Good Enough

Made a quick trip out to Pacifica for a sunset session.  Conditions looked fair but when we got to the beach afterwork it was warm, sunny and decent.  We found a little peak on the south end and paddled out.  We had the little peak to ourselves and started catching some fun little ones on our longboards.  After about the third one Chris paddled up and said "Good enough" with a smile.  Damn right, good enough.

Surf ~ 2

First Surf of 2011

Kind of crazy how long it's been since I paddled out.  After much prodding from my buddy Adam at work I pulled my 9'0" down from the rafters in my garage and drove to the beach after work.  Adam lives at the beach and easily surfs over 200 days a year.  He can predict the wind, waves, and weather better than any site online.  If he says it's going to be good, it's going to be good.

Last night was a classic Pacifica session at Boatdocks.  Small, fun, playful, the perfect way to get back out after a long hiatus.  I was expecting the worst after so much time off but I managed to catch a few and not completely kook out.  Here's to the first surf of the year!

Surf ~1

Attitude of Gratitude

First look at the Eastside

Over the past year I've been exchanging messages with our friend Howard to get together for s ski trip.  It started with grand plans to do the famed Haute Route from Chamonix, France to Zermatt, Switzerland.  Schedules and timing got tight and we decided that maybe a trans-Sierra tour would work better.  But as the date got closer we were faced with even tighter schedules and a winter that just would not turn to spring.  Making a traverse not only challenging but downright dangerous.  We listened to nature and made alternate plans to head over to the Eastside of the Sierra and take some day trips, weather and conditions permitting.

So many possibilities

Basecamp

Bernard and I headed out to Virginia Lakes and met up with Howard, Art, and Csuri.  We based ourselves out of Art's house perched at 10,000 feet.  The weather was, well, not really cooperating with our spring time plans.  It was more like mid-winter than mid-spring.  It stormed, it blew, and the snowpack was sketchy.

Not a bad place to wait for a weather window.  Hey there's one!

We were lucky enough to find a few breaks in the clouds and make the best of them.  The highlight of the trip was climbing and skiing Dunderberg Peak.  We decided to skip skins and kick steps to the top.  Howard led nearly all 2000 feet, at times kicking three times per step to make a small ledge for the toe of your boot.  Leaving me, at half his age, in the dust.

Top of the world

At the top we relaxed for a few minutes as the next storm rolled in.  It was time to head down and enjoy the turns.  The snow turned out to be pretty good spring corn and we bombed back to the house.

First turn is a doosey

First tracks down the upper bowl

Howard tears up the lower half

Bernard makes it look easy on his way back home

On the way home Bernard and I stopped at Echo Lake and spent one night there.  We ended up getting some very fun turns in the place that arguably started this whole backcountry skiing thing for both of us.  It was great to get a few more before Bnard headed back to the midwest.

Back to where it all started

Monsters!

The entire trip Howard was wearing a baseball hat with a little Buddha on the front and the saying Attitude of Gratitude on the back.  Seemed like the perfect choice of headwear for this one.

Until next year

~38