Upon return to Ely, I went out for a short tour to assess conditions. Pleased by the quantity not so stoked on the quality. The wind had apparently blown pretty fiercely here resulting in a mix of wind board, breakable crust, and soft faceted snow. To make matters worse a couple of inches of new snow had fallen quite recently, so there were no visual clues as to what I was skiing on.
Pretty day though!
A couple of days later I got motivated to go back looking for more sheltered areas to ski. I had never been back here. Low and behold, the wind affect wasn't too bad - even nonexistent the bottom half.
Sweet views back towards North Schell Peak.
Limestone cliffs line the slopes here. Most of the snow on these open slopes was wind and/or sun affected.
Happy with the coverage and not deterred by the crusts, I decided to check out an Aspen zone close to the trailhead.
An alley!
Nice snow. Incredible setting.
Had such a good time I went back again the next day. It went from bluebird to graybird. Colder too, but got higher and enjoyed a nice long run in Aspen bliss.
Good views up canyon.
Down canyon too!
It's on! So glad to be skiing in my home mountains again.
