.... And I left without my Hat.
First off, bonus points to anyone who can name the Dylan tune I lifted the above line from (Corn replaced Food).
I almost bailed on today. Had a couple ideas in mind but after seeing the temps almost thought it could be too warm. But noticed that humidity levels would be low, there would be just a bit of breeze (understatement) to keep things cool and I could start early.
At the cog for 5:20, on the trail 5:30. Top of Airplane 6:45, first tracks at 6:53 (but who's keeping track???) As I had hoped the overnight melt had smoothed things out. Not completely in Airplane but enough so that it was hard to make out old tracks. So gotta start with some veggies, and corn was on the menu. Swooped down, easy booter back up and decided a second helping was in order. Very nice when you can "8's" your own tracks without having to guess which ones are yours
On the way back up I was looking at the skier's right variation. Decided to add some spice and hit that for run 3. Totally untracked and smooth. Getting narrow with 2 short downclimb sections (but never took the skies of, just able to side step). Totally worth the extra effort. Okay, now I'm in the mood for some Turkey but was concerned about the pinch where there was a hole last week. So I booted up and traversed over to under that section. Yes, it was passable. And for a bonus hit untracked smooth stuff in the lower section back over to Airplane and milked it down for a nearly 700 vert run 4. Okay, a side of Turkey just wasn’t gonna cut it, had to have a full helping. Back up (where I finally saw others) and over to top of Turkey. One guy beat me too it, but probably wasn’t the worst thing as his sluff added a nice little layer. Back up and chilled for awhile, talking with others that showed up. Finally got the skis back on for run 6 for the complete Airplane length. Changed back into the hikers and walked out the Jewell, which is completely free of snow.
No pics, but here’s some info:
Airplane is still easily skiing right around 900 vert. You could milk another 200-300 but it’s significantly narrower than last week and you’d be turning thru shrubbery. Booting up “wicked easy”. Had to reset the booter in a couple places on the side as things are starting to melt and I was punching thru. Upper Turkey is narrow, but pickable down. Then some real nice turns before the pinch with the hole, which has spread uphill more than I’d have liked to straightline it. Just a small amount of slideslipping, then smoothness below.
Linear Mode
