Mt Tom, Southwest Side

I got up and out the door fairly early and headed up the Buttermilk Road to the Horton Creek trailhead. Flipped back to looking for corn skiing on south facing slopes and the southwest slopes of Mt Tom fit the bill.

Early morning light on the Buttermilks.

The Horton Creek Trail was patchy all the way up the moraine, but once past the old miner's cabin the valley floor was covered. Looking up the valley.

One of several attractive couloirs on the north side of Basin Mountain.

Big control burn down in the valley. Glad I wasn't around for that!

Once I made the ridge the views were incredible. Looking south to Basin Mountain (left) and Mt Humphreys (pointy, right of center).

West toward Four Gables and the old mining road that comes up from Horton Lakes.

North to Bear Creek Spire (large granite face, center) and Pine Creek below.

This was the first real tour on the "racing skis." I took em up to the ski area Tuesday and was super impressed with how well they skied. Today they were quick going up and great going down.

2,500' of perfect velvet corn! I skied the left side to the little horizontal sliver on the sky line.

Started the descent around 11am which seemed about the right time. The approach is a little long on the trail, but totally worth it. Great day.