January 4, 2005, Silver Basin

Art and I arrived at the base of The Throne chutes near the new Campbell Basin lodge at Crystal in sunny and cold conditions.  There were tracks in the main bowl but there was plenty of untracked areas.  We skinned  along the tree line and entered at the base of The Throne. The upper chutes are still rocky. We enjoyed boot deep powder as we descended to the base of High Campbell.  We then skinned into Avalanche Basin where most of the slopes were wind affected.  A couple of tracks descended from The King down the Hourglass but the tracks looked a bit scratchy until lower in the basin. We climbed up Lizard Back Ridge and gusty winds were hammering the ridge.  We descended the trees of "SE Left" and skied the funnel between the rock bands down to the bottom of Silver Basin.  The coverage is adequate in the basin as long as you ski "lightly" around the rock bands.  The snow was still in excellent shape and boot deep in most areas.  We skinned to Party Knoll and descended thru FF Forest in untracked dust.  I was surprised with the amount of snow in the Basin and the cold temps have maintained the powder. Plenty of skin tracks and lots of "lines" still available.  
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