Most relevantly, it’s a big fat snow trap, and has over a foot more than anywhere of comparable terrain around town.  I reckoned that after the weekend dump, the slopes and trees would be starting to become skiable, and today proved myself right.

In the last eight days I’ve been out skiing six times, and have been embracing fully the ethos Mark Jenkins wrote about in the essay I posted last week.  Getting thrashed can be frustrating, but I love being on the sharp end of the learning curve, where huge gains can be observed over the course of hours.  Today was one of those days.

With some internet beta and a tip to tail base of Swix Polar, I headed out from the parking lot looking for what was reputed to be a good moderate slope.  Even better, it was NNE facing, and I figured a good place to not look for the nasty windcrust I found on exposed places in the Rattlesnake last night.  Everything panned out exactly as I hoped it would.  I had a nice slope to ski, enough snow to cover most of the stumps and logs, and a perfect road to run a self-shuttle.  I spent a couple hours enjoying the good track I created on the way up, and learning as much as I could on the runs down.  Things didn’t start well; I fumbled 20 feet into my first run and nailed my right knee on a stump.  That required a little break to regroup.  (It’s really damn sore right now.)  And no I was not doing tele turns when it happened, or any other time today.  I’m psyched enough to have made more than one in three runs today clean with neither wipeouts nor kick turns.  After a while the sun came out, and made what had been a very nice day (almost totally calm, right around 0F) into a brilliant one.  I went all the way to the top of the hill to have a look around, and found a robust crust covering the foot of fluff I’d been enjoying.  Only made one trip up there.  

I was back at the car, tired (wimpy biker arms) and thinking about packing it in, when some other folks on heavy tele gear headed out.  I realized I wouldn’t be ok leaving daylight unused, and headed out for a few more runs.  I jumped in the deep end, skiing a moderately treed slope that was quite a bit steeper than anything else today.  Black diamond steep at least, I’d reckon.  I made it down, slowly, with plenty of kick turning and pondering, but no outright face plants.  Really cool, considering that in the distant past (at the Snow Bowl in Flag) I bailed on a black my family had talked me into, and literally hiked my skis back up and over to an easy run.  Mountain biking has done my comfort with speed and control good.

Heading back up towards the truck was sublime.  Evening light on the pines, heavy snow, perfectperfectperfect.  I had to take one last run, and it was almost the best of the day until an unseen lot threw me into the backseat.  There wasn’t even that much snow up there, and I already see how bigger skis (mine are circa 110-80-95) would be nice.  I’m not buying more this season.  Skills first.

I was also very pleased with how well kick waxing has been working out.  I never used skins all day, just many full layers of well corked Polar, and a bit of Green added underfoot as things warmed.  The setup necessitates switchbacks on steeper slopes, but being able to hit the top and push right off down the back is great.  It certainly beats any fishscales I’ve skied.

I love outdoor sports.

(It should be noted that, with her new free-running front hubs, the truck is back in action, and not a day too soon.  It’s nice to have in the craziness that is rush hour Missoula, plus lots of ice.)

Winter!