(Originally posted on Alpinezone.com)
Saturday was the perfect day to hit Tux: warm, sunny and bluebird, minimal wind. No crowds and, most importantly, no blackflies.
When I got into the Bowl, it seemed that, aside from the waterfall and crevasses in the center Headwall and the Lip, the snow cover looked good albeit low for this time of year. I figured Right Gully and Chute were skiable. There were some brown stains on Chute from some rocks up high down to the chokepoint. Some people were heading up the Chute but most of the activity was on Left Gully. It was pretty uncrowded though. I was alone on the bootpack most of the time and the whole time I was there, there were probably less than 15 skiers who went down LG.
The late afternoon sun made for perfect corn and that was a joy to ski. I cut over to the middle of the Bowl and booted up the Chute for another run. I got to the ledge just under the choke and put on skis there. I was getting late in the afternoon and I noticed I was the only one in the Bowl. Perfect. This is the way it should be. I skied creamy corn snow all the way to where the snow disappeared. The hike out was uneventful except for a Cinco de Mayo party on at the HoJo's deck. Got back to Pinkham after 7 and left there just as the supermoon was rising. Gorgeous. Tried to take photos but the phone will not do it justice.
Hillman's Highway getting bony:
The Bowl from the rescue cache: Left Gully and Chute looking very skiable. Right Gully obscured but with good cover.
Heading up Left Gully:
Looking into Tux from the top of LG:
The Rockpile:
Getting ready to head down Left Gully:
Mid-run looking down in Left Gully:
Looking up Chute:
Tux at the end of the day:
Tux - Left Gully - 5/5/2012
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