Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Ski Season Over? (16 Months in a Row)

I hate to say it but I think the ski season might be over, here in CO.  A week of warm temps in the mountains and no end in sight means the snow is melting quickly.  At the very least it's time to put the powder skis away.  It even looks like spring ski-mountaineering season will be short to nonexistent this year due to coverage and a persistent weak layer of facets at the bottom of the snow pack.  According to the CAIC, the faceted layer is likely to create devastating wet slides through the spring.  Overall, it was a pretty disappointing season for the backcountry skier.  The season started 2 months late and ended a month early.  If you do the math that leaves February, which was actually decent (comparatively, my last powder day was in May last year!).  In February I managed to snag 2 great weekends at Vail and dropped East Vail several times.  I'm hoping to edit an East Vail video soon.

Without a spring ski season, it looks like my streak of skiing 16 months in a row will come to an end.  I was fortunate enough to ski Mt. Evans, Berthoud Pass, the Dead Dog Couloir on Gray's, and St. Mary's Glacier last Spring, Summer, and Fall.  In honor of my 16 month streak, I posted some footage from last June.


For updated backcountry conditions check out the East Vail Institute.  He's pretty good about his condition reports, and he's funny and witty which I enjoy.
http://eastvailinstitute.com/

Also check the CAIC:
http://avalanche.state.co.us/index.php


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