Another weekend, another attempt to “redefine fun” through survival skiing. The mission: a loop from Snow Camp via Skyline Trail, continuing along the ridgeline to Lone Goat, and wrapping things up on Red Mountain. The weather said “mildly traumatic,” the snowpack said “bring crampons,” and our brains said “sure, why not.”
We actually got some good turns on the NE face of Snow Camp, which was a short-lived gift from the mountain gods. From that point on, it was basically an ice rink on a 35-degree incline. My skis were less “tools of joyful descent” and more “long, useless death sleds.”
Imagine trying to carve turns on hard, icy crust while your edges scream for mercy. That was most of the day. Every “turn” felt like a negotiation with physics,and physics was in a bad mood.
There was one glorious moment where I almost looked like I knew what I was doing. Then I hit a patch of crust so bulletproof I could’ve bounced a toonie off it. I slid. I flailed. I recovered. Kind of. Let’s call it intentional descending with style .
Lone Goat Ridge? Scenic. Beautiful. Wind-scoured. Crusty enough to cut glass. My legs were shaking, not from fear, but from sheer overuse of my "ski brakes" a.k.a. thighs of fire.
Red Mountain was a blur. Not because it was fast,oh no!but because I was mostly squinting through frozen eyelashes, trying not to yeet myself off into the abyss. By the time we skied down, my quads had filed an official complaint.
If you enjoy skiing icy crust while your soul gently weeps, this is the tour for you. As for me, I’ll be soaking in a tub of Epsom salts and rethinking my life choices until next weekend.
Survived to ski another day. Barely.
Hi Dean, did you guys have better snow conditions in Manning than in the Elaho?
ReplyDeletea little better. The south face was a little windblown.
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