July 3, Rockin' the Castle - 1 turns
7/15/09
1637
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It was a great day to be out in the mountains. Nary a cloud in the sky, and the views were amazing. Again. To misquote Jimmy Buffet, "Just another day across the valley from Paradise"
I took two of my many kids up to earn some of their first turns. Ben promised ON MY FATHER'S DAY CARD that he would go with me on my next trip. In our house that was like putting his hand on the Bible and swearing in. So I was delighted when at 5:30 AM he (21) and Dan (13) popped up like toast to head to MRNP. Joe (Big Smooth, my early tele mentor), and my brother in law Mike came along.
It was Mike's first time earning his turns, and though he had to carry his regular downhill gear up the hill, he did a great job! With all our lapping he stomped about two thousand VF in his downhill boots, a feat of no small significance. And he didn't complain. Much. He's strong as an ox and light on his skis, once he got the suncups figured out, (one bouncy turn) he was ripping. He was amazed that you could get to such amazing view with so little effort. I (pant, pant) agreed (pant, pant - pressure breath - rest step).
Now the two Dark Side Riding boys kicked their Dad's buttocks up the mountain, and were Rockin' the Castle all day. We made three laps, and headed down. The route is not quite so straight forward and open as 10 days ago. There were some veggie belays happening on the way down, part of our group hiked down through the cliffs and trees. Ben & I chose a route about that needed 20 steep feet of downclimbing slippery rocks, then we were able to ski to the car except for one more short carry. It was funny to watch Ben snowboard over a creek snowbridge only to see part of it drop into the creek after he crossed, leaving me to quickly change my course.
The back side of the Castle saddle has good coverage down a few hundred feet, but the back side of the Pinnacle is gone - amazing how fast she disappears in this weather. Slushcup is not ripe yet, but it won't be long...
I've never seen Paradise so crowded.
More pictures here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Rustyknees/2009CastleSaddle?authkey=Gv1sRgCNqS85_K-p7ZnAE#
I took two of my many kids up to earn some of their first turns. Ben promised ON MY FATHER'S DAY CARD that he would go with me on my next trip. In our house that was like putting his hand on the Bible and swearing in. So I was delighted when at 5:30 AM he (21) and Dan (13) popped up like toast to head to MRNP. Joe (Big Smooth, my early tele mentor), and my brother in law Mike came along.
It was Mike's first time earning his turns, and though he had to carry his regular downhill gear up the hill, he did a great job! With all our lapping he stomped about two thousand VF in his downhill boots, a feat of no small significance. And he didn't complain. Much. He's strong as an ox and light on his skis, once he got the suncups figured out, (one bouncy turn) he was ripping. He was amazed that you could get to such amazing view with so little effort. I (pant, pant) agreed (pant, pant - pressure breath - rest step).
Now the two Dark Side Riding boys kicked their Dad's buttocks up the mountain, and were Rockin' the Castle all day. We made three laps, and headed down. The route is not quite so straight forward and open as 10 days ago. There were some veggie belays happening on the way down, part of our group hiked down through the cliffs and trees. Ben & I chose a route about that needed 20 steep feet of downclimbing slippery rocks, then we were able to ski to the car except for one more short carry. It was funny to watch Ben snowboard over a creek snowbridge only to see part of it drop into the creek after he crossed, leaving me to quickly change my course.
The back side of the Castle saddle has good coverage down a few hundred feet, but the back side of the Pinnacle is gone - amazing how fast she disappears in this weather. Slushcup is not ripe yet, but it won't be long...
I've never seen Paradise so crowded.
More pictures here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Rustyknees/2009CastleSaddle?authkey=Gv1sRgCNqS85_K-p7ZnAE#
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