East Peak 1/9/08

Team Wally is not the only one who is locked in heaven.
Like Mastercard, locals have their privileges.
We hoped that others had already done the trail breaking, but not so, we had to forge our own trail on what is typically the superhighway to the side-country.
Variable snow pack conditions from 4-8 inches of cold denser new on top of a soaked, supportive crust layer, on top of a deep 135cm homogeneous snowpack.
On the Cement basin side deep cross wind loaded eastern slopes were not that inviting, but a hundred yards away, SE gentler slopes skied good on 6-8 inches of stable denser powder with little to no wind effect. The South face ski out had variable skiing, powder on a crust layer on what I call "Pitchy Powder" Defined as: There is resistance in the turn and then the skis would release and jet on you. Good training on how to maintain balance, form and technique.
Nice peaceful clear day, the low fog slid in fast at about 1pm, but was not a problem as it was clear on the summits and Eastern slopes.

As Team Wally would say, "That is All!"