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Another great day



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 25th 05, 04:13 PM
MattB
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Default Another great day

The report said 4" and I was committed to ski with some friends I've had
a tough time coordinating schedules this year. Finally we had our day
all set but Crested Butte was reporting 9". Grrr. Well, I only have one
day left on my CB pass (plus the last two days of the season) so I'll be
spending that one this weekend.
We got to Monarch at 9:15 and started skiing at the lower lift. It was
just like a 4" day. Pretty good but nothing spectacular. Then we headed
up to the ridge which is also the continental divide. As luck would have
it the wind up there had loaded the ridge nicely and it was skiing much
deeper than 4". Then we hiked into the Mirkwood basin and oh boy did we
find the goods up there. I think I took my best ski photo yet:
http://mattb.net/images/galleries/2005-03-24%20(Powder%20day%20at%20Monarch)/DSC01015.JPG

There were some other good ones taken too (by and of me). Gallery he
http://mattb.net/pics.aspx?gal=2005-03-24%20(Powder%20day%20at%20Monarch)

Matt (resting the legs for tomorrow - and CB got another 11" last night!)

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  #2  
Old March 25th 05, 04:21 PM
Chester Bullock
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MattB wrote:
The report said 4" and I was committed to ski with some friends I've had
a tough time coordinating schedules this year. Finally we had our day
all set but Crested Butte was reporting 9". Grrr. Well, I only have one
day left on my CB pass (plus the last two days of the season) so I'll be
spending that one this weekend.
We got to Monarch at 9:15 and started skiing at the lower lift. It was
just like a 4" day. Pretty good but nothing spectacular. Then we headed
up to the ridge which is also the continental divide. As luck would have
it the wind up there had loaded the ridge nicely and it was skiing much
deeper than 4". Then we hiked into the Mirkwood basin and oh boy did we
find the goods up there. I think I took my best ski photo yet:
http://mattb.net/images/galleries/2005-03-24%20(Powder%20day%20at%20Monarch)/DSC01015.JPG


That is indeed a nice pic Matt. As I sit here in Denver, I am envious
of the day you will have tomorrow...
----------------------
Chester Bullock,
Colorado Mountain Cams, Snow Conditions, Opinionated Reports
http://www.black-diamond.com
AIM: tenxible YahooIM: ccb247

  #3  
Old March 25th 05, 08:29 PM
TexasSkiNut
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AstroPax wrote:
On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 MattB wrote:
I think I took my best ski photo yet:


http://mattb.net/images/galleries/2005-03-24%20(Powder%20day%20at%20Monarch)/DSC01015.JPG

I agree. Nice shot !


Ditto. I whipped out my protractor and it looks like that slope is
around 40 degrees, as measured assuming the trees are vertical. Looks
like some fun terrain.

  #4  
Old March 25th 05, 09:07 PM
MattB
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TexasSkiNut wrote:
AstroPax wrote:

On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 MattB wrote:

I think I took my best ski photo yet:


http://mattb.net/images/galleries/2005-03-24%20(Powder%20day%20at%20Monarch)/DSC01015.JPG

I agree. Nice shot !



Ditto. I whipped out my protractor and it looks like that slope is
around 40 degrees, as measured assuming the trees are vertical. Looks
like some fun terrain.


Thanks! It means a lot to hear this from Astro.

It's pretty steep there, and as far as I can recall the trees were
pretty vertical, so your measurement may be right. This terrain is an
absolute blast and I can't express how excited it made me to have this
become part of the regular area.
There's also a bunch of cliffs scattered around below, so you'd need a
good self-arrest, just in case.
I'm hoping some of the trees below the cliffs will be thinned a bit. I
wouldn't feel comfortable dropping some of these into the thick, old
growth glades. That much speed around lots of big trees might not be
such a good combo.

Matt

  #5  
Old March 25th 05, 09:56 PM
klaus
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MattB wrote:

Nice photo and all..

but:

I'm hoping some of the trees below the cliffs will be thinned a bit. I
wouldn't feel comfortable dropping some of these into the thick, old
growth glades. That much speed around lots of big trees might not be
such a good combo.


Why? Just get to where you can ski it. Or leave it for those who
can. No need to take out "old growth" just cuz you don't feel
"comfortable". What next, groom it for the folks that aren't
comfortable skiing off piste?

-klaus

  #6  
Old March 25th 05, 11:43 PM
MattB
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klaus wrote:
MattB wrote:

Nice photo and all..

but:


I'm hoping some of the trees below the cliffs will be thinned a bit. I
wouldn't feel comfortable dropping some of these into the thick, old
growth glades. That much speed around lots of big trees might not be
such a good combo.



Why? Just get to where you can ski it. Or leave it for those who
can. No need to take out "old growth" just cuz you don't feel
"comfortable". What next, groom it for the folks that aren't
comfortable skiing off piste?

-klaus


You have a completely valid argument. One I've actually used in the past.
I guess I don't really have a good concise answer for why, but I'll try
to offer some justification anyway. These are some big (30') drops
literally right into a clump of big trees. There are some other drops
that have better runouts (IMO of course) too but I can't really ever see
some of these big ones ever being safely (relatively of course) skied.
The trees are too big to be cleared (in the sense of jumped over), and
there really is not room to make a landing in the trees, even if you are
a world class freeskier. It's REALLY tight with fallen logs laying here
and there. Skiing into one of these clumps I came to a stop, and tried
to squeeze through a hole. I was afraid I was going to tear my jacket
basically just trying to walk through.
So my thinking was that I don't think anyone could drop this one
particular cliff section safely. Someone may try and if they do chances
are they will hit a big tree going pretty fast.
If that bunch of trees were thinned just a little, there would be some
skiable lines off those cliffs, and the result would be more usable
terrain. To me, more usable terrain is good. Lines that can almost only
lead to tree collisions are generally bad.
I know it also sounds like I'm projecting my preferences on others and
maybe I am. But... I've watched and even been in some freeskiing comps
at Crested Butte and I don't think this kind of stuff is really skiable
..
I'll try and see if I can take a photo of what I'm talking about next
time I'm back there and have the time and camera handy.

Matt

 




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