riverc0il
New member
my first day of may skiing ever 
bringing me up to 34 days for the season, one shy of what i was hoping for six :!: months ago.
i musta weighed in around just under 50 pounds in the AM. i didn't have the heart to weigh it in the AM, but weighed in around 42 lbs at the end of the day sans 3 liters of water, lots of food, my hat, my gloves, ski pants, and a fleece that were packed in the AM. hiked up through the long switch backs before seeing some snow around the 1/3 point. after the second time seeing a long stretch of snow, i got the skins out and went for it. not a bad decision, i only had to take the skis off about a half dozen times but had a few areas i barely managed to navigate that won't be passable next weekend. was glad i didn't have to lug the gear up the entire way, i figured more of the TRT would be bare by now.
at hojos, it was decision time. i was set on going into the bowl, but then the rain came. not a heavy rain, mostly a mist but occasionally a sprinkle. ski patrol was advising to stay to the left gullies in the bowl. with the questionable weather, i opted for hillmans as it allowed for the quickest descent without need of hiking. if weather turned foul, an easy ski out could be had onto the sure burn without hiking. it was a good plan.
from the bridge, hillmans was still covered in snow with exception of a small open stream near the bottom which required some careful foot placement and a lot of luck to cross high and dry. i managed on the ascent but ended up with a submerged boot on the way down, but no leaks thankfully!
the climb up hillmans was a lot easier for me this time around. i think the combination of not having skied the day before and better steps kicked into the boot ladder both helped. i noticed when i got tired, i had the tendancy to try to climb faster which was ironic and amusing, despite the implications. got nearly to the top when the steps got a lot smaller. my legs weren't feeling the extra effort of double kicking in each step, so i bailed just shy of the top. the weather was starting to turn foul with more wind and rain, so just as well.
epic turns were had! much verbal praise was exclaimed. visibility was about 20-30 feet and the goggles had a lot of liquid on them which made seeing kinda hard. i just let those skis rip (man, do i love the inspired bigs!). about 1/4 the way up hillmans, there is an open spot with running water where the trail pinches down quite a bit. the pinch caused some bumps to form which i couldn't see until i hit them causing a pretty sucky fall in which i took a pole to the neck around the wind pipe. that sucked. other than that, i was all
the sure burn was just about everything the advisory described it as. however, it certainly had it's high points! ski patrol was saying it might not be worth rebooting up for those coming down from the bowl, but it definitely was! a couple of spots closed down to a ski width wide and there was on 100 foot walk, but when it was good, it was damn good! nice soft small bumps, i milked everyone like it might be my last bump of the year. had to hoof it over to TRT and walk down from 1/3 down.
to the two park rats that decided to ski down TRT, learn some respect! i was so :x at seeing those two punks skiing down the TRT. normally when i see people actting badly, i just :roll: and say what ever. before i even could think about it, i was yelling "There's no skiing on this trail!" they promptly pointed their skis down the trail and took off. :evil: what a complete and total lack of respect. and ignorance is no excuse in this case. if you haven't read up enough to know there's no skiing down TRT, you probably shouldn't be heading up there any ways. there's a sign there any ways. buncha young punks trying to prove something i guess. if i had my rock skis, i could have hacked my way down that stuff too, but it's dangerous to the hikers and goes against ~70 years of tradition and regulation.
any ways, epic day desipte the crappy weather. sure enough, when i got down to pinkham, the skies cleared to bright sunny skies with more blue than clouds, could even see the ravine :lol:
bringing me up to 34 days for the season, one shy of what i was hoping for six :!: months ago.i musta weighed in around just under 50 pounds in the AM. i didn't have the heart to weigh it in the AM, but weighed in around 42 lbs at the end of the day sans 3 liters of water, lots of food, my hat, my gloves, ski pants, and a fleece that were packed in the AM. hiked up through the long switch backs before seeing some snow around the 1/3 point. after the second time seeing a long stretch of snow, i got the skins out and went for it. not a bad decision, i only had to take the skis off about a half dozen times but had a few areas i barely managed to navigate that won't be passable next weekend. was glad i didn't have to lug the gear up the entire way, i figured more of the TRT would be bare by now.
at hojos, it was decision time. i was set on going into the bowl, but then the rain came. not a heavy rain, mostly a mist but occasionally a sprinkle. ski patrol was advising to stay to the left gullies in the bowl. with the questionable weather, i opted for hillmans as it allowed for the quickest descent without need of hiking. if weather turned foul, an easy ski out could be had onto the sure burn without hiking. it was a good plan.
from the bridge, hillmans was still covered in snow with exception of a small open stream near the bottom which required some careful foot placement and a lot of luck to cross high and dry. i managed on the ascent but ended up with a submerged boot on the way down, but no leaks thankfully!
the climb up hillmans was a lot easier for me this time around. i think the combination of not having skied the day before and better steps kicked into the boot ladder both helped. i noticed when i got tired, i had the tendancy to try to climb faster which was ironic and amusing, despite the implications. got nearly to the top when the steps got a lot smaller. my legs weren't feeling the extra effort of double kicking in each step, so i bailed just shy of the top. the weather was starting to turn foul with more wind and rain, so just as well.
epic turns were had! much verbal praise was exclaimed. visibility was about 20-30 feet and the goggles had a lot of liquid on them which made seeing kinda hard. i just let those skis rip (man, do i love the inspired bigs!). about 1/4 the way up hillmans, there is an open spot with running water where the trail pinches down quite a bit. the pinch caused some bumps to form which i couldn't see until i hit them causing a pretty sucky fall in which i took a pole to the neck around the wind pipe. that sucked. other than that, i was all
the sure burn was just about everything the advisory described it as. however, it certainly had it's high points! ski patrol was saying it might not be worth rebooting up for those coming down from the bowl, but it definitely was! a couple of spots closed down to a ski width wide and there was on 100 foot walk, but when it was good, it was damn good! nice soft small bumps, i milked everyone like it might be my last bump of the year. had to hoof it over to TRT and walk down from 1/3 down.
to the two park rats that decided to ski down TRT, learn some respect! i was so :x at seeing those two punks skiing down the TRT. normally when i see people actting badly, i just :roll: and say what ever. before i even could think about it, i was yelling "There's no skiing on this trail!" they promptly pointed their skis down the trail and took off. :evil: what a complete and total lack of respect. and ignorance is no excuse in this case. if you haven't read up enough to know there's no skiing down TRT, you probably shouldn't be heading up there any ways. there's a sign there any ways. buncha young punks trying to prove something i guess. if i had my rock skis, i could have hacked my way down that stuff too, but it's dangerous to the hikers and goes against ~70 years of tradition and regulation.
any ways, epic day desipte the crappy weather. sure enough, when i got down to pinkham, the skies cleared to bright sunny skies with more blue than clouds, could even see the ravine :lol:
