It was a wild and woolly morning with the wind just cranking, but the Tram left on time with a light turn out, and an intrepid group braving the nuking wind on the peak. The wind giveth and it taketh away. The wind was blowing so hard it was another guessing game as to where the loose snow would land. It turned out being caught in the gullies and bump troughs making some of those lines smooth and tantalizing. The shotgun blast across the Chips flats was working again accelerating you across the flats in a hang on for your life ride. The flat light made it tough to see the detail, so a tall, wide stance with hands held high was the ticket to help with the uncertainty. Both sides of the hill had it’s charm,
Vintage Shot
but the wind finally caused the Tram to shut down at around 10:00AM when I beat a hasty retreat to the Forklift Restaurant to regroup and take on supplemental fortification. The wind kept on cranking and is pounding the Trailer as I write. I am getting sporadic pixelation from the array, so I will have to straighten things out tomorrow. Tomorrow, look to the weather first as what is going to happen is any one’s guess, but I am thinking deep thoughts. Many high points were stripped clean by the wind, so watch those high points that are exposed and aim for the gut. The smooth is holding and I found one aspect filled in that just the other day was a no go for my knees, but today it was good to go. Goes to show what a difference a day makes. Here is a shot given to me by my friend Chris of his crew’s exploits out in Mineral Basin back in the early 80’s. This is the Toad Hill section with the tracks in one of the Bookend Chutes. Lets see what the weather brings and check the Bird site weather in the AM.
Hee Hee. We made three round trips that day, ending with two of us skiing the dead end chute between the Twins and then traversing out to old reliable. Such fun!
This is actually March of 1979. Lots of snow that year.