Another Rugged Day on the Mountain

 

Stuey and I went for another ski on Tuesday afternoon.  It was sunny all morning and I was hopeful we'd catch some sunshine.  But then it got cloudy as we drove to the mountain.  Still there was no wind and the snow was pretty good.  It was just that the light was a little flat.

Stuey learned about holes, drifts and cornices and how when the light is flat you can't see them very well.  So we skied slowly to avoid running into something, and enjoyed the evening.  The sunset light got really pink despite the high overcast.  

Patrick

Stuey's first ski of the season

On Sunday Stuey went for the first ski of his ski season.  We got some more new snow Saturday night and it was supposed to get sunny.  So I had high hopes.  But we ended up in a whiteout - oh well.  At least the skiing itself was not too bad.  Stuey even said that he liked the snow conditions for skiing - a couple of inches of new snow on a softish crust.

Right now at my house it is clear and frosty.  So that means it'll be rock hard and crusty on the mountain.  It is supposed to be sunny too.  But today I have tempered enthusiasm.  I got a feeling the ski conditions will not be all that good.  But the visibility and views ought to be awesome!

Patrick

 

November Corn Snow

 

It did not freeze hard after Friday's warm storm.  So when Nora and I went up Pyramid on Saturday we found sun-warmed corn snow instead of ice.  This is not totally true.  On the slopes that faced away from the sun it was all icy with ruts, but in the south bowl that faces the sun it was sublime corn snow.   The ski conditions felt more like late May than early November.

It was Nora's first ski of the year.  Ordinarily on the first ski the conditions tend to be a tad brutal.  There is never enough of a base, brush and rocks exposed everywhere, and usually ice.  But this was not true of Nora's first ski this year.  

We skinned up to the top and dropped into the south bowl.  It was sunny and slightly pink from the setting sun.  Far below the valley floor was already in shadow.  Skiing down it felt like one was skiing into the evening. Then down at the road we could look back up and see the sun hitting the snow on high and all the mountains painted pink.

Patrick

Big Tide

 

This is the mouth of the Buskin - Flooded!

Friday afternoon it was supposed to rain - it certainly rained hard in the morning - but the sun came out.  Nora and I caught the sun at Buskin Beach with the dogs.  I was shocked on our arrival with the state of the tide.  It was higher than I have ever seen it there, and the big waves from the recent storm were crashing in almost to the parking lot.  Where there is normally a thin strip of beach along the river bank that leads to the big beach it was all water.  We had to walk up in the grass and bushes to get to the beach.

On the big beach the crashing waves were pretty spectacular.  And then to avoid the crashing waves at the river mouth we opted for an inland route.  We hiked up to the Buskin Beach house and took theroad back to the car.

Patrick

No where to walk getting to the beach

This one is actually from Thursday before the warm storm

November Powder

 

These pictures are all from Wednesday and Thursday when we had a mid week powder dump.  It rained hard in town, but we got powder on high.

On Wednesday the snow was pretty wet and slow. So come Thursday, after the snow stopped and it froze, I was expecting crusty conditions on high.  Usually the best time to ski is during the storm when it is still warm and the snow has not turned to ice.  But not so this time.  It must have continued to snow after I quit on Wednesday and sort of created a few inches of snow on a soft crust.  If you bounced you could go way down into the snow.

However, it was not good everywhere on the mountain.  Below 1000 feet it was a crusty mess, and the good skiing was only in places that had been sheltered from the wind.  The South Bowl and Jibber were excellent, but everywhere else was windblown and variable.

On the drive back I loved looking back up into the south bowl and seeing my tracks lit up on high in the evening light.

Patrick

Short Walks

 

Still taking the new puppy Red on lots of short hikes.  She is a quick learner and her big brother Bodi has been a good teacher.  She is now completely potty trained - no mistakes in almost 2 weeks!  I still have her sleeping in her crate at night and on occasion I hear whining - I let her out and she rushes outside to go to the bathroom.  Then she comes back inside and goes right back into her crate.  Late in the evening she often even goes in there before it is bedtime.

On hikes she follows Bodi around and I can tell she already knows the 'pee' language at the park.  I see her intently sniffing everything.  Her and Bodi also rough house and play chase all the time.  And then I see them relax side by side in the back yard each gnawing on his/her own deer bone.

When I leave them in the house alone, I still crate Red up and I leave them both in my bedroom.  I could probably leave them both out but I fear Red might go on a house chewing craze.  So I am still crating her up when I leave the house.  But she seems to like the crate and I think both Bodi and her do not mind the down time.

Patrick