Sunshine Skiing

I was away last week doing a bit more shooting in Arizona.  The plan was to get home on Friday afternoon but the delays stacked up and I was killing time in at LAX instead of drinking beers with the homies.  So it goes.  Woke up Saturday and packed the car with my ski gear and left Sara to finish up her thesis.  Drove to Tahoe in 90 degree weather to meet up with Kevin, Yu, Dave, Danielle, and  Matt.  They had skied into the Benson Hut on Friday.  It's a cool hut because you can ride the lift at a resort and cross through backcountry gates at the top, gaining lots of altitude with little effort.

I arrived at Sugarbowl, bought a single ride lift ticket and rode the Lincoln lift to the top of the mountain.  Benson Hut is on a connecting ridge three miles south of the resort.  I didn't have a map and when you're standing at the top of a mountain about to venture out alone into the backcountry there sure are a lot of different ridges to choose from.  My plan was to ski for three miles and if I didn't find the hut I'd make a u-turn and head home.  It was a fun mini-adventure and at mile three I found the hut and the welcoming committee was sitting out front.

Raspberry snow cone anyone?

They had already been skiing but we all headed up Mt. Anderson for a sunset session.  Snow was slushy but fun.

Weekly pano in the making.

Wow!  You don't say.

Saturday night there was a meteor shower.  The meteors were hitting about one every 30 seconds and I saw one really big streak that went all the way across the sky that really felt magical.  I managed to grab a shot of a small one on my camera but of course it doesn't do it justice.

Inspired by Bnard.

Remember  Halley's Comet?

Make gif

The next day we got up early and headed out for a few turns.  At the end of one run we heard a loud boom and even more unsettling a lonnnnng rumble.  We were stopped under a cliff and moved quickly to safe places waiting for the mother of all avalanches to come waterfalling over the cliff.  It didn't.  Back at the hut everyone heard the sound but nobody guessed it was another meteor!  See the video for team coverage from your source for up to the minute news KTVN Reno.

Chef Kevin hit us with a few culinary gems before we hit the road.

Kevin gets down and dirty with the leftovers.

On the ski out we saw a few nice bear tracks.

That's either a big bear or a small yeti.

The snow was heavy and we all took a few falls.  Mine was extremely ugly with skis in tour mode and boots extra loose but it still rang my bell hard and broke my pole.  Thankfully I only ski with engineers and I was on my way in no time.

Voile straps might be better than duct tape.

Biggest post-hole ever.

Here's a little video from the weekend:

Ski Bunny

Went up to Kirkwood on Sunday with Seth to celebrate East-Over.  It was the last weekend the backside would be open for the season and we lapped Chair 4 in the sun.

Seth stretching it out.

We even saw the Easter Bunny and chased his cottontail for a few turns.  Best part of the day was when Seth asked the woman skiing with the rabbit, "Is that your son?"  And she responded, "No, that's my boyfriend."  Check out the video of that wascally wabbit.

Birthday POW

Last weekend rolled up to Ze 'Wood for a birthday weekend celebration with Sara, Paul, Alex, Kate, and Evan.  We went big and rented a condo on the mountain!  Ski in, and sorta ski out.  It reminded us all of the spring break trips we took in Colorado.  Rent the condo, watch March madness basketball and get fresh tracks!

Saturday was cold as the storm came in bringing high winds that shut Kirkwood down for a few hours.  Thankfully we had the on-mountain condo to hunker down in as the storm rolled in.  Lifts opened back up and we lapped the frontside with a few inches of fresh as the storm continued to build.  The place was empty because most people had left after the mountain shut down.  We would have too, but thanks to ye olde condominium we were there to stay.  The storm cranked through the night in classic Sierra fashion.

 

Sunday was all time.  We woke up to boot-knee deep bluebird powder.  Definitely my best day of the season.  Face shots and everything.  We banged around the mountain following the lifts as they opened.  Cornice, Wall, Backside.  What fun!  Mid-afternoon as we were lapping the backside there was an in-bounds avalanche. The Kirkwood crew shut the place down again.  Luckly we had gotten our fill and retired to the condo.

The gang took off Sunday night while Sara and I stayed for one more day.  Monday was just fun.  Warm, sunny and empty.  We skied a half day on tired bones from the previous powder fiesta.  Hit the road Monday afternoon and got home before the sunset.  That my friends is the California good life.

More GoPro malfunctions this weekend.  So you will not get to see Sara, Kate, Evan, Paul, Alex and myself shredding the gnar.  Thankfully Coop, Kirkwoods professor of pow, shot a little video too!