days nine and ten

old school tele vid:



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saturday up at 5 and at drh's house for the standard 6 a.m. departure. temps were a cool 1.9 degrees or so at my house. same report from all around town. it got warmer, then colder on the way to cp. when we left the car it was 3. degrees. of hell-hath-frozen-over.

we skied seven utes mountain. several runs that i have never done before. one was great - a sustained 35 degree pitch with about 900 feet of descent through the trees. half dead trees to be exact. evenly spaced beetle kill. we named that run 'beatle mania'. i have mixed emotions about the beetle kill phenomena that is ravaging the landscape of this great state. dead trees are no good (eyesore and fuel for wildfires) - but when the trees get thinned out, some great gladed skiing opens up. i just don't know.

in the end we did about 4100 vert. for the day. biggest backcountry day of the year so far for these weary legs. i was thinking about it on the way home. if one were to climb longs peak from the longs peak trailhead, they would ascend a little over 5000 feet to the summit at 14,xxx or whatever it is. so to put it in perspective, we climbed almost the equivalent of longs peak on skis, in temperatures hovering around zero (minus the altitude, although we were stomping around above 10,000 ft all day). not sure if i had one more 900 foot climb in me on saturday, but before long i think 5k in a day will be the norm. the ski legs (and lungs) are coming back around.

yesterday i slept in and then drove back up to cp for a kick and glide on my all time favorite trail - the meadows trail. it was cold, windy, and snowing (the snow was great) and i had to break trail on some parts that had been blown in. but man, how fun. about 12 miles (including a lap around zimmerman lake for good measure) round trip in 2.5 hours. good stuff. tele-turning is fun, but the classic kick and glide on lightweight gear is soul sustaining. no matter how cold. about half way through the tour i saw a family of moose - momma, big daddy, and a little one. i was checking them out while they were checking me out. pretty cool.

i drank two bottles of o'dells isolation ale on the way home. that stuff is good. you should try it.

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this'll be the last post here for a week or so. heading out of town in a couple days for the peter estin hut. i'll have a trip report and pictures up shortly after returning. in the mean time, happy new year folks. best wishes to you and yours for '08.