Mitch, Nick and I skied one of the Rae Wallace chutes on sunday. Conditions were prime, if a bit crusty. I think we hit it a bit early in the day, but after Saturday’s heat wave ski session in thigh deep mush, we opted to take our chances. It stayed a bit cooler and we found some dust on a rippable crust, with good snow below it. I think one more hour would have cooked the snow pack to perfection.
The Perch
The skin track up Marmot is hanus. Snowmachines, bootpacks, lack of snow and ice crust made the climb a goat rope if I’ve ever seen one. We made it though, and were pleasantly rewarded with untracked, steep goodness.
Into the darkness
Ed approaches the crux (if it could be called that)
Nick gettin Styleee
Powder Turns on the Apron
Mitch takes the plunge
Check that off the list. Thanks for the ride Hatch!
South facing aspects are pretty stripped of snow, especially in the high alpine. Besides the thin snowpack, the sun and warm temps have turns southern aspects into death crusts, and god forbid you have to cross a track on the way down. Springtime snowpack rules are in full effect, and if you can avoid it, try staying off the heated slopes in the late afternoon (saves the corn for the season). If not, well then shred, we are all guilty of creating canoe tracks at some point. I’ve been updating pretty lazily this past 2 weeks…if you need constant inspiration, check out the dongshow blog. Those guys have been getting after it.
It’s 16.3 F and snowing lightly up high right now, yet still sort of clear. Spring light is messing with my brains. We’ll see what comes of this precip, as it has been snowing on and off in the mountains all day but still no registered accumulation at Indy. Have fun and watch the southern death crust!
Hatcher Sucks…don’t ski here.
