SICK: Crested Butte/Wolf Creek photo TR (12/1-2/07)
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...Creek/sick.jpg
An appropriate photo of the Wolf Creek ticket from this weekend...
LOCATIONS: Keystone, Crested Butte, and Wolf Creek, CO
DATES: November 30, 2007 departure; December 1 and 2, 2007 skiing.
CREW:
Clay, friend from CUFST (also infrequent TGR poster)
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...k/IMG_8943.jpg
John, friend from CUFST
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...k/IMG_8942.jpg
Below Zero
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...k/IMG_8941.jpg
Skibum193
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...k/bd136f2c.jpg
BZ's friend Jay
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...0Creek/Jay.jpg
Summit, adimmen, Summit's friend Marty, Lurch, cmsummit, Raps, and more also made appearances and probably would have been pictured if my camera weren't so cold all day. I also saw goldenboy at lunch in CB but was too intimidated to say what's up...
PLAN: Ski pow. As deep as possible. Somewhere in SW CO.
SYNOPSIS: Friday night beater laps at Keystone from 11:30 to 1:30 AM; mad dash to Crested Butte in time for about 10th chair; some pow, lots of wind, and many bumps on Paradise; nap in Grand Lodge; easy drive to Wolf Creek; fantastic pow and a big achievement for Young Maxwell.
THE REPORT:
I got up at 6 am Friday and checked the board. As I was walking to volunteering at 7 am in the freezing ass cold, the wheels started to turn in my head. My emotions went from jealousy of those who'd get to indulge in the mega whopper that was about to blast SW CO, to deliberative over how to get down there, to giddy about what was about to happen. I spent about an hour total on the phone trying to figure out plans, and as of 7 pm, nick > jesus (to my dismay) dropped out, and my friends Clay and John were signed up to leave Boulder at 9 pm. We got out of town a little bit early and decided "ah, what the fuck, let's stop at keystone and see what that shitshow is all about."
That we did, and it turns out that having sharp edges on hardpack is really fun. At 2 am, after about 6 laps and much poring over the map, John, Clay, and I set out down CO highway 9, through absolute nuclear winter over Hoosier Pass, towards Salida. We called the desk at the Grand Lodge to confirm that snow was pounding them and decided that we'd have to pass the point of decision (Salida) well before snow totals were updated in the morning. We pulled into the Grand Lodge (very friendly folk. Definitely recommend staying with them) at about 6 am and acted like bums for an hour and a half before scoring free parking 200 yards from the lift. 14" was the magical number for the day.
DAY 1: Crested Butte
8:10 we're in line behind 30 "CB mountain folk" who are allowed their rite of passage 30 minutes before the lifts open to the public. Skibum193 takes his place in line with us. As more people arrive, a mob mentality develops, and much "cutsies" occurs. The big hand becomes perpendicular to the little hand, and silly excitement is the overwhelming emotion. The Red Lady chair opens finally at about 9:10, and we cry with glee. Skating our hearts out off the chair to Paradise, we pass all the poor snowboarders who must take their time to buckle up and strap in. :nonono2:
The wind is absolutely howling atop Paradise chair, affording plenty windskin to the snow surface and minimal visibility pretty much all day. We skate off the chair and are confused by the ill-defined groomer/non-groomer transition. The snow is knee deep and rather creamy. It doesn't suck.
We lap the shit out of Paradise Bowl and whatever shit is below that, trying hard to avoid the many rocks and giant chunks of ice that lurk beneath the surface (I "found" two). Then, at about 11:30, as our chair is one tower from the top, we see a crowd lined up skier's left of the chair. Patrol drops the rope, and we skate off the chair and into position ahead of 2/3 of the pack. Fuck yes. As Dannon Yogurt says, C'est si bon! FINALLY a consistently moderately steep pitch conducive to fantastic turns! It's douched by the time we reach the bottom, and the day is set up for lots of fun soft bumps.
Due to said soft bumps, no pictures were taken at CB. We skied about 10 variations of about 4 total open runs on Paradise Chair all day, as Red Lady was closed most of the day due to high wind. It wasn't exactly what we had in mind for a "cracked out storm chasing mission" but it was an overwhelmingly fun day of skiing. I've never looked forward to skiing bumps so much in my whole life...
Then... the magic begins. After 34 hours without sleep, 7 of which were spent skiing, and 6 of which were spent driving, it was time for a nap. We endured many a weird look taking turns napping in the lobby of the Grand Lodge and awoke ready to rally to where 23-29" were forecasted for the night: Wolf Creek, Colorado. The cries of "WAX YOUR DAMN BASES!" had been heeded, and we were hungry for some deepness.
We pulled up to the Wolf Creek Ranch (fantastic place to stay for $20/person/night, complete with stove, microwave, hot tub, and big beds) at about 10 pm without incident. Sleep came easily, and awaking didn't. After 3 accidental snooze cycles on my phone alarm, we were racing to get back onto hwy 160 for an estimated 7:30 arrival at this mystical place:
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...k/IMG_8957.jpg
Wolf Creek
