Gettin' there....

November 11. Being as I had veteran's day off (much, much, much needed) I decided to head up to Loveland for some early morning turns. Being that I had already spent 7 days on the WROD (white ribbon of death typically found early season) I decided to throw my AT setup in the back of the car as well as I had heard rumors that an area near Jones Pass might be about ready to ski. Either way I wanted to check it out myself as well as hopefully get some exercise and get skinnin'. Met up early morning in the parking lot of Loveland with Doug and Emilie (two telemarkers that I ski with-they seem to accept the fact that I like to have my heels fixed). We were greeted by a delightful sight, the entire valley was socked in by the remains of last nights storm, and the flakes were a flyin'. Spent the AM skiing with them, on surprisingly soft snow, which was a delightful surprise compared to what Sunday's snow had been. Around 1 or so, they decided to take off (Doug petty cabs so he needed a nap before he could start haulin' people around on his tri-cycle) and I decided that I was tired of the same two runs, and that I should head off on my exploratory mission up Jones Pass. A short drive later, I was greeted by another socked in by snow valley (yay!) and an empty parking lot except for one snowmobiler dealing with an overheated sled. Brief conversation later confirmed we had some friends in common and I started my skin up Jones. It was pretty thin coverage for the beginning on the road (enough snow to move on though!), but the snowpack started to deepen dramatically as the road started to switchback up a south facing aspect. The climb felt good, really really good. A little guy that greeted me by running across my skin track
There's a solace and soulfulness that I really believe can only be found through moving under your own power through a wilderness area far, far away from human contact. Usually, I prefer to have a friend or two with, but for this first trip inaugurating the season, it felt good to find myself moving up a windswept ridge past treeline by myself. Once I gained treeline I poked around for a while in the snowpack finding variable depth (thinner on south facing aspects-deeper on others) and lots of windloading that had occured. I found a couple of deeper pockets along with a couple of suspiciously forming slabs, good information to have gathered. Being as I was by myself I picked a mellow meadow to practice my meadow skippin' in and then skied back down the road all the way to my car and only managed to hit a few rocks. Awesome first trip! Unfortunatly, the light was super bizarre and I need to remember to bring my hood with me next time, or lower my shutter size, so only a few pics came out. Headed back down the hill to be greeted by a mid fall day in Denver and an old friend on his way out to California. Now all I need is about 2' more of powder to get to the serious tree skiing...
On the stereo: "Caribbean Wind"-Bob Dylan