Got some today at bridger

[Ak_pride]

Had one of the best runs down hidden chute today of the year. I didn't pull up to the parking lot till about 2 or 3 due to heavy drinking last night. Several inches of new snow there. Proceed to hike up under bridger and the new snow just keeps getting deeper and deeper, as I get to the top of the ridge there is about 16-24" new snow. It is very beautiful on top with a cold wind blowing and large cornices and mid winter like conditions. But then 1500 feet lower it is very green, looking like new zealand or something. I figure I won't get first tracks due to the fact that I saw 3 other people in front of me head that direction. Everything else looked too rocky to ski for the most part. But as I got to the entrance I stare down a smoothe looking perfectly untracked chute. The other people dropped in way lower down. So I knock a little off the cornice at the lip to test the stability, but still not too confident about it, So I drop in and make a hard turn and quick scoot off to the side to watch the sluff slide down, then repeat this and still nothing seems to slide too big. So I go for it and haul ass and can hear my sluff racing behind me bouncing off the rock walls and then just open up for some huge smoothe turns all the way down to the bottom of the apron hooting and hollering the whole way. Definately the best turns down hidden itself of the year, Never managed to get it untracked before, but down lower on the apron it started to get a little wetter, but still very good. Manged to ride all the way to the bottom of alpine(wouldn't recommend it if you care about your bases, I had my rock board) and proceeded to walk just a couple minutes back to the car. Not to bad of a run for may 30th.

[sanjuanworm]

not to bad....

[fez]

nice dude. was wondering what it looked like up there with snow in town and all.

[CantDog]

hmmm, hidden gully brings back warm fuzzy memories. way to get after it.

[Jumper Bones]

Glad somebody got some today

Yeah so Beartooth sucked. The highway wasn't even opened, and isn't going to open tomorrow either. Sounds like the plow crew isn't in any hurry. Drove 6 hours today for NOTHING. The whole situation was fucked into a cocked hat, so to say...there's more to it than simply "the highway is closed". So I'm pissed.

I'm riding Blackmore tomorrow. Anybody else?

[Ak_pride]

holy shit, really glad i read t hat, I was planning on heading up there tomorrow morning. Was it opened earlier this weekend?

[Alkasquawlik]

Originally posted by Ak_pride
But then 1500 feet lower it is very green, looking like new zealand or something.

That's was definitely one of the coolest parts of being there a couple weeks ago. Flip (the photographer) was absolutely amped on the way a lot of his pictures were turning out because of that exact stated reason. I can't believe it just keeps snowing up there. I wish I could go back right now.

[Mountainman]

Originally posted by Jetter
Glad somebody got some today

Yeah so Beartooth sucked. The highway wasn't even opened, and isn't going to open tomorrow either. Sounds like the plow crew isn't in any hurry. Drove 6 hours today for NOTHING. The whole situation was fucked into a cocked hat, so to say...there's more to it than simply "the highway is closed". So I'm pissed.

I'm riding Blackmore tomorrow. Anybody else?

When did they close the road? After shitty skiing yesterday i left.

[Stoysluttie1]

wow. Bummer for you guys. Couldn't you skin to good turns?

[Mountainman]

Originally posted by Stoysluttie1
wow. Bummer for you guys. Couldn't you skin to good turns?

When i was there the pass was open but it was too cold up top for the snow to ever get good. Only parts that were actually corn was the last couple hundred feet of reefer's by rock creek.

Todays weather is the same but throughout the week is should be getting warmer.

[Jumper Bones]

Originally posted by Mountainman
When did they close the road? After shitty skiing yesterday i left.

well when we rolled up at about noon, it was shut down. We came the Gardiner and Cooke City route, figuring that it would be the more gradual slope and would be the first to be plowed and opened. Not! Anyway we discovered that the pass on that side had been shut down since 6 that AM after the morning recon by the Hwy Dept (now there's a job, going and guinea-pigging a pass with HUGE dropoffs to see how she is, in the dark). The rumor was that the MT side for some reason wasn't shut down, and some people were up there as a result and got very stuck. Supposedly the plow crews couldn't plow until all the cars were out of there.

Whatever the case, it was obvious that the plow crews weren't in any hurry. We tried to see how close we could get, and we got about 2 miles past the Top of the World store, where the road does its final straightaway until the pass itself. They hadn't even bothered to clear the 1-2 feet of blown snow off of the road, presumably to keep the gapers out (it worked, I didn't feel like going in and getting stuck with my 2wd Volvo). I imagine I could have pressed on, I do have snow tires on and chains in my trunk, but the thought of getting stuck or having to back out 2-3 miles in reverse because there wasn't a clear turnaround...yeah no thanks.

Up top it was GUSTY. Those winds were moving, and it was a miserable time outside. So skinning up to the pass itself was out of the question. It also became apparent that the weather wasn't going to change for the better overnight, and it was strongly unlikely that the road would be open the next day. We tried to salvage the situation and pass the time by trying to hike out to Beartooth Peak (across from the lake of the same name) to ski its wind-sheltered small snowfields, but hiking through the woods SUCKED and we got stopped by a river feeding into the lake. Dammit! Next time I'll bring a goddam canoe and just go across the fucking lake.

Anyway once we were done we headed back up to the Top of the World folks, saw the plows come down for the day, and they said there was no way it was opening the next day. So we started the long drive back...sonuvabitch!

Really sucks as we'd brought our camping gear and were going to camp out, but with the pass having no chance of opening, the weather being as shitty as it was (and getting shittier by the minute)...it just wasn't worth it.

Went up to Blackmore today...it was alright, heard it was really good in the morning, but when the sun came out the snow became superheated and slushified. Made for sloppy turns after a whole goddam lot of effort to climb that trail. That is a long, steep approach...

[fez]

Originally posted by Jetter
well when we rolled up at about noon, it was shut down. We came the Gardiner and Cooke City route, figuring that it would be the more gradual slope and would be the first to be plowed and opened. Not!

MDOT plows the road. they tend to worry about the Montana side before the Wyoming side since the road just connects two Montana towns, the Wyo DOT doesnt give a rats ass when it opens. The Red Lodge COC pushes the DOT on this too.