been a while

been nearly a week, which shows i have not been on the hill on in the backcountry enough.  i have at least been out on the track at stillwater a bunch. man is it fast. 
but i did get on the hill on friday.  high winds made for uncomfortable lift rides, but the skiing was okay.  not great, of course. it has not snowed in two weeks.  and with the wind, some slopes were stiffening up a bit more. but there was good snow to be found.   try north facing slopes, and areas that may have had some snow blown into them. 
i also got in a big day yesterday, up in the middle fork.  went with a good group of four, the other three having spent considerable time in the bc over the past week.  so i went with their gut feelings and overall sense of snowpack.  again, some aspects were considerably better than others. but the northeast aspects were fantastic.  really solid snowpack (avoiding rollovers and windloads), we skied multiple excellent runs.  to give some disclosure but not all, we were a bit before essex, and beyond, of fuck it.  we skied mt. adams.  there is so much terrain there.  that is it. there is so much terrain, period. 

on our first ascent up the mountain, we stopped below the summit.  we were in a cloud and could not see above us,and had reached tree line, and no longer felt comfortable.  so we de-skinned and began to descend.  just as i was about to take off, kevin and i looked above us,and there it was, the mountain top, now out of the clouds.  but within a minute, it was socked in again., so we skied while the getting was good. and it was good. GREAT!.  so we had to go back up, and on our second try, the top was fully visable and safe, so summit we did.  the last two switchbacks were tough.  all day the skinning was tricky.  slick and slippery.  a lot of shuffling, slipping back and stomping for good traction.  after kevin summited, he helped the three of us with a pole assist to make the final 5 feet safer and easier. 
the top turns were stiff and hard, but 50 feet off the summit, again, the skiing was fantastic. 

and then back to the car.  remember, it is the middle fork, and it is a medium to low snow year, so the bushwacking is formidable.  it wasn't horrific, but everyone took a wack or two to the face. 

i am off to ovando this week, then down to downing mountain lodge out of hamilton next week. hope to find some new stuff to write about.  and as usual, want to hear what others are finding.