Home > Trip Reports > May 22, 2010, Xtal BC fantastico

May 22, 2010, Xtal BC fantastico

5/22/10
Canada BC
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Posted by Mofro on 5/23/10 10:22am
Partyticypants: PNWBrit, Scotsman, Joedabaker, Carol, Chestertartsnatcher, and Mofro.
Xtal BC with fog, snow, wind, sun,and pow.

With it getting towards late May,  when a storm aligns to bring 6-12" new it's best to get after it. And damn the getting was good. After debating what and where to ski, the motley crew headed for the top of xtal to ski some prime N. facing snow off the resort backside into the Park and tag a "permament closure". ~2300ft of skinning brought us to the Cache for the first lap. Snowing, blustery, poor vis that seemed typical for every day of skiing this winter. Approx 6-8" new on a firm and very smooth undersurface that was only a wee bit scratchy on the occasional turn, trending heavier below 6K but still very ripper for 1200vert. Skinned back up and encountered firm and somewhat slick conditions in the trees with 4-6" very fluffy snow in the protected areas.



We were able to set a skin track all the way up the ridge to the top of the Queen to hit Kempers.  Velvety smooth pow 8" deep, closer to 12" with the wind deposition with a firm surface below.  Still in and out of the fog and snow for visability, no motion on ski cuts though slick enough that the under surface could wet slough if enough force was applied, like a slip out while skinning. Skiing fall line however, it was ego snow and skied well down to 5500ft, ~1500ft off the top.



Kemper's was so good I had to bust tail up and ski it again.:D
We re-grouped again at Powder Pass, and given that it was 3:30 and somewhere @ 4700-4800 vert already had been skinned by the rest of the group, Chester and PNWBrit decided to call it a day. Scotsman, Joe and I skinned back up to the top where various descents were discussed, before we settled on heading out past Northway. Then a a sucker hole patch of blue sky brought us all rainbow riding Unicorns for our trip down Morning Glory and BrandX. We had beeen anticipating so-so conditions on the S. facing slopes, but the snow was fantastic! Completely surfy surface snow that had been warmed by the sun and consolidated down to 4-6" on top of a soft and smooth undersurface.

Rainbow unicorn tracks


Ok, so it's 4:30 but that run was awesome, therefore it took very little arm twisting to get a group decision to make another. We skinned/skied around to the bottom of O's Meadows and slogged up it past the gunmount. Well it did seem like the right thing to do at the time. The last run down Johnston's chute to Teacher's was fun, but the limited sun we'd had and the late hour had put a slight surface crust on the snow. Tired legs were rewarded with the snow pack becoming discountinuous @4800ft. We down climbed rock piles and Scotsman did a Vincent Van Gogh imitation using a ski edge, before we linked the last few patches to the road and walked back up to the cars. Somewhere between 6-6.5K for the day, with an extra 1k for me.

We didn't see any other parties out all day where we were, fabuluous day to be in the mountains.

Early and late.  November and May bringing the goods this year.  Way to get some!

Here's a pic Kyle Miller sent me of our tracks in Morning glory taken from across the valley.
thanks Kyle

Great skiing with the gang!
Thanks for breaking trail 99.999% of the day MoFro.
Nice contribution Kyle.
That snow down Morning Glory and Brand X was amazing!
I like that we didn't even think of slowing down, option #1 was tossed out the door.
The only time I have ever skinned up O meadows.
Our all lung leader MoFro
and Chris Van Gough just before the living scree field

author=Joedabaker link=topic=16736.msg70170#msg70170 date=1274807265]

The only time I have ever skinned up O meadows.


and maybe the last time I will ever skin up O's meadows!

Wonderful TR and powder photos.  It's hard to believe it's the end of May.  The photos are an inspiration for Jill for next season with her new hip. 

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may-22-2010-xtal-bc-fantastico
Mofro
2010-05-23 17:22:54