January 18, 2014, Chair Peak Divide

Headed up with the dogs for some sun and corn, hoping the Chair Peak basin would heat nicely.  As expected - ice in the shade with some breakable crust down low, and shallow slush on ice in the sun.    Open snowfields had shallow runnels on them, so the skiing was never much better than mediocre. Ski crampons were a big asset on steeper slopes, even in the sun. The winter approach trail to Source Lake made for some really challenging skinning, and I ended up booting most of it.  I descended via the Snow Lake summer trail, which was still in the sun at 2:00pm, and still found lots of places that were easier to boot down than ski.  I even walked on the summer trailbed at times. 
Not much of a payoff in good turns, but nice to be out on a beautiful sunny day.