I Love This Day!!

Skiing yesterday was one of the most amazing days. It was the first time we have gone this season when things were actually open. Because of the weather a lot of the runs were closed, it was pretty much only groomed trails that were open, and those are not very exciting. Yesterday pretty much everything was open and the weather was amazing, it was the first time in a long time I haven't had to wear my balaclava. I even had to open all the vents in my coat to keep from roasting to death. The snow had a really good consistency and for most of the day the lifts weren't too crowded. We were able to do some bowls and chutes that we haven't been able to get to since early last year. The last run of the day it was just Jeff and I. We went down into this bowl, Secret Saddle, that is closed more than its open and it was a lot of fun and when we got down we went through a gate that we had never been through before and decided to check it out. As we were going across the traverse we went around a corner and there were signs on one side saying "Warning Cliffs" with bright orange ropes so you don't accidentally go down it and then there were marks in the snow where people had turned around and hiked out. Some other guys came by and I started asking them if they had been there before and none of us had but we decided to press on and see what was down the traverse. We get to the end and the guys in front of us are stopped and contemplating, there was an 8 foot drop and then it went to a pretty mellow hill with moguls. Neither Jeff nor I have gone off cliffs before and not something we are quite ready for and after the guys in front of us, who hadn't done cliffs before, decided to go for it we watched them to see how they got down. In the process of waiting for us all to slowly go down this cliff there was a line piling up behind us, most of them didn't know there was a drop off either, just following people and they were pretty cool about us taking our time. We got pictures but I don't think it looks as bad as it was, I didn't get a chance to pull out my camera while Jeff was going down the really bad part.

Its kind of hard to see but in the middle-ish there is some huge icicles and to the right of that is the drop off, the bottom of the big drop off is right below the icicles and then you have to make a tight left turn and its steep down to where someone is coming down in the picture. It was kind of scary but I figure its OK and necessary to do things that are scary from time to time to keep you young and your heart going. I would even be willing to do it again. Below are some other pictures from the day.

In this one Bre got stuck down in between these little trees and with the sliding and the tight spot she wasn't able to get out without assistance, Jeff had to hike in there and help her remove her skis and poles and get her out.