than that it's all been backcountry.  This has been an incredible year for it, too - after such a sketch start we've had really stable conditions, and have been skiing steeper lines that normally we have to leave until spring.

Here are a few more pics from earlier in the season:

Ruby Mountains:

Schell Range, outside of Ely.  Climbing back out of Noble Path (a REALLY great choice on a powder day)

Run called Snake, at the top of Snell Canyon, Ruby Mountains.  You can see my house below (if you look really, really close.)

Cool bristlecone at the top of Ward Mining District, outside of Ely.

Harvesting some January corn, Ward Mining District:

Powder grin, Ambrosia Chutes, Lamoille Canyon (my sweetie!)

Short Flake, Ruby Mountains:

Short Flake again.  Brad always makes it look easy.

Winter wildlife on a trip up Thomas Peak, Lamoille Canyon

Mike sets a good uptrack, Thos Peak, Lamoille Canyon

He makes some nice down tracks, too...

That looks awesome!  I suppose if I lived in Lamoille I would be pretty dedicated to BC skiing as well.  Maybe I could get a season pass with Ruby Mountain heliskiing .  Can you take snowmobiles up there?

This is my favorite from this season, sidecountry though:

JF