Wednesday, November 3, 2021

More Early Season Skiing

Reports from Mammoth Mountain were encouraging, so Mary and I decided to ride lifts yesterday. We were not disappointed. 

We found good snow, great weather, and moderate crowds. Very enjoyable.

That's me. There isn't a ton of terrain open, but what is open has decent coverage.

Mary. Somehow this run always skis well.

Today I got the itch to check out the scene above South Lake. The crest bright and early.

Long Lake and Mt Goode.

I kept hoping I'd round the corner or ascend a bench and the coverage would improve. It never did. I turned around here at Spearhead Lake.

Long Lake. The summer trail had filled in and provided a nice route through the talus.

Islands and ice. I heard an incredible ice song here. Two sharp cracks followed by a long descending pitch moan, ending in a gurgle. Loud enough to echo through the valley. Thrilling!

The Inconsolables back and Chocolate Peak right.

The only turns of the day. Sketchy.

Cruising the flats was pleasant though.

As I descended the patches became less continuous. Skis on, skis off. Bushwhack. Skis on. etc. It got a little tedious to be honest.

Final descent. Wasn't anything to brag about but it beat walking except it too was patchy!


 Pretty much a walk in the hills with skis on my feet. A good day nonetheless. Got to brush up on my funky terrain skinning technique!

2 comments:

Bob Shattuck said...

. . but at least you're getting some.

Scott E said...

You bet Bob. Most years I'm only dreaming of skiing this time of year.