11.19.06 The Search TR

[goldenboy]

Purple Palace, 11.19.06
Goldenboy, Mtnbikerskierchick, non-mag Laura

After the windy and sizeable storm of Nov 13/14, I hadn't had a chance to take a look around and see waht was going on in the Crested Butte backcountry. The storm shut down some of the previously available options like snowmobiling past Gothic, and reports in town were mostly of a thin snowpack that was heavily windaffected. Last year, in similarly wind affected snowpack conditions, the Purple Palace proved to be sheltered enough to still provide good skiing, so we decided to give that a shot.

Laura, hiking up the last few feet to the ridge, with Cinnamon and Maroon behind



Slate river valley, CB in the background



Still haven't hit this face yet, needs a bit more snow



MBSC called the skiing on the upper treeless part "interesting and fun". Others would call it a wee bit windafuckted. In either case, Laura made it look easy.



The trees didn't let us down though, and we found some creamy conditions.

More Laura:






MBSC:




GB:




We found lots of evidence of cracking and slides from the storm cycle. The snowpack definitely needed a few days to mellow out before stomping around on it too much.

It's dark on N faces now- I think I need to increase my shutter speed just a bit when I am shooting in the shade.

The next day we grabbed ropes and crampons and ventured into the gnarnia found in this photo. Consider that a teaser.

[arg]

wow, nice. looks good down there.

[Yossarian]

Yahtzee!

[FrankZappa]

'cuse me for a sec while I try to contain the drool factor...


Very, very nice. The CB BC crew comes through.




... and the tease... jeeeeeez! ...I don't wanna talk about it.

[MadMatt]

Purple Palace, 11.19.06
Slate river valley, CB in the background

BEAUTY!!!!!

[smmokan]

I heart CB.

[Atrain505]

Ohhh, I'm excited for the completion of the teaser.

[KillingCokes]

MMMMMMM More CB pics please. (drool on self emoticon)

[Phatstix]

Killerrrrrrrrr. Work it.

[David Duchovny]

Excellent TR. Keep on searching. The truth is out there.

[skimoore]

Excellent TR. Keep on searching. The truth is out there.

Sorry, I believe you meant to be in this thread: http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68128

[hoarhey]

Thanks for the TR.
Nice pictures and good snow.
Is Laura a CB/CO local?

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

Well played, very well played indeed. And this stuff looks quite fun as well..

[IridePow]

Good work guys.

[Son1cdeth]

kickass! The snow in the trees looks $$$$$

[mtnbikerskierchick]

It was a fun day out there and fun to ski with a chick that rips!

Is Laura a CB/CO local?

She is a seasonal local. In January she'll be moving to BC and will also be traveling a lot for skiing.

[goldenboy]

^^^ In addition to hanging out in Pemberton with her boyfriend, Laura will also be spending a lot of time on the hill she grew up at- Crystal Mtn, WA

[hoarhey]

I think she wrote about Pinball chute at Crystal in the women's mag-insert in Powder.
That and the volkls and her skiing skills.
Thanks again for the TR from a strong crew in a beautiful spot.
--end female professional skier stalking...