Mood:
accident proneTopic: shred report
New Snow: 15"
Conditions: powder
FINALLY - some real snow to report! I raced out onto the slopes and took an early run. I had forgotten my knee brace at home, but I decided that it was just a crutch, and I wasn't going to miss out on a day of fresh powder. Soft, floaty turns on a bed of powder over the smooth corduroy beneath. I was interrupted by a text message from my friend A on his way to the hill, so I returned to the base to find him. And grab a snack at Cafe 6311. I took a run up Teewinot to the MOB (mountain operations building) and met him at his locker. He had kindly brought a spare knee brace for me, but sadly it was not the right size and I couldn't make it work.
Meanwhile, I got a text from my friend K, who was just getting to the mountain with our other friends, J and E. K and J are skiers, and E is a snowboarder. They said they were going to head up Teewinot and lap A.V., and I told them I'd meet them up there.
Once A got himself dressed, we headed up the lift and took a few runs together. Since he's just learning to telemark, we went slow, and I got in some fakie practice. Moguls were starting to appear, and a haze of fog had descended over a good chunk of the upper mountain. I found myself inadvertently catching air because the light was so flat. Yikes.
A few runs later, we caught up with K, J, and E. They wanted to take Moran, but A decided to take Werner and work on his tele technique. I followed K, J, and E down Moran, and the race was on. These guys were more aggressive in their style, and it pushed me to work harder and ride faster. I even followed K off a few little kickers, which I had been avoiding on earlier days. Maybe it was partially due to the softer landings with all the new snow, or maybe it was just peer pressure. Either way, it felt great, and I finally rode all day instead of packing it in early. Hopefully, with all this new snow, they'll be able to open the Gondola before next weekend!
