First Day of the 05/06 Season

My first day on skis this season was yesterday, Sunday, November 27th. The conditions were nothing short of sublime. Due to it being Sunday, and that the snow report boasted a 14” total at mid-mountain and 18” at the summit, the crowd was quite large for the limited amount of terrain and operating lifts.

Emerging from the gondola building it was obvious that my expectations were well below reality. I was expecting some dusty, windblown slabs on top of well-packed man-made snow. Instead I found thigh-deep, feather light snow as I careened down Norther on my way to Four Points lift. The snow billowed around my waist. Yes, I’m describing my first day of skiing for the 05/06 season on November 27th.

From the lift Joey and I watched a ski patroller blaze fresh tracks down Tornado. Was it open, or was he just testing the goods for our safety? We notice more deeply grooved tracks under the lift on Nelson’s Run and next door on Twister. At this point we knew vast amounts of terrain would be open today. We bee-lined to Hurricane and were rewarded with face-shots on every turn.

We got onto Storm Peak Express…to the top. From the lift we scanned the tree line, hoping that the rope had been dropped on Closets/Shadows. Indeed it was, but we were not the first to realize this. Bouncing through the trees of Closets was beautiful, but it had some tracks. Although I found several turns in the trees where the snow flowed over my head I was jealous that I wasn’t the first to devour this prime stash. I resolved to go further to the right next time, accessing Sundown Lift Line, maybe even Three O-Clock.

Sean met us in the lift line and we discussed our plan. Off of the lift we went straight over to Three O-Clock. I took the line in the trees between Three O-Clock and Priest Creek Lift Line. Everyone else who had come over this far had taken the wide-open run. No one had been in these trees. The path before me was unbroken, virgin snow. It was up to my waist standing still. As I started to move it would bunch up in front of me hindering my movement. I had to go straight for about 20 yards before I had enough speed to make turns. When I got up to speed the snow flowed over my head. It was bottomless. Turn after turn snow filled my mouth. It tasted sterile, kind of metallic as it clogged my throat preventing my need to breath. Left, right; down, up; submerge, emerge; breath, choke. It continued like that for two more runs until my legs gave out.

I have to work today, but tomorrow I will be skiing again for my second day this season.