January 5, 2018, Montgomery Peak (11,330'), CO

Montgomery Peak (11,330')
North Colorado
January 5, 2018
Lucky 22



My 24 year old niece told me while we were skiing at Eldora over the holiday break that she doesn't plan to snowboard anymore.  She raised her chin and looked down her nose at my 173 Burton and said "It's for Dads", and skied away on her twin tip skis...backwards.

Oh.  Well, I'll be darned. 

I guess that's about right, they sure are for old farts like myself.  But then again so are tele skis, AT or a figl set up for that matter - whatever puts a smile on my face.  I had to chuckle at the youthful comment.  Back in the 80s and 90s snowboarding was practically a rite of passage for teenage angst, and no parent would be seen on one. It was the tattoo, piercing and a snowboard age, and you would probably develop a raging addiction of some sort to go along with your non-conformist behavior.

Boy, times have changed.  At least in the minds of the youth - nothing ever really changes.  Or does it?  I think her Dad-comment comes from the fact these older dudes are just reliving their teen years and who doesn't dream to be younger?  Well, maybe just old people like myself.  So I guess some things do change.  Reluctantly.

***

I was down to three usable snowboards: the Venture 167 (the "A" board), the Burton Cascade 168 (the unlikely "B" board with its deep powder width and stiff ride) and the Burton Supermodel 173 (the cheap, semi-adequate long board I bought to replace the stolen K2 Eldorado 176 - my favorite board ever, taken in its prime from under the bumper of my friend's Subaru as we slept inside in the shadow of Mt Mansfield, Vermont).  My fourth working board, the shorty Burton 162, had way too much damage to be nothing other than the backyard grass and asphalt board for when the snow flies in the neighborhood in September & October).  Over the last couple of weeks I had really enjoyed taking out the Supermodel (who wouldn't?) and the flexi feel and quick turning radius was contrary to the usual long board feel.  So, as it hadn't snowed in a while, meaning both the A board and the fatty were out of the running, and as I was really digging the retro feel of the classic Supermodel dimensions, I waxed up the 173 for a day up in the backcountry.  I was so enamored that after the wax job I actually tracked down its age, which I really didn't know. I had bought it with the plastic still on it as a late-model in the summer sale some time before 2005, but really didn't even know what year it was built.  In steps the world wide web and its bottomless (cess) pool of information. 

Turns out the darn thing is the 1999 model, with its curious Sea and Iceburg base and its drab maroon colorings.

It was time to party like it was 1999, and into the rig went the 173 for the 1 hour 45 minute drive to the only (good) snow in Colorado.  Me and my Supermodel on the way to the slopes.  Eat your heart out, Prince.

***

After dropping the kids at school, and the usual fun of driving through Fort Collins, the drive up the 45 miles of Poudre Canyon was marred only by bumper to antler traffic from a herd of Big Horn sheep, otherwise, I didn't see a car until I hit the trailhead.  I simply love that drive.

***

With my 19 year old Supermodel on my back (I'm starting to enjoy this), I started out the tour short cutting the logging road for a quarter mile, checking out the snow conditions. I really already knew what I was going to find - a half a foot of soft recycled powder on a 3-4 foot snowpack of deteriorating, layer cake quality as one approached the ground.  Fine skiing in the trees, but watch out for the deadfall for sure.

It was also nice to break trail a little while for once I hit the main trail, it was a superhighway.  Some Flipper in the tuner and in no time, the logging road access run was behind me and I was at the alpine bowls.

Two parties were already having fun in the bowl when I arrived, one party of three diligently digging a pit above the lower bowl, and another 3 pack chilling out and refueling after having taken a run in the morning.  The snow was decidedly not fantastic.  In the alpine the wind had hammered all the snow from earlier in the week and what was left was 2-3 inches of wind transported sugar over the sun affected crust in the east facing bowl.  Some of the deeper wind drifts looked ok, but as it had not snowed in a while and the locals were a fierce pack of go-getters, all the good stuff had tracks in it.

So up to the crest I went and chose the furthest south line off the top, still untracked and a fun 4" of wind deposit to play with.  I curved back around to the base of the bowl at the bottom and re-joined the up-track.

A half hour later I was at the true summit and the biting wind held its ground.  It desperately wanted to rip the Supermodel out of my hands (who wouldn't?) and so with a quick transition and a large coconut water, I was off and playing on the soft cornice out of the wind.  The upper bowl below the cornice was hammered, so I curved back around to the trees above the lower bowl and tried to find a couple turns the wolf packs had missed earlier in the week.  There were slim pickings, but I did find in the lower bowl a smooth untracked line just across the up-track and cruised easily back to the start of the logging road.  I was able to piece together some tree lines on the way down keeping things soft, otherwise it was the family who had hiked up with their plastic sled and were bombing the luge track mid way down, as well as the team of two who were heading up to camp the weekend and build an igloo that made the long egress interesting.

A great day with not so great snow.  It must have been the company of my Supermodel.