The Skiing isn't over yet!
Snow continues to fall. The very untypical, safe (for the San Juans), and very skiable snow-pack continues to build and get better and better. For those of you who know the terrain above Ridgway Hut, we skied the Cobra Chute, top-to-bottom, right down the middle, 2,000 vertical feet. The quality of the snow has never been better. It has snowed about a foot since we were there yesterday. The new solar lights at Ridgway Hut made hut living luxurious! The new sink, counters, drains, and stove tops did not hurt either. Come ski and check it all out.
Joe Ryan
Some years you get lucky. Eventually, suffering - both deserved and random - pays a dividend. Either that or you take advantage of good conditions on credit knowing you’ll pay sooner or later. Everyone does. I'm not sure how we had two such incredible trips to the Ridgway Hut this year but for now I won't worry about the other foot. Why ruin good memories when the snow has barely had time to melt off the top of my goggles?
We took our first trip into the Ridgway Hut in December. After shoveling three feet of Pineapple Express off the roof we rushed up to the Pillbox. Conditions kept us off the top Reconnoiter Peak so instead we dropped into the Cobra. It was good, better than good. Conditions were incredible for late-season, much less December. Well worth having left the Wasatch. The next day in Swamp Creek couldn't hold a candle.
There's a couple of pictures here:
http://www.gymjones.com/schedule.php?date=20071213
We planned to make a return visit in February but life and death intervened so we postponed the trip until April. After a couple of day tours on the Telluride side we snuck over the divide and drove a bit too far up the road. The ski to the hut over perfect dust-on-crust indicated once again we’d get lucky. This time conditions welcomed us to the top of Reconnoiter where we ate, drank a toast with friends to fallen friends, and shared a few memories. After folding the flag we plowed back to our skis and peeked into the Mongoose. I couldn’t believe it. Neither could Steve who carved up the line in perfect former-heli-ski-guide style. Again, the snow was shockingly good, and not just for April. After having our fill we glided to the hut, packed small packs and pointed them for the road.
Below, spring had arrived. The sun worked its magic, melting the snow and turning the road to mud. We could have waited. We might have drained the sinkhole. We could have driven more skillfully. Instead we goosed it and planed across the muck just far enough to bury the rig to the axles. If we had been less greedy – or lazy – if we’d parked on high ground and walked the extra hundred yards we’d have sunk teeth into buffalo at the Grit two hours earlier. Some wading and wrangling and winching recovered the truck and maybe that’s how we paid for the snow. Or maybe I’m paying this week: at sea level, in the nation’s capital, clocking-in at eight and out at six or seven. I don’t know, and I don’t care because the glow on those peaks is still keeping me warm.
Thank you Joe for maintaining the huts, for dragging propane tanks in, for splitting the wood, for the solar panel, the lighting, and the flannel-lined Coleman sleeping bags! One of the boys said he slept better there than any night in the Telluride hotel. The Ridgway Hut is a luxury in such a wild place and I hope to explore the range and the different huts in the future. You must know the boys appreciate your hospitality, an oasis between rough trips to less accommodating climes.
Onward,
Mark Twight
Salt Lake City, Utah
Reconnoiter and Mongoose pics here:
http://www.gymjones.com/schedule.php?date=20080404