I would say that yesterday was the best day of the season so far…powder-wise. The avy report said 5″ this morning. I’d sat about a foot by noon. Though it rained for a bit in town yesterday, it seemed as though it was all snow in the mountains. We still need more snow, but at least the lower faces are starting to fill-in.
I got a sort of late start (for me) and didn’t get on the Death Canyon trail until almost 10. There were five cars in the lot when I arrived…a busy day for mid-week, and considering the new snow and increased avy danger. Well, at least I wouldn’t have to break trail…for the time being.
I was psyched to be out on my 190cm Black Diamond Verdicts yesterday. I have been holding out on using these skis until we got some more snow. Last year I had some Fritschies mounted on these skis, and being a Dynafit snob, I didn’t dare do much skinning with them. So they were more or less my Village and hiking Glory setup. But this season I have a pair of Dynafit Comfort bindings on them, giving me the ability to use them on deep powder days in the Park…like today!
I followed the trail past the Maverick cut-off and finally caught up to a group making there way uphill just above the meadow at the bottom of Wimpys. It turned out to be Johnny Waters and a group of skiers from Colorado. I volunteered to break trail and did so the rest of the way to the top. The snow was a bit heavy and wet down low, and it collected on the top of my skis…making them a bit heavier. As we got higher though, the snow got colder and my skis felt as light as ever.
We heard a few whumps down low, but the snow seemed to be bonded better up high. Playing it safe, I kept the track as close to the trees as I could. We had a snack on top and Dennis pulled out some PBR’s. I choose to pass (as I don’t like to mix drinking and skiing), but it was great to see the boys keeping it real.
My Verdicts floated me down the mountain and the skiing was great, but the visibility could have been a bit better (sorry I don’t have any skiing photos). Looks like we are in the zone for the next few days with continued snowfall, so chances are I’ll be putting in some more time up here this week. Maybe I’ll go for a 10,000 ft day soon.