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#1
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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