post-season

A couple of months ago, one of our neighbors was cleaning out his gear and gave H a back-country set up.  Not wanting to appear ungrateful (indeed, he's very appreciative), H said that when we got back from Moab, he wanted to go up to Alta and try it out.  He wasn't able to adjust the ski bindings to fit his boots in time but the skins did fit his K2 telemark skis, so he was outfitted.  I don't have skins or any sort of uphill set-up, so I popped on over to rent a pair of snowshoes* so that I too was outfitted.

Ready to stomp

Leaving sad Milton behind (no dogs in Little Cottonwood Canyon), we got up to the Albion parking lot a little before 9:45 a.m.  It was a gorgeous day, clear, strong sun and about mid-50s but warming quickly.  There is little snow on the south-facing slopes but on the resort proper, there is still plenty of the goods.  There were plenty of other folks who'd had the same idea we had: touring skiers, split-boarders and snowshoers were all taking advantage of the day.

He caught me at Alf's

We didn't have a plan, nor really any idea of what to expect, so we just decided to meet back at the truck no later than 12 noon.  I got geared up first, walking across the Albion parking lot to the maintenance shed and putting my snowshoes on there; H came behind me after getting his tele boots on.  We went up the Sunnyside bunny slope to Alf's, the snow softening fast in the sun, where H caught up with me.  We kept going up Devil's Elbow from there and then our paths diverged.  I veered right, making my way over to lower Extrovert.  Fact: Extrovert is VERY steep on snowshoes.  I made a bit of a loop, trying to stay clear of the growing tree wells, and went back down the way I came up.  Total distance: 2.5 miles.  

So glad to be out on such a nice day!

Meanwhile, H continue his tour up Devil's Elbow, making it all the way to the top of the Sugarloaf chair (that in itself was 2.55 miles)!  It took him about an hour and a half to go up; he paused there for around fifteen minutes to reapply sunscreen and talk with some other skiers.  And then it took him all of fifteen minutes to make his way back down.  Not only was this his first time ever touring, it was his first time this season on telemark equipment: the heavy, sticky spring conditions weren't ideal for tele turns.  Still, he was grinning ear to ear when he got back to the truck.  We both were - it felt great to do something new, and to do it up at Alta on a spectacular spring day.

* H and I do actually have snowshoes but they are about twenty years old, long and unstable on side-hills.  Snowshoe technology has changed in the interim and so I wanted to try a newer pair out.  Despite the newer versions, I still don't love snowshoeing.  The rental pair were mostly metel and heavy, and my hips were getting sore by the end due to having to walk with a wider stance.  It's just like hiking but more work.