So last Friday Wade went out skiing for the first time since the curse of the "anyone who goes out doing stuff with pat ends up getting hurt" struck him with a broken neck and back.  A few people were concerned that the curse would strike Wade again because, lets be honest, Wade kind of has his own "I get hurt doin' stuff" curse and so it seemed likely. 

To our great delight no one was seriously hurt this outing, aside from my thumb which is stiff and is likely jammed pretty hard (but not broken)...or so we thought.  I just learned that Clark, who had his hip replaced recently has a massive infection in the joint which will require 6-8 weeks of bed-rest without the use of said joint. 

I know its not directly related, and I know Clark probably wouldn't see it as anyone's fault...I kind of wonder if it's mine.  I should have warned you about the curse before we were on the slope Clark, sorry.  All joking aside, I hope you get better soon, though we only went on the one tour, and it kind of wasn't the best tour for you, you are a member of the URC and we all hope the best for a speedy recovery. 

The skis finally got a chance to play!  This morning Wade and I as well as my coworker Clark went out for a short dawn patrol.


We decided on Circle Awl because it was predominantly west facing and had the highest safety factor, since this was all of our first times out this season it seamed prudent.  The snow on the west face wasn't bad, though it was very tracked out (likely because its a safe area and its still pretty questionable in places out there)


This top section looked like snowbird, it was really tracked, but there was better stuff lower down.  The snow was heavy but soft and about 5-6 inches.


It turned into quite a long tour because of the scourge of the backcountry skier, CSF or Con-genitive skins failure for Clark, they just wouldn't hook up!  Here is wade scouting the line...knowing that we would have to leave a man behind.  Turns out Clark is a good sport and a persistent fellow pushing along for another good little while before eventually calling it, with a good attitude the whole time.  Here's hope that he get his news skins soon so he can embarrass Wade and I another time with his mad speed.


Here is what you missed out on, but I'm sure you've seen it before.  It was kind of new to me, its was fun to see Raymond and Goblers so clearly!

So it was 1.8 miles up, 1.5 miles down, about 1800 feet of gain and about 3 hours car to car(yeah it took a while!) which is why i was so tired I ran into a tree at the bottom and may have broken my thumb, we'll see.  Either way, it was great just getting out!

I have been meaning to post this for a while since i couldn't find anything like it on youtube.

So Tom (lane) and I were talking the other night and he got me thinking about my preparedness kit that I cart around with me skiing and hiking and whats in it.  If you know me you know I'm okay carrying around a little extra weight to make sure I have what I need if I need it.  Sometimes it just means I'm carrying around a lot of extra stuff for nothing (except strength training I guess).  Anyway, so I wanted to lay out the things that I have in my prep kit to give other people an idea of what to put in theirs if they feel so inclined.  I typically only bring stuff that I would likely use and a few must haves in case of dire emergency.  So here is my kit.  (Pardon my spelling...no spell check in photoshop)

Okay, so it was a lame way to start the ski season, but I went skiing with Rich saturday and i loved it!

It actually looks like there is a decent amount of snow...but its a lie.  There is between 2-3 feet and although the top 6 inches were dry and fluffy there isn't much to write home about, unless that home is back east someplace. 







Go Rich! 

All in all, it was a beautiful day, good company and skiing, those are all winners in my book. Plus i wasn't in the valley.


Yuck

Also

00084

This is when i tried to film rich, but pushed the wrong button at the wrong time.  I'm a videographer professionally, can you tell?

Finally, i love ski racks on TDI wagons.  one step away from getting a lab and moving to sugarhouse.

I am going ski free today. I would love some company, if anyone would
like to go.

http://www.climatewatch.noaa.gov/video/2011/winter-outlook-for-2011-2012