Home > Trip Reports > June 18-20, 2012, Enchanments (now with video)

June 18-20, 2012, Enchanments (now with video)

6/18/12
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Posted by mikerolfs on 6/20/12 3:38pm
skip the words and watch the video :)  https://vimeo.com/44504374

My wife and I had a ski trip planned into the enchantments for a week of relaxation and romance that would span our 14th anniversary.  Alas, my wife's feet got cold and she sent her brother with me as the next best thing.  We abbreviated the outing so I could be home to celebrate 14 great years.  The trip was great with good views, great skiing, and hardly any company at all.  In fact Monday morning at 9 a.m. there were only 4 or 5 cars in the Colchuck parking lot.  We were the only skiers out there.  We camped in the middle of the upper basin and skied several lines from little Annapurna and the lower high point to the West (which we dubbed "dino" in honor of a cool rock formation at the top:

Little Annapurna on the left and Dino on the right.


Big turns straight toward our camp:


Fun summit formations on Little Annapurna:


over the roll on dino:


tracks on dino:


After a couple of short runs to Inspiration Lake, we came up with our best idea of the day which was to ski from the top of Little Annapurna down a ramp to Crystal Lake.  This would be a 1600' run and was Super.  Super!

Here is Mike (brother-in-law also named Mike) headed down the ramp:


And here is how happy we were with the run!


From Crystal Lake we went up a snow finger on McClellan that you can see here:


and the skiing was fabulous as were the views:


Perfection Lake coolness: 


Water was available, so we didn't have melt snow.  Here Mike is filling our bottles between the mushy edge of snow and a local high grassy spot. 


Two other highlights for me were: 1. standing on Freya Lake, which shares the same name as my daughter:


And 2. getting to ski on my new TTS bindings system which ROCKS!  This is my first "active" binding and I couldn't believe how awesome it was.  I used to make parallel turns when it got steep or I was going fast.  With these, I can telemark (almost) everything.  I reverted some, but not much.  These bindings are worth their weight in gold:

(and since they weigh almost nothing, the price might roughly be equal to that)


We skied out fairly early and the snow on Aasgard was pretty firm.  A slip would have been ugly with lots of rocks showing, so we walked down the upper third:


But skiing the lower section is still pleasant

And we were able to ski about half way around the south end of Colchuck, which made that part of the walk out much quicker than when all the snow is gone


The snow was good corn on Monday until around 6pm when it glazed over and shook your fillings.  It was cold and windy that night.  Tuesday it was good from the get-go.  The corn never got mushy, and we skied until 8pm.  Wednesday would have been great I'm sure, maybe too warm to ski into the evening, but we were skittering home on the firm snow around 10am and that aspect (Westish) was not yet softened up.

*edited 6-22-12 to add link to video https://vimeo.com/44504374
Great trip report, Mike! Did you need permits, or does that start later? Great pictures, boy,did you get the weather!

Hey Mike, I wondered if you posted over here. You guys sure did seem to be having an awesome time up there. I really enjoyed watching you guys ski down Aasgard. Now I am seriously regretting leaving early.

Which boots are you using with your TTS binding?  Are those the scarp a F1's?  Also, what cable system did you use?  I'd like to build a TTS with the O1 cables underfoot.

Inspiring report.  I was actually up there June 14-15 on a hike with my wife, no skis, but I saw ski tracks and was wishing.

If you ever need someone to tele with... I'm new to the area, looking for people to ski with.  Send me a PM.

author=Rusty Knees link=topic=25176.msg106325#msg106325 date=1340261800]
Did you need permits,


Yes, permits required.  I picked the dates in February for the lottery process and it turns out I picked poorly as far as coordinating with my wife.  Worked out okay for skiing though :)

author=Fletcher link=topic=25176.msg106340#msg106340 date=1340304841]
Hey Mike, I wondered if you posted over here.


Good meeting you, Fletcher!  I got a pretty cool picture of you with the clouds behind.  (posted below) I bet you had a nice night on top of Little Annapurna.

author=danpeck link=topic=25176.msg106345#msg106345 date=1340312045]
Which boots are you using with your TTS binding?  Are those the scarp a F1's?  Also, what cable system did you use? 


I bought the full binding (aluminum toe option) from Wasatch http://www.wasatchski.com/purchase.htm
I think the cable is from a G3.  Mark, the guy who put these together, talked to me on the phone and was really helpful.   And yes, F1s.  So much nicer for walking in and they skied great! 

Wow! You guys sure nailed the timing of that trip. Great shots

Hell yeah!  That's a feel-good TR!  Sounds like a trip of a lifetime.  Good work, fellers!

Thanks for posting that photo Mike! Nice meeting you as well.

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june-18-20-2012-enchanments-now-with-video
mikerolfs
2012-06-20 22:38:42