April 10, 2017, Summit West - Powder and Sun

It has been 4 months since I put on my skins and actually skinned up a slope. In those 4 months  Jill and I have skied all over the Western states (OR, ID, UT, CO, MT) and Alberta and British Columbia. The €œfree tickets€ are from our various seasons passes. We live in our campervan, and we have been spoiled. So we are planning our 4th Ski Trip with a combination of lift skiing in OR and CA and backcountry touring in CA. Being in our early 70's we are probably the age of your parents and/or grandparents, so our touring days aren't what they used to be! To get ready for the skinning part I decided to start slowly €“ so this was the start of spring skinning with some unexpected powder thrown in.

The day was sunny in the morning so it was off to Summit West before the rain began. The sun disappeared and it was cloudy. I put on the skins and it was snowing, not raining. It snowed and I found a section of the terrain where there was 1€ of new snow over a soft surface that was  great for skiing.  Getting off the firm section it was too deep and more like deep slush. Once I hit the ridge the snow stopped and the sun came out. OK, time to ski.  It was fun to make turns on the spring snow. I need more days on my skins on before we head south.  I started heading west in the car and within 1 mile the snow became rain... What a day, weather-wise!