Returned to the area I'd skied the day previous because I was on a time crunch and wanted to bag some turns quickly. I also wanted to bag the remaining chutes I passed over the day before. I followed by exit tracks from yesterday up to the top and found 3 chutes that still went (I'd seen two of them on the last trip, "discovered" the 3rd today); there seems to be the potential for 6-to-8 chutes depending on the snow and what time of year you hit the area, too. I passed on one of the chutes as it had a relatively narrow choke with boulders in the middle and on the sides and a high risk of unseen air pockets lurking underneath the steepest and narrowest section. Don't get me wrong, I seriously contemplated doing it, but the longer I stared at it, coupled with the facts that I was solo with no cell service, eventually won out. I boot-packed back up and hit one of the other chutes, a nice 22-turn semi-half pipe. Then I boot-packed up that and shifted over to hit the other remaining chute, one with a narrow choke and tree slalom. I was then able to meet up with my tracks from yesterday and ski almost all the way back to the truck again. Snow was soft, smooth corn, but it's starting to get a wee bit junky in spots. Still, not a bad 3.5 hour roundtrip for a Sunday.
“The best place in the world to ski is where you’re skiing that day.” — Warren Miller
