11/14/09, Hyak, status: slayed... kind of

My girlfriend Kristin and I went up to Hyak today with the intention of going up it, then coming back down. It worked. Nice. Some of you may have seen us, I was on some alpine trekkers and she was in some snow shoes and we had a blast. It was our first "touring" experience and definitely the most fun either of us has had on a ski trip. The conditions were perfect, snow was great and very forgiving from the top to about midway down where the water run off had caused some peaks and troughs running across the face, but all in all some really fun skiing! I would absolutely recommend to anyone who's thinking of going up tomorrow morning to go. Clouds were rolling in as we were leaving around 4 and I can only hope that means more snow. We had some trouble going up, as neither of us had ever really done it, and we had no idea where to go. First we started going straight up the face, then tried switch backs, and then finally realized how great of an idea it would be to just do what everyone else was doing... take the road! Firmly packed, easy as cake after that. Except for the part where we were both out of shape and it took us like an hour. Some great views on the way up, nice people. I realize anyone reading this has probably already skinned up Hyak a bunch but thats ok, I'm still claiming it, and it was a great 1st AT experience. It was fun, there was beer at the end, and it was a very satisfying feeling to have earned all the fun I had on the way back down. I ghetto rigged some pieces of nylon block to the bottom of my alpine trekkers because the heal didn't extend far enough forward to depress the brake actuator, worked like a charm. My free skins I got off of craigslist that just happened to fit my skis perfectly worked well, and apart from having like 12 pounds on each foot, I was happy w/ the setup. Sorry for no pictures, we were idiots and forgot the camera in the car, i'll try to go up again midweek and redeem myself.
Snowy Days are Happy Days,
R.I.P. BIGGY,
Ben