October 31, 2004, Excelsior Ridge

My wife, Jennifer, and I took advantage of the excellent early season snowfall to ski the pristine meadows of Excelsior Ridge. We drove up the backside of Church Mountain on the Canyon Creek Road, managing to get the Subaru to about 4000' and half a mile from the Damfino Lakes trailhead. Skis on we headed out in about 10" of snow. There was just enough coverage to ski through the beautiful old growth for about 2 miles until we broke out into open terrain below Excelsior Pass. Here the snowpack was at least 2' with excellent powder on a consolidating base. The sun finally broke out and we made a few wonderful runs before heading back down the way we came. Pizza and beer and the North Fork Beer Shrine finished us off. It doesn't get any better...