Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 10 miles.

PM - 10 miles.

AM/PM - Ski Tour w/ Andrea: Climbed Mt Superior via the East Ridge, then 3 amazing laps of hero snow down the Cardiac Chutes and into Cardiac Bowl. Had the place to ourselves. Did another short lap on a NW aspect back near Cardiff Pass, then skied an afternoon slush run on the south-facing side back to Alta. Like last Saturday, today gets the "Top Shelf" classificiation. Definitely one of those days where I feel incredibly lucky to live where we live and get to do the kinds of things we do! [5100']

AM - Ski tour w/ Andrea: Alta to Flagstaff and skied 3 laps in Upper Days Fork. We didn't have exceptionally high expectations considering the heat and how EPIC yesterday was, but the NE aspects skied even better than anticipated (E aspect = quad burning slush). Finished up the usual south side run back to Alta and thanks to a little breeze, the snow was supportable. Overall another great day - beautiful weather in the alpine and no one was around... we had Days Fork to ourselves. [3400']

PM - 17 miles (4 w/ Andrea).

AM - 8 miles.

PM - 8 miles (4 w/ Andrea).

AM - 13 miles.

PM - 6 miles w/ Andrea.

AM - 10 miles.

PM - Skinned GW laps w/ Andrea [3000'].

AM - 13 miles.

PM - 6 miles.

AM - 13 miles.

PM - Skinned GW laps w/ Andrea [3000']. Butter smooth slush.

AM - 12 miles w/ Andrea and Devra on the Pipeline trail.

PM - 10 miles.

AM - 4 miles w/ Andrea.

PM - Shortest ski tour of the year. We went up Flagstaff and the snow was isothermal sugar mush, so it was a one-lapper [1650']. 

PM2 - 7 miles.

Its always worth getting out for a little while...

AM - 10 miles.

PM - Skinned GW laps [3000'].

AM - 10 miles.

PM - Skinned GW laps w/ Andrea [3000'].

After the string of post-Daylight Savings Time midweek powder days during the second half of March, I figured the motivation for Brighton laps wouldn't come back until sometime around Thanksgiving. But it actually hasn't lost its luster... consolidated slushy snow + shorts skiing is a nice way to unwind after work and pass the time between spring snowstorms (fingers crossed for a few more big ones!). I still keep thinking I'll get back to running "training" at some point this year, but it will probably be a few more months.

AM - 12 miles.

AM - 12 miles.

PM - 5 miles w/ Andrea.

AM - 13 miles.

PM - Ski tour w/ Andrea: Patsy, Twin Lakes Pass, Grizzly... 4 laps [3800']. GREAT snow! Thought it would be dense and creamy but it was light and graupely and the turns were sublime.

AM/PM - Ski tour w/ Andrea: Alta to Cardiff Peak - started w/ a North facing shot down Power Outage, over to Cardiac Ridge for some unbelievable East facing lines (x2), then once the sun started to come out we traversed over to Cardiac Bowl and lapped that for a while because it was amazing (x4) and then finished on the way out with a short NE run off Powerline and then the S side finisher from Cardiff Pass back to where we started. No words to describe how fun this was. All powder, all day. Definitely a finalist for my favorite outing of the season. I was stoked to 110%. [7200']

AM/PM - Ski tour w/ Andrea: Heaven's Gate - Stupid Chute - Tuna Chute - Grannys Chute - Patsy Trees [4500']. After knocking it out of the park yesterday we didn't think today could possibly be as fun, but it was! The NE/N/NW aspects were all holding dry, cold powder. Three straight days of hero snow and took full advantage... what a weekend.

More photos. 

AM - 10 miles.

PM - 8 miles (3 w/ Andrea).

AM - 10 miles.

PM - 8 miles (5 w/ Andrea).

AM - 10 miles.

PM - Skinned GW laps [3000'].

AM - 12 miles.

PM - 8 miles on the Pipeline trail w/ Andrea and Rob.

AM - 10 miles.

PM - 5 miles w/ Andrea on the Rustler's Loop trail from the Kokopelli TH in Loma, CO. This area is right off the interstate and has some fantastic trails. The perfect place to get out of the car and stretch your legs during I-70 roadtrips.

AM - Skinned up Aspen Mountain w/ Andrea [3250'].

PM - Lift skiing at Aspen Highlands.

AM/PM - Lift skiing at Aspen Highlands, with 2 x Highland Peak hikes [1450']

PM - Skinned up Aspen Mountain w/ Andrea [3250'].

Basically a reverse of yesterday with better ski conditions (the snow actually froze overnight) and bonus bootpacking.

AM/PM - Ski tour w/ Andrea: Castle Peak! [4700']. The 4700 doesn't really do justice to the effort that went into this adventure. Starting from Ashcroft, its a long haul back to Montezuma Basin and ultimately up to the North side of Castle. But it was worth every step. Fun to ski a 14,000+ foot peak again... I haven't skied off the summit of a 14er since skiing Castle in May 2010 and then moving to Utah about a week later. My theory (which I know is wrong) is that being up that high gives me more energy. I think the proper condition/diagnosis is "alpine stoke" :-)

I wrote up some more here... I'm talking about a little place called Aspen.

AM - 8 miles.

PM - 8 miles (4 w/ Andrea).

AM - 10 miles.

PM - 10 miles (5 w/ Andrea).

AM - Solo dawn patrol powder 6-pack at Alta: Fred's Trees x 6 laps [7000']. Upper LCC got 40" of snow in 4 days just after the lifts stopped turning for the season... incredible timing! I have no action shots to prove how amazing this was... just the memories in my heart of deep snow and consistent face shots which in some cases led to tears of pure joy (both emoji and real). Among the best turns of the entire season. Swift. Silent. Deep.

I was so happy that, 8 hours after I finished, when I finally arrived at my hotel in Manhattan, I wasn't even grumpy about all the travel!

AM - 10 miles. North on the Hudson River Greenway.

PM - 6 miles. South on the Hudson River Greenway to Battery Park.

AM - 11 miles. Central Park.

PM - 5 miles. Back home!