Chromer
New member
So I'm lying in bed Friday night trying to sleep. It's close to 90 degrees, I'm sweating and I'm thinking to myself "I can't believe I'm going skiing tomorrow. In August. In the east..." Sure, we knew the snow would suck. That it would be suncupped, undermined, prone to collapse and have a runout that could charitably be described as "bony." So what? It's turns man! August turns!
Saturday morning JM, his girlfriend, and myself headed up the trail. Many people looked at the skis on our backs and gave us strange looks, but very few people made comments in our hearing. The snow came into view at the Connection Cache.
The snow came into view at the Connection Cache
Okay, so it wasn't much. Once we reached the patch, we took a few minutes to check out the general stability of the patch and plan our descent. Skiers right was a 10-15 foot drop onto rocks. Fortunately the patch was tilted to the left which had a much more forgiving 2-4' drop. JM went to work cutting a step at the top of the slab to access the goods.
cutting steps
JM went first. The first turns looked really sketchy due to some rather solid suncups.
solid suncups
He decided to sidestep back up rather than removing his skis, in order to cut up the surface into something a little more forgivable.
sidestep grooming
The skiing was still unforgiving on his second "run." By this time we had attracted a fair sized crowd, and keeping the required focus was difficult.
JM's second run
Then it was my turn. The view down the patch of snow was more than a little imposing to someone who hadn't been on skis for three months. I tried to keep a good tele form.
trying to keep good form
This degenerated to parallel rapidly...
degeneration
And then to a sprawling self-arrest...
self-arrest
JM took another couple runs, finishing up with a triple-twisting dismount onto the rocks. Full marks for style.
stylish dismount on the rocks
We finished up the hike by tagging the summit, getting caught in a hail storm on the Alpine Garden trail, and going on a Leprechaun hunt on the Lion Head trail.
on the summit
Leprechaun hunt
All-in-all, it wasn't a bad experience. The patch is going to collapse into two pieces in the next few days, but the larger piece should last for a while longer, it is probably 10 to 15 feet thick at its deepest point.
Saturday morning JM, his girlfriend, and myself headed up the trail. Many people looked at the skis on our backs and gave us strange looks, but very few people made comments in our hearing. The snow came into view at the Connection Cache.
The snow came into view at the Connection Cache
Okay, so it wasn't much. Once we reached the patch, we took a few minutes to check out the general stability of the patch and plan our descent. Skiers right was a 10-15 foot drop onto rocks. Fortunately the patch was tilted to the left which had a much more forgiving 2-4' drop. JM went to work cutting a step at the top of the slab to access the goods.
cutting steps
JM went first. The first turns looked really sketchy due to some rather solid suncups.
solid suncups
He decided to sidestep back up rather than removing his skis, in order to cut up the surface into something a little more forgivable.
sidestep grooming
The skiing was still unforgiving on his second "run." By this time we had attracted a fair sized crowd, and keeping the required focus was difficult.
JM's second run
Then it was my turn. The view down the patch of snow was more than a little imposing to someone who hadn't been on skis for three months. I tried to keep a good tele form.
trying to keep good form
This degenerated to parallel rapidly...
degeneration
And then to a sprawling self-arrest...
self-arrest
JM took another couple runs, finishing up with a triple-twisting dismount onto the rocks. Full marks for style.
stylish dismount on the rocks
We finished up the hike by tagging the summit, getting caught in a hail storm on the Alpine Garden trail, and going on a Leprechaun hunt on the Lion Head trail.
on the summit
Leprechaun hunt
All-in-all, it wasn't a bad experience. The patch is going to collapse into two pieces in the next few days, but the larger piece should last for a while longer, it is probably 10 to 15 feet thick at its deepest point.