Heavy snow, small slabs, and a hunting trip

Hello all! Today is a good day for several reasons. Number one, it’s Friday, and the weekend is almost here. Number two, heavy snow is in the forecast for the Cameron Pass area for tonight and tomorrow. Number three, there is snow in the forecast every day through Tuesday for Cameron Pass. Here is a link to the National Weather Service’s point forecast for Cameron Pass. http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=40.51588721022957&lon=-105.897216796875&site=bou&smap=1&unit=0&lg=en&FcstType=text Finally, the fourth reason today is a good day is because tonight I will be heading into the mountains for my first hunting trip!

So with all this snow in the forecast, I wanted to talk a little about avalanches. One of the most common types of avalanche that you will find during the winter months here in Colorado is called a slab avalanche. these occur when snowfall is deposited in such a manner that the snow bonds together to form a slab. A slab could consist of hard, wind packed snow, or inversely it could be soft, inviting, and blower deep. Two days ago I found slab conditions on the South Diamond Peak at Cameron Pass. It was a very small slab, only a few inches deep, but nonetheless it gave me concern for a couple of reasons. The first is that even a small avalanche could knock you off your feet and take you for a scary ride. Because of this, we skied a chute where there were already tracks. While crisscrossing the other skier’s tracks, I was able to push off small sections of this slab material. The second reason this concerns me, is that with all the new snow expected to fall, this layer of snow could create a risk for bigger avalanches later in the season. While I do not have the expertise to make any real judgments about the avalanche danger, I do expect in the coming months to take a class and read more books in order to become more knowledgeable about snow science. This is important to me because being able to say no could save your life.

Skiing is back at Cameron Pass

Last Wednesday, October the thirteenth, I went skiing at Cameron Pass, Colorado. A buddy of mine wanted to go hiking on South Diamond Peak, a place which we frequent regularly. We discussed whether or not to bring our ski stuff, though he’s a snowboarder, and I decided to bring along my boots and skis (no poles or ski pants) just in case. Along with me, it was my friends Dan and Garrett, plus Dan’s Great Dane, Socks, who firmly believes that she is a lap dog sent to earth for the sole purpose loving and being loved.

We didn’t expect there to be much snow, perhaps a dusting with deeper spots similar to what we found near La Plata Peak, so Dan and Garrett brought snow skates, which are skateboards with a small ski attached to the bottom. Much to our surprise, we rounded a corner about ten miles from the pass and the mountains were covered. Absolutely drenched in snow, we were stoked about the prospect of getting in the first ski day before the rest of our friends. Of course Dan and Garrett were bummed that they didn’t have their own gear, but snow skates would provide a ride nonetheless.

Approaching the parking lot, we could see that there were six inches of freshies waiting to be trekked through. On one hand, we were sad to see that there had been others before us. On the other hand, I was excited that there was a bootpack to the top, which made the strenuous hike that much easier. Also, we could see good tracks on the face of the peak, which meant the snowpack was deep enough to be skied. The amount of snow was truly surprising, because just a few days earlier, I had been at 13,000 feet and the snowpack was considerably thinner. Granted, this was about three hours South of where we were, and it just goes to show amount of variety a storm can produce. A little less than an hour later, we were approaching the face of South Diamond Peak. From here, it would be another thirty minutes of steep climbing until we reached a spot on the face where we would be skiing and snow skating. It was clear that the skiing would be good. The recent storm had deposited a blanket of twelve to fifteen inches, which made everything around that much more beautiful. This also meant that my skis would be spared the destruction that early season skiing can bring.

Sitting at the top of what was about to be my first ski run of the year, I contemplated avalanches. Avalanches on this specific mountain have killed several people, and I am praying that my friends and I will not become a statistic. I haven’t taken an avalanche course, though I should. I have read books however, so I felt the desire to dig a small pit and see if I could produce anything worth noting. With only fifteen inches of snow covering the slope, this was an easy task. What I noted was a lack of slab material, so it wasn’t surprising that the snow above the pit didn’t collapse. In my next post, I will talk about my second day of skiing at Cameron Pass, and the slab conditions that I found there. We started our descent, one at a time, and made our way down the face. Because Dan and Garrett had snow skates, their going was considerably slower than my own. The turns were what I expected. Soft, ankle deep, and fun. I tapped one rock on the way down, but that was it. Coverage was good enough to ski all the way to the car, which was a plus on a day that I expected to be hiking, not skiing. It was certainly a great way to start off the season!

In this photo is Garrett, me, and Socks. We are sitting at about 11,600 feet or so(the road is at 10,276), and are about to take our first run of the year. You can see avalanche damage to the forest where the shadow ends, though avalanches have on a number of occasions made their way to the parking lot at the bottom. 

Winter returns to the high country

This past weekend I visited Vail, Colorado for a weekend of relaxing and drinking with friends. I left with my girlfriend around 7:30 Friday evening, and was pleasantly surprised for precipitation in the form of snow  to be falling for portions of the drive once into the mountains. I could tell from the snow it was going to be a fun weekend. In the morning I decided to hike and try to find a camera which had been lost a couple of seasons ago. It was overcast and chilly, with snow and rain showers occassionally, but I felt good about the possibility of success. How great would it have been if I had found it sitting right where I thought it was, with battery power nonetheless? (It was a freeze proof, drop proof, waterproof model from olympus in case you were wondering)  It took about 45 minutes to reach the spot near chair 11 where I had crashed that day, and all of sudden it was dumping. For about 15 minutes, graupel, which are basically snow pellets, fell angry from the sky. Unfortunately, I never found my camera, but I was happy that I tried, and that I had felt my first snow of the season.

Later that day, a friend told me of his plans to hike a fourteener called La Plata with two of his other friends that had just come into Vail. Mention fourteener to me and I’m instantly game, so we made plans to leave at five the next morning. When my friend Dan Malone poked his head into my room at six the next morning, I said I’m on my way downstairs. It was going to be a great day. Dan made us breakfast, and the four of us headed out. We drove South past Minturn, and eventually made it to Leadville. At this point it was light out, but we couldn’t see any of the mountain tops because of the snow that had plagued us during our drive. While I was very excited to hike, the gear I was carrying was not very appropriate for the situation, that being it had snowed 3-6 inches and was pretty chilly. I had a windproof jacket and an extra sweatshirt, trail running shoes and light socks, and jeans. Certainly my feet would get wet, but as long as I kept moving it would be alright. Fortunately, Dan’s friend Anna drove a Jeep Wrangler, so we were able to get pretty close to the trailhead. We signed in and started hiking through a coating of about three inches. After perhaps a mile on this trail, we were at the bottom of the mountain we believed to be La Plata. It turned out that we had taken the wrong trail, and that this was actually a 13er called Mt. Blaurock at 13,686. Of course we didn’t find this out until we had ascended and saw the real La Plata towering over us to the Northwest. The ascent was not that difficult, but it was slippery because of the snow. There was a ridge that we had to cross on our way to the top that was narrow and promised injury or death with a fall. We took a different route down that involved a fun patch of snow and a lot of loose scree that made for quick travel. At the bottom we found the trail that we should have taken. My jeans were wet to my calves, and my shoes were soaked through, but we still had a great time. It was my first time hiking through significant snow, and one I won’t soon forget thanks to cool people and towering mountains.

Still no snow and a long range forecast

It’s October 4th and the mountains have yet to see significant snow. Unfortunately, I have no control over the weather, and therefore cannot create storms everyday which would drop copious amounts of powder on the mountains of Colorado. Warm weather has allowed for an extended summer, and perhaps, a segway directly into winter. Accuweather.com, a website which I follow regularly for the weather, released their long range winter forecast for the upcoming ski season.

The news is good. According to Henry Margusity, who released the forecast, the Pacific northwest will see over 200 percent of annual snowfall this winter. This extends into Northern Colorado, and much of the front range.

So while the immediate prospects for fall powder do not look promising, winter, perhaps, will bring epic snowfalls. Here is a link to the Accuweather forecast. http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/meteomadness/story/38281/henrys-winter-forecast-for-dec-1-2010-to-march-31-2011.asp

How to huck it

Today I just wanted to talk a little about hucking cliffs. This is one of the funnest things that i’ve encountered yet, and you can do it too. The key here is to stay focused on your goal, which should be landing properly so that you can ski away and impress anyone who is watching.

So number one- If you’ve never hucked a cliff before, start small(unless there is two feet of snow, in which case is doesn’t really matter because it probably won’t hurt even if you crash) Pick a cliff that you are comfortable with, and just try to get a feeling for airing it out. even if it’s only five feet, it is good practice for going bigger.

Number two- Once you are comfortable with small cliffs, move to something that pushes your limits. Standing at the top, imagine how you will huck it. Imagine your takeoff, your flight, and your landing. Now that you know what to do, all you have to do is follow through.

Number three- Fight the fear. No doubt, pushing yourself off a cliff where you likely can’t see the landing is very scary, but just remind yourself that there is lots of soft, forgiving powder waiting for you. Also, landing a bigger cliff is a very rewarding experience. It’s an extreme adrenaline rush that I have found to be unmatched.

Number four- Dropping. This is the part where you sack up, point your skis, then fly. This is also the most important part if you want to land and ski away. There is no perfect way to go off a cliff, everyone can hit it differently, but it is crucial to stay balanced. Your takeoff will determine if you are too far forward, too far backwards, or somewhere in between. Depending on the terrain, you may want to be backseat or more forward, so make a judgement based on the landing.

Number five- Landing. The best way to land in powder from reasonable heights is to land slightly backseat. This gives you the softest landing, and the best chance at skiing away. If you are too far forward, you will probably crash because your forward momentum will cause you to roll. With knees slightly bent, hit the snow, push through the ensuing powder cloud, then ski over to your buddy who got it all on film.

Soon the snow will be falling and we’ll be here again. Happy hunting!

My first backflip

Hello all! Today I wanted to tell you about my first backflip on skis. This was a very special thing for me, because until two years ago, I couldn’t even do a backflip on a trampoline.

Here at CSU, we have a gymnastics club that meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-10:30. I heard about the club and decided that it would be really fun to go and learn a backflip. Well needless to say I found out what I was missing. Backflips are actually very easy and I learned to do a standing backflip that night. After several more practice sessions, I decided that I could do a backflip on skis. No problem right?

Perhaps the closest skiing to us in Fort Collins is located up the Poudre Canyon about an hour. My buddies and I regularly ski this area, called Cameron Pass, because of it’s close proximity and plentiful snow. Specifically, the mountain is called North Diamond Peak.

On this day, it happened to be dumping snow and it was evident that not many injuries could result from the deep powder that blanketed the slopes. After a 35 minute hike, we prepared the jump and started hitting it. Before long, my friends were chirping me about doing a backflip, because I had talked about my desire to do one. I knew that it was time to step up. I stood at the top of the in-run, thought about the mechanics of what I was about to attempt, and eventually pointed my skis. I hit the jump, threw my arms sky high, then brought my knees toward my chest. The world slowed as I flew weightless through the air. All of a sudden, I could see the landing. I was going to make it, first try! But then, disaster struck. I did not go big enough. This was a crucial error, as you should always go bigger than you think you should. My ski dug into the snow, and I tumbled through the powder filling every crevice with snow. Rinse and repeat, with the same results. Finally, on my third try, I succeeded. I flew through the air, spotted my landing, and skied away with the satisfaction of accomplishment.

A little bit about powder

Hello all and welcome to A Skier’s Blog! This is a place where you can keep up to date on my travels as an expert skier roaming Northern Colorado looking for the powder. You know, the light fluffy stuff that falls from the sky. Powder is what I search for when I ski. It can take your breath away, literally filling your mouth to the point of panic when it becomes necessary to extricate the snow in order to breath. This is a feeling I have only experienced a few times, and it has left me hungry for more.

A little more about powder for the inexperienced. Powder has many names such as “pow pow”, “the fresh stuff” or for especially good days, “epic gnar pow kill”. Eskimos have dozens of names for snow, and this is reflective of the many ways in which snow falls. For example, windblown crust (snow that has fallen during a period of high wind, which results in harder, more compact snow), sierra cement (heavy, wet snow found near coastal and warmer climates), or the famed Champagne Powder (powder formed in cold, dry climates where the snow falls light and fluffy). Powder is a great, great thing. It can fall heavy, or just modestly, but the key thing for me is that it is there. I am always looking for small stashes here and there, long after the obvious places have been skied out.

To end today’s post, I will leave you with a brief excerpt of my memory of the best powder of my life, which occurred April 3rd, 2010 at Vail Mountain.

Our day started early, but not early enough. By the time we arrived at 8:35, 350 people were already in front of us with the lift already transporting the powder thirsty skiers to mid-vail. 32 inches since the prior morning brings those types of crowds. North Rim is located close to chair 11 at the top of Vail. It is a shorter black diamond with a decent pitch and scattered cliffs. Entering the run, we could see it was going to be epic. Virtually untracked and deep, we  dove head first into a playground of white. Never before or since have I felt like I did then. My skis, JP vs. Jullians (a top pick for deep powder skiing) disappeared under the light fluffy snow. Deeper than my waist, I choked on snow for the entire run. I couldn’t see, but who needs to when you know there is open space and waist deep snow in front of you. Hoops and hollers abounded that day as my friends and I scored a truly epic spring day. Perhaps another time I can recount the day prior to this day, where the report was 13 inches, with hard snow throughout the day, and no crowds because of the poor conditions (days I love because most tourists prefer sun and warm temperatures)

Today is Wednesday September 15th. In just one month Arapahoe Basin and Loveland Basin will be competing to be the first ski resort open in America. Until then, I’ll have to keep dreaming (and praying for cold weather!).