The great start to the winter was continuing, and Dan and I were up for some Saturday turns at the Pass. As it turns out, Saturday was the first day EPA would turn for the season as well. Neither of us were on patrol for the day, but ended up helping P3 get the hill open as none of the gear had been deployed to the top of the mountain yet.
After an epic run down Timburr, we hauled tower pads and sleds for a couple of runs before setting off to Peak 2 with Brian and Toby to check out the snow. I snapped a couple pictures at the top before we heard Peak 2 wouldn’t be opening for the day and thus no need for us to do an avy route…
Bummed that Peak 2 wouldn’t be opening, we dropped into SDN and found some good snow up high. I captured a couple photos of Brian and Toby slashing through the fresh snow…
After a couple of lift-assisted runs, Dan and I headed out to one of our side-country stashes to find some more fresh pow. John was already ahead of us, and had dug a pit by the time we skinned out to him. The stability was looking good, so we dropped in for a sweet run through the glades. The snow was deep, and the face shots plenty, and all three of us were stoked at the bottom. A quick skin brought us back to the top, and it was time for a tasty cold IPA from Caldera Brewing Company…
We dropped in for two more runs, each one as good as the first. Dan grabbed the camera from me on the second run and captured me in a couple powder slashes in the cold smoke…
After our third lap, we headed back to the area for another run before I had a 2:00 pm appointment for leading the make-up chair evac session. Overall it was a pretty sweet early December day, one of the best in recent memory. Here’s to hoping it happens again soon! A couple of parting shots of Dan are below….
