First Day of the Ski Season!

I never would have believed that I would be skiing beautiful powder 4 hours after we parked on dry pavement at Sunburst Parking lot. The snow line was 1200 feet above the car. But I suspended disbelief and walked up the tundra in my ski boots.

 

We skinned below Sunburst and went up Taylor Pass at the end of the ridge. The snow just got better the farther up we went.

 

Pastoral peak was beautiful, plenty of snow up top.

 

The best snow of the day started about 500 feet below the summit and continued to be creamy smooth all the way back to Taylor pass. Our tracks are in the sun behind Ryan, and Pastoral Peak is directly behind him.

 

This was probably the best day of early season skiing I have ever had, despite the initial approach. Skiing powder under blue skies is unbelievably fun.

Spreading Buttercream in Turnagain Pass

The Sunny side of Turnagain pass may allow snow machines, but I really had no problem overlooking the noise and smell for the feeling of direct sunlight. A line of people were making their way up Sunburst in the shade, and I just wanted no part of that. So Ry and I took off across the shady valley up to the sun where there was already a skin track.

Ryan and I

 

 

This line skied so well!!! It was perfect soft snow, such a beautiful feeling.

The Bonus Run

 

 

The front of Sunny side also skied really well, a thoroughly amazing day out.

Sunburst, Turnagain Pass

Beautiful day out with light fluffy powder and a rock hard base.

 

 

 

 

A Dreamy Day Floating: Sunburst

Almost all I have to say about this day is that if I could ski powder like that every day I might never climb again...wow that felt blasphemous to type...but it was SO good!

Leaving the Car!

 

The light at the beginning of the day was slightly flat, but by the last run it was fantastic...unfortunately bad pics do no justice....

Creamy, Beautiful Powder Turns

 

Ry and Josh in Turnagain Pass

 

Ry Skinning up Sunburst

 

If I didn't dislike skiing in the dark so much it probably would have been a lot harder to leave...four amazing runs, each better than the preceding one until I got the last run in the widest, best light, open section, of brilliant powder...I wish I could color my words with the enthusiam I feel just remembering the day....

Cornbiscuit Turnagain Pass

Turnagain Pass is awesome right now!

Skinning Up




Pretty Powder Filled Mountains



Ryan Skinning Up



The days are short right now, we left at the crack of noon, and barely managed 2 runs before dark.

Little Foo

Turnagain Pass

Back in Anchorage it was still dumping snow, so it only seemed right to go skiing. As we drove down the Seward Highway to Girdwood the clouds were down to the ground and the wind was whipping the snow across the road. I questioned whether we should even go outside, much less skiing, but optimism in the car prevailed and we continued down the road.

Lynn and Doug in Front of Tin Can

 

We figured that we would just ski the trees, but the farther we went up the better the visibility got, and then the whole mountain was in a big beautiful suckerhole.

Lynn Skinning up

 

Doug and Berkely

 

Other Skiers Skinning

 

I made one run down from the top, and I think it was easily the best run of the season. It was knee to thigh deep, butter cream smooth, and the light was perfect. I twisted my ankle last week pretty good on Avalon falls, and its just not ready for skiing yet, so I took the one run and ran!

Above the Clouds on a Beautiful Sunshine Filled Day

I love going out skiing with my friend Kellie. She's a total crackup. We had a super mellow tour that only involved three runs, lots of chatting, and only being a half hour late back to the car (I had a group project to get too). We got to ski in the sun, which was absolutely glorious. The clouds parted for us on the way up, and stayed below us while we skied.

 

Kellie demonstrating her idea of the "new technical", instead of merely skiing with your poles in your hand, you step on it when you lock down your heel, so you can add some "extreme" to your ski adventure! Did I mention she is an "extreme" skier? :)

 

 

Looking up at our tracks coming down Super Bowl, it was so fun I couldn't help but sing the whole way down....I'm a bit embaressing to be out with, but it was pretty brilliant.

 

Skiing....Brrrr and Beautiful

It was above zero yesterday....barely, and with wind chill, it was definitely below zero. I have devised a method to selecting my outdoor activities based on temperatures. Below zero + climbing = hypothermic Sherrie. Below zero + skiing = cold but not hypothermic. Based on this simple calculation I can more easily decide what to do for the day. This is where past experience becomes a blessing. I have spent more than a few days shivering myself into a deep hypothermic stupor, doing the windmill, and belay dancing. Those days are over! I have a rad back country ski set up now!

Ry on Corn Bisquit with our Line down Magnum Behind him

 

Our Ski Tracks Down Magnum

 

Beautiful Mountain Lines

 

Nice Powder Turns on Corn Bisquit

 

The Sunshine Stash

What a beautiful day in the sun with great friends.

Skiing on the Sunny Side

Yeah! I finally figured out how to publish pictures with ease to blogger!


Hugh with his 1000 kilowatt smile!



















Pretty Cornices Weeping Over the Bowl













Hugh and Kellie on the edge of the lunar landscape















A highly modified photo to illuminate our lovely tracks. Kellie and Hugh are standing at the top, but they blend into the black.

Soft Velvety Snow