Meadow Skipping and Tree Threading

In the interests of staying alive, we are -- have had to -- dial it down more than a notch or two in the backcountry. Spooky cracks are everywhere. This one just on a very low angle slope, not going anywhere, but with a few more degrees.....

Whumpfing snow and racing heart beats are drowning out the distant memories of over the head, blower pow on steep faces and open bowls that we would expect to be enjoying at this time of year. Today the reality is something quite different. We are keeping it mellow. Meadow skipping and tree threading is the name of the game in our neck of the woods. As demonstrated by Pete Harris:

Going slow and taking in the surroundings also makes me really appreciate just being out, and alive, to be able to enjoy it.

Chad skins beneath the snow snake hanging in the tree:

Threading the trees again:

It's different, but still fun. I guess we are going to have to get used to it as our sketch snowpack is here to stay.

X-Tour

Still training for the Power of Four skimountaineering race coming up in just over a months time, I decided to combine a tour of two of the four mountains in the race with a visit to the X Games. I parked at Tiehack, the east lift of Buttermilk down which we will come during the race, leaving at 7 a.m. and in a nippy 4F. From there I practiced my skating with big skis and hiking-in-ski-boots-technique for a quarter mile over to Highlands. My theory, by the way, for right now at least, is the heavier equipment I use the fitter I will become, though during the race I will need much lighter gear. This I have yet to acquire, most likely through the beg, borrow or borrow method, though I am willing to entertain sponsorship should anyone be interested..... my big selling point is that I will be going so slow and therefore on the course longer than most anyone else and therefore your company/product will receive much greater exposure. Please leave a comment below with your contact information. Thanks.

The climb up Highlands is a long one though cut short on this day due to the bowl being closed. Although it would open a few hours later I didn't have time to wait so I did a few laps on the Temerity lift, finding plenty of knee deep powder stashes in the trees, before getting back on task and tour.

From the summit of Buttermilk the view up the Maroon Creek Valley is always spectacular. Highlands seems a long way from here too - no doubt it will feel as far as the moon during the race. A ski down to West Buttermilk, back up again, lunch at the Cliffhouse and finally down to the seething mass of humanity otherwise known as the X Games. I later read that Saturday was the day of highest attendance - 45,000 people showed up though not all in the afternoon. Still there were pleny of peeps there:

There were huge lines to get into stand at the edge of the superpipe but I could still see them fly up and over the edge - and watch on the big screen TV.

The big air jumps were more than impressive:

If I ever went off of one of these things (undoubtedly by mistake) there would surely be a brown streak in the snow behind me.

Yeah, that's me gapering ^^^

After the culmination of the Men's Skiing Superpipe Finals where local Torin Yater-Wallace took bronze with much delight from the crowd, I headed back to Tiehack. Or so I had planned. X Games security would not let me travel on foot, uphill, cross hill or even down hill without getting on a bus. Sooo not my scene. I hopped a fence, hid behind a few snowmobile trailers and then ran, hunkered down, into the trees to find the Owl Creek X-Country trail.

Ahhhh. Much quieter and more peaceful here.

Not quite the right equipment but I made it back eventually.

A great way to combine 6 hours of skinning and climbing with X Games gapering. And as always a good reason to go straight to the bar for a few brewskis where I have to say I saw more of the X Games on TV than in person.

Postcard from the Arctic Circle

"The view from my office on some back of beyond island where my arrival has doubled the population. Could do with some heating.  -12 with a wind chill of -25 today.  Not much fun stuck in the Arctic circle with only 3 hrs day light. Not managed to see the northern lights yet. There is a storm on its way in so it's cloudy at night but I'll see if I can get a photo."

No, I'm not in the Arctic Circle. If it were me I would be planning on skiing those peaks. My family travel alot for both work and pleasure as well as living in different and diverse places around the world. In fact, last October, all four of us siblings were each on a different continent at the same time - the Americas, Australasia, Africa and Europe -instead of the usual three we spread ourselves between. I recently received an electronic 'postcard' from my youngest brother who is on a work project in the far north of Norway. Since I enjoy hearing about all these far flug and different places I thought I'd share. I'm hoping he will get a photo of the Northern Lights and I'll get to share that too.

Looking Alot Like Winter

Finally! The pattern of dry weather has moved away and we are starting to get a few storms rolling our way. Last week Aspen/Snowmass received two dumpages of over a foot each one of which was a Saturday night - perfect for us weekend warriors. With the backcountry super sketch right now skiing inbounds has been the ticket. Even then some of the steeps were slow to open on account of the avalanche danger but we were happy enough with all the fresh powder, scouting out our low angle stashes and having reason to let the big skis run. Here I am late in the afternoon and still finding plenty of fresh tracks (pic by Sarah Allen):

Laissez le bon temps roulez!

Evening Schuss

After watching the snow fall all day from behind a pane of glass, I decided to head up the trail behind the house as soon as I could. It was a snowy, blustery evening and I didn't go too far as the visibility was barely beyond the tips of my skinny skis. But I was out long enough to feel the snowflakes clump on my eyelashes, the wind pelt ice into my cheeks and to take in the views of the valley from up above. 

And best of all - a fun little schuss back down towards town, my up track already filled in.

Tomorrow will be another powder day!