TR: Winter returns to Colorado in a deep way (pics)
3.28.04
Cameron Pass
24” of fresh
Funken:
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...70/Cnv0039.jpg
After 3 ½ weeks of 50-60 degree temps in the high country with little to no precipitation, Ullr decided to bless the Colorado mountains with some of the driest, lightest, deepest pow pow we have seen in a long time.
Funken and I hit the road early after making some last minute plans the night before for Cameron Pass. I’ve never had a bad day at Cameron, in fact I’ve never been there with less than 6” of fresh on the ground. Cameron pass is a low key backcountry destination with a plethora of terrain and snow. The closest towns with civilization are Ft. Collins (65 miles) and Steamboat (55 miles). So, as you can expect, this is not your typical weekend backcountry gaperfest destination for most.
Looking over near the Nohku Crags:
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...70/Cnv0035.jpg
About halfway up the Poudre canyon it almost seemed like we crossed a magical line from no snow and sunny to whiteout conditions and snow covered roads. Sweet, looks like we’ll have a few inches to push around up there today I thought to myself. The snow continued to dump at a good rate for the rest of the drive.
We pulled into the parking lot and both of our jaws dropped in amazement. There was 16+” on the ground just in the parking lot! Only 1 other vehicle was in the lot, so there would be plenty of face shots to go around. We made a mad dash to gear up and get ready to go. With all this new snow it kind of felt like opening day of the new season again. Anticipation and excitement was taking over. We skinned up one of the gullies and made our way up to the top of Diamond peak. It continued to dump harder and harder as we made our way up to the top. Fresh, deep tracks weren’t far away.
Funken:
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...70/Cnv0036.jpg
We traversed over to a nice steep tree lined slope and dropped in to nipple deep over-the-head blower pow. Today was kind of crappy for taking pics because we couldn’t see each other, yet alone what was in front of us:
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...70/Cnv0034.jpg
Lap after lap we got cold punishing face shots that made our faces purple and our smiles larger. The white room was open for business all day long. The addiction was in full force. I didn’t want to let this day slip away. I wanted more, I couldn’t get enough. Perma grins :D were plastered to our faces from the first skin up to the final turns of the day.
last few turns before the parking lot:
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...70/Cnv0040.jpg
Life is good.
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...70/Cnv0041.jpg
