Colorado Spring Powder

Made a small expedition to Marble Peak, Colorado this past Thursday. The mountain was covered with a blanket of fresh spring powder. First run was cold smoke at the higher elevations and a bit cooked down lower. It was so good we had to do it again so we ended up with two car/summit laps of the peak. Slightly more cooked on the second run but still way more fun than the office. I’m super careful about what lines we ski on Marble, and usually don’t touch the central bowl mainline unless it’s firm spring corn. But today’s layer of fluff on a firm crust inspired confidence. Ski testing couldn’t get anything moving and the crust bridge remained strong, so after six other people skied the bowl with no incident (and the three of us skied the far left side for our first lap), we rated the avy danger as “low” and went for it. After practising restraint all winter it was somewhat liberating to finally drop the mainline.

Lynn gets the goods on our second lap. That morning he’d mumbled vague words about eventually getting to work, but somehow he forgot about his schedule and did the second climb with us. Interesting how powder influences neurons. That would be a good study for someone’s PHD.

Louie on the first lap, testing his camo gear. Nice to see other folks up there as well, including Adam and his friends from the Midwest who braved the Colorado highlands despite their lower elevation lungs. I always admire backcountry skiers who still go for it even though they’re not in the skiing lifestyle. Makes me realize I get too obsessed with the gear and my fitness, and just need to get out there and do it!