Steph Cook, old Solitude patrol friend, came with us today and met us at the house just a few minutes later. She is a lot of fun and it was great to see her again. She drove up to the parking lot below Snowbird by Scotties Bowl and we began the trek from there.
We started skinning at about 7:30-ish and got to the base of Red Baldy around 10:00-ish. However, the fun just began. We followed iron-woman Steph, who broke the whole way up, and summited around 10:45-ish.
On top of Red Baldy we found ice, blistering wind, ice, rocks and ice. It was so wind-blown and crusty, but the view and satisfaction of getting to the top made it all worth it... like every tour we do. :)
After grabbing a few Wheat Thins and chuggin' the rest of my water we took the skins off and got off that peak a.s.a.p. Once we slid past the top rock field of icey goodness, it was nothing but smooth, and I mean smooth skiing! We had a ton of vert to ski to the bottom of Baldy and the entire apron was about shin-deep powder. It was heaven! Each turn effortlessly cut deep into the landscape and left an imprint of satisfaction. My quads, as amazingly huge as they are, still shook from the hike and screamed at me to stop... so I did. About half-way down I pulled off to the side and watched the other two glide on by. The sun peaked out just enough to break the fog and allow for some great vision for the next half of the run. I simply loved it and am so lucky to have friends that push me to experience such fun little adventures.
The ski out was a mix of crust and some soft pow, but once we hit the road (traverse) out it became interesting and comical. The last few turns were "character building," as Greg put it. Translation: ACL tearing... yet we did survive with but a few blisters.
