TR: First Light 11.1.05
Sherpastyle, iskibc
Point 12,700’
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The first light of the day always brings a wealth of character and wondrous visions across the high peaks. As night shifts into day in an abrupt way, the first light highlights all the beauty that surrounds us.
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Colors and contrasts fill the valleys and snow-capped peaks in an artful way. The first light opens doors to new possibilities for the day and allows the mind to wander and get immersed into those possibilities:
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First light is warm.
First light is welcoming.
First light is mesmerizing.
First light is the key opening the door.
First light is caffeine for the soul.
First light is a guide for our travels.
First light is the pinnacle of a dawn patrol.
Got the chance to share a dawn patrol with sherpastyle, who had been fighting wild fires across the western US all summer and not being anywhere near snow for several months. I could tell by the look in her eye that she was more than ready to make her first turns of the season when we met up in the blistering cold and wind outside of town.
One of my favorite parts of a dawn patrol is watching the sun creep up and over the horizon while skinning on a clear morning.
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It’s like a visual soundtrack for the mind and soul, and is perfect motivation while skinning up a mountain.
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Very few words are usually spoken on a dawn patrol, especially this day as the beauty of our surroundings was a symphony of beautiful visions and sights. It’s amazing how little words can be spoken, but the entire time you know what each other is thinking and what the mind is going through at the moment.
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We started the day off with a nice and easy skin up to unnamed 12,700’, and watched the sun light up the morning.
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Shadows slowly slipped away as light took over, but the wind was not letting go of its grip.
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Blowing snow on opposing ridges became illuminated as the light crept up and over the valley foothills.
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We came to our line, discussed our plan, and Sherpastyle dropped in first.
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It was apparent the snow was somewhat wind-effected at the top, but her turns were smooth and fluid as she moved down the line. We skied a nice 1,000’ vertical shot and then began our traverse over to the next line.
This time around we found a fun climb up a steep ridgeline to the top of another unnamed peak.
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This line we found better snow and got a little over 1,000’ of vert.
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Back to the car and off to work by 9:35 AM. I almost forgot how much fun a dawn patrol was.
