The weather gods were generous! Powder Powder Powder!!!!

We rolled in about midnight, with only a little slop on the roads near Heber and again out of Durango – not bad considering Wolf Creek got about 7 feet during the prior week. Stopping for dinner in Gallup delayed our arrival, but perusing jewelry from the vendors who came to our table was a nice touch; it was just like Rocky Point, except their wares were nicer. Upon arrival, i moved my bindings back an inch to give me better control in the powder, and double-checked the new cables i installed and the new boots. It was almost 1:30 by the time i crashed.

Up at 6:30, only to find that Wolf Creek Pass was closed due to weather. We finally got riding about 10:30.

It was grey, windy, cold and snowing – typical primo day at Wolf Creek.   For the first time, I had no nervousness whatsoever about riding.   It had been since last year at Wolf Creek that I’d ridden powder, but the 3 days on ice in Tahoe and my own progress from season to season left me feeling very matter-of-fact about the day, and knowing falls wouldn’t hurt certainly helped.   Up Treasure Lift, and first run of the season both Byron and I dove right through our favorite shot in the trees onto the big black face.   It took a run or two to get my weight right with the bindings moved back, and a nice rolling endo under the lift.   Trying to convey to Byron how fun this can be on a board is like talking a foreign language to a skier – you just ball up, figure out which way is up while you’re tumbling, and if you hit it right come out of your tumble pointing downhill with momentum.   Skiers …if only they knew!

Two or 3 runs, and we hiked out to Glory Hole to make our way over to the Alberta Lift.   The entire cornice came off behind me as I floated down through the cloud of powder.

The next two days built quickly off the initial runs, with our legs and rhythm getting stronger. There was so much powder, and for the first time ever I was good enough to handle it, that i had total confidence on all the terrain.   There was nothing that phased me all weekend, and up through our last run we were shredding within inches of trees, hitting gaps between them just wide enough for our shoulders, and plunging down just about any pitch with complete calm.   The only problems came when a back edge kicked up so much powder I couldn’t see for a second or two.   The rest of the weekend was a combination of steep pitches followed by flow through a never-ending powder stash in the blue glades that make up the whole Alberta lift’s area.   The cats at the bottom sucked til mid-way through our second day when the snow finally stopped and they got packed in enough to finish without paddling, but it was a small price to pay.   The walking actually felt good, cause the powder required so little effort my legs were incredibly fresh up til our final few runs.

The greyness on the mountain contrasted with the sun over Pagosa Springs; there is just something about Wolf Creek Pass that holds onto all those storms and their precious booty.

Byron and I explored practically all of the Alberta lift side this trip, figuring out all the ridgelines and entrances that have thwarted us in years past.   So many good powder stashes were hidden deep in the woods, and even the ones that were hit stayed good with enough fresh lines or soft churn late into Sunday.   It felt like we never ran out of fresh terrain.   The cruising was sublime, even when it seemed easy, i could do this all day, day after day, flowing through the soft cushion of white and playing in the woods.

Late on Friday we tried climbing to Alberta Peak, and we met with the harshest wind I’ve ever encountered.   It caught my board and threatened to blow me off the mountain.   A few hundred yards in, and I looked back but no longer saw Byron.   I figured he bailed on the hike in his ill-suited ski boots, so we spent the rest of the afternoon alone before meeting up at the truck when the lifts closed. We skipped the sausage-fest in the hotel hot tub, opting for yoga and a long hot shower. Dinner at Kip’s again, and we were asleep by about 8:30.

Day 2 was much the same, but better – better legs, better runs, a better trip through the Waterfall where we did not get caught on any exposed rockfaces like the day before. (I saved the best of that for Sunday, when the same wrong turn forced me to shimmy across a rockface on my belly, using my board as a giant crampon to keep me from falling into the rocks below   .   And then later got caught on top of a 10 foot cliff, requiring one drop to a powder ledge between two rock outcroppings, and another slide over the lip to a short blind drop into what I only hoped would be powder).   When Byron was ready to quit around 2, I attempted the Alberta Peak hike again.   The wind was just as bad, but this time I followed two skiers out through the fog and used my board as a sail to push me up the hill.   The descent through the untouched deep powder was worth it.   We hit the Hot Springs that night, running from pool to pool in the cold, and it left us both feeling refreshed

Sunday the weather cleared, so I took a lot more pics.

Hello Rescue Dog

Do you have any brandy for me?

With the wind calm and the sun shining, I decided to give Alberta Peak one more try.   It took about 25-30 minutes of hiking to get all the way to the top.   One stretch I lost the trail and had to claw and crawl my way over the windblow on the shoulder below the final ascent.   I did it 50 steps and 30 second-rests at a time, finally arriving right behind two skiers – naturally, we took photos for each other.

Alberta Peak from the lift

all the zoom my little Canon offers – pretend that’s me!

The Summit: a cliff on one side, a bowl full of powder on the other

The descent was great, interrupted only by my having to stop and let the spray clear so I wouldn’t bash into a tree on the steep slope. I dropped the bowl, the next drop, then into the Waterfall and back to the lift in just over 45 minutes.

That’s great holiday spirit people!

Safety meeting

What would skiing in Colorado be without the Texans and the Okies in their hunting outfits?

What a cute couple! Tailgating before we hit the road home, finally getting in at 1am

Another cute couple