Friday, March 20, 2009

montana is a big state...











...i Bet you don't know were this is. 100 yards up the trail an avalanche had ripped through a seemingly impenetrable forest leaving 6 feet of debris. It is the first day of spring and we didn't trust the snowpack enough to ski everything we wanted but, we'll be back. We did ski some other "sick" lines though as well as achieved an elevation of about 10,400 ft just below a prominent summit. From this point we scoped a steep narrow line with northern exposure but decided not to ski it. Instead, we took great turns to the south east, me 20 and Pete 15, to the top of some friendlier north facing shots. 1,000 ft of dense 5 inch powder had us skinning back up for another lap. The second line, skiers left of the first was a little firmer and I just wasn't quite on it. Once in the flats I leaned back only to find no support in my left boot! Walk mode strikes again! A high speed shoulder plant bailout event ensued. Check out all the pics at my shutterfly site. (click the link to the right) A spirited 2 hour slog took us through 20 inch slush and collapsing snow bridges with "falling in the drink" potential back to our auto. Pale ale from the "corner store" completed the adventure.