Tyee Shot

With lots of chores and errands to run today I decided to get in a "quickie" this morning.

I bought a new pair of skis for a trans-Sierra tour Steve and I are doing in a couple of weeks. They are Seven Summits from Dynafit. I figured I should give them a try. Despite their narrow waist (78mm) I thought I'd ski a little powder.

Here they are on their maiden voyage.
Just north of the Tyee Lakes drainage is an impressive cirque with lots of decent lines. I chose the most north facing chute, hoping the sun's effect on the snow would be minimized.

The head of the cirque offers many fine lines that are almost always guarded by huge cornices.
This southeast facing chute was cooking up nicely after our latest storm.
Near the top of the chute I was eagerly anticipating a great powder run.
I attained the ridge and admired the views. The Inconsolable Range is on the left skyline and the Tyee Lakes drainage is in the right foreground.
After a couple of ski cuts with no results, I jumped into the chute. Knowing I might start a sluff, I shifted skier's right and pulled up. Sure enough, a large sluff was chugging down the center of the chute entraining quite a lot of snow (click to enlarge).
The skiing was ok. The snow still seemed cold and light, but I often hit the old crust underneath despite the 6" to 10" depth - maybe I could have used some fatter skis!

Further down, the slopes turn more eastward and were getting a little sloppy. I figured wet slides were likely on the rollovers and when I cut one - sure enough!
I skied down carefully to the car. The new skis were surprisingly good in the thick stuff.

Not exactly a sweet powder run, but an interesting tour anyway.