Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Weekend wrap-up - Days 19-21: FAC, Maddie Mayhem, Bambi Basin

A quick summary of the weekend:

Friday, Jan 22 - The Return of FAC (Friday Adventure Club)

Matt and I finally got our acts together and resurrected our cool-kid Fridays. He dubbed it FAC (Friday Adventure Club), and I'm psyched to have a dependable touring partner for the rest of the winter. I had planned on getting together with climbergirl (Rebecca) as well, so the plan was something mellow that we could do multiple laps on in case she wanted to bail. I was tour guide for the day, and decided Pink Pine would be a good choice for easy approach, mellow skiing, and good snow conditions. I think I nailed it! It was a beautiful day - warm with very little wind. The skin up the ridge was nice and slow, and it was great for once to be able to chat while we skinned. We chose the steeper trees just above the big open area on the ridge to drop in. As we dropped down in, we realized it was DEEP. Matt took first dibs and disappeared into a cloud of powder, and setting up to take some photos. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

(Insert pics here)

All three of us were unbelievably psyched about the snow, and Matt and I were hellbent on another lap. Rebecca sat it out while we went up for another. Second verse, same as the first. No pics - we were too excited to ski. Another great day in the mountains.

Saturday, Jan 26 - Maddie the Anti-Social Basketcase

Josh woke up on Saturday feeling like crap, so we scrapped the ski plans for the day. After a hour or so of homework, I went outside to get something from the car and I almost started crying. It was so beautiful! I dropped what I was doing and decided to take Maddie up Neff's for one last effort at dog touring. Well, she proved to me that she can't do this anymore - after doing fine with a couple of dogs, she went after two golden labs. I leashed her up to my waistbelt (ski-jouring :)) and got up to Thomas Fork before deciding it was going to be a disaster trying to get her back down the canyon. I figured the best course of action was to take her off her leash and just go as fast as possible so she didn't have time to mess with the other dogs. Well, it worked. However, she is now a stay-at-home dog. Too bad, but I don't need a law suit.

Sunday, Jan 27 - Rollin' Deep at Deer Valley

I looked at the weather forecast on Sunday morning - high of 30 degrees, no new snow. I figured it was as good a day as any to be at Deer Valley. We had gathered quite a crew for the day, and I was really excited to hang with everyone. Alice and I got up there around 9:30AM to whipping winds in the parking lot (hmmm...I wonder how Bald Mt is?) A little discouraged, but up for whatever, she led me over to Northside lift which was staying relatively sheltered. The groomers were in primo condition - groomed snow covered with about 2-3 inched of wind-deposited powder. But it was cold. On the third or fourth ride up, I got a call from Scot who was sitting at Silver Lake eating breakfast. We jumped at the chance to go warm up.

After an hour of eating and waiting for everyone to get their shit together, we finally got back out into the storm. We met up with my parents and the group size was suddenly ridiculous. Scot, Rachel, Brooke, Alice, me, Rachel's dad Mark, my mom, dad, Laurie, and my dad's buddy Jermaine. To Sterling!

My dad led us through a white-out to the Sunset Glades, which were silly-fun. I felt like Luke Skywalker on Endor, speeding through the aspens. We took a look at Ontario on the way to Quincy and decided it was worth a shot. Good, but messy at the top and bottom. The group started splintering on Northside as we lost people on their own agenda (*coughcough Laurie coughcough*), and people with tired legs from snowplowing all weekend (Alice). Eventually, Scott, Rachel, Brooke, and I ended up on Sultan skiing suprisingly good buttered-up snow in Perseverance Bowl. A couple laps through the trees, and it was off to Silver Lake for beers.

Such a good day hanging out with some of my favorite people doing my favorite thing in the world!!

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