Jay Silveira
New member
The Monday holiday gave E and I a rare chance to get out together for some lift-served skiing. My goal was to give her a tour of the awesome terrain that drops off Saddle Mountain into Elk Basin, but unfortunately Chair 4 was on wind hold. Since Chair 4 closes so early due to the need to sweep all the Saddle Mountain terrain, a wind hold is usually a death sentence for any plans to get on the chair that day. Since it had been a dry week with only an inch or so of new snow for the weekend, we knew the best thing to do was head off the beaten path for powder. The north facing terrain of the Bear Claw Ridge was my pick. It was likely to be untouched by sun or wind, and since it required a few minutes of hiking, it was likely untouched by skiers as well. <BR> <BR>Technically, the top of the ridge is closed for some reason (I think this is mainly to deter novice skiers coming down the Oreo trail and heading out onto the ridge with nowhere to go but trees and cornices). Still, to at least have a semblance of respect for the rope, we took our first run by dropping below the rope on the north side. Unlike the trails, which were getting rather packed by skier traffic and no new snow, we found plenty of powder in the north-facing trees. I’d say we hit a good 6-8 inches over a basically undefined base. I pointed across Elk Basin to show E some of the terrain I wanted her to see first hand, steep snowfields and open trees on the south facing slope. Even though she didn’t get the tour I had planned, we were getting much better snow that we would have over there. We skied the powder in the trees for a while, seeing few other tracks. Finally, when we hit the flat areas of Chair 3, we traversed up a bit to hit Main and Side Streets. I was worried about the snow in the open areas between these trails because it had a bit of southeast exposure, but it turned out to be powder as well. All in all we’d had a great powder run on what was certainly not an official powder day. <BR> <BR>There was no reason to ski anywhere else when we basically had the ridge to ourselves, so on the second run, I decided to risk a trip down the south side of the ridge to show E the new chair that was going in for next year, Chair 5. As we traversed in the trees across the south side of the ridge, we found that the snow had been blasted by wind and sun. It was a horrible crusty mess, but I was hoping our run of choice, which again faced somewhat southeast, would yield good snow. After taking a look at the lift tower setup, we jumped onto the Lynx trail, hugging the skier’s right side to maximize protection from the sun and wind. The pitch was steep, and the snow was awesome. E led the way as we charged down through the powder, hopping off various bumps in the snow. It was a wild ride that was more steep and powdery than I would ever have expected. This run also set us up for a quick trip back to the Boomer Lift, allowing us to skip the ride on Chair 3 and shortening our next lap. <BR> <BR>Next, it was back to the north side of the Bear Claw Ridge. I was interested in hitting one of the big snowfields below, and hopefully catching some of the steep terrain that dropped into it. Looking around, I found an irresistible little cornice that I just had to jump. The landing zone was tight, but it looked like just enough space to land with a hip check in the powder. The jump went well, although the snow was not nearly as soft as I’d hoped. I followed through the rest of the chute and down into the snowfield, where the snow was that well-preserved powder we’d experience earlier. E then handed the camera off to me and I got down below the snowfield to get her in action. I managed a couple of good shots, although we both laughed at how many shots we both took with no skier in them. Shooting high speed action stills is quite different that shooting video, and we’re both still getting used to the timing. However, each of us managed a few good pictures, so for once I’ve got some action shots instead of the scenery shots I’ve had to go with when I’ve been by myself. Pictures can be found at the following address: <BR> <BR><A HREF="http://www.JandEproductions.com/2004/16FEB04.html" TARGET="_top">http://www.JandEproductions.com/2004/16FEB04.html</A> <BR> <BR>J.Spin