Her Training Begins

With Mom out of town for the weekend, Maci took the first steps towards becoming the backcountry ski companion she was born to be. The last week has seen over 2 feet of snow dropped on our high country; a perfect time to test the pups mettle.

On Thursday we climbed the Aspen resort before work. Maci was a bundle of energy for the first 1,000 vertical feet, but as we gained elevation, the snow became deeper and deeper . Still, whe soldiered on, and only when she stopped leading the way and instead fell in line behind me as I broke trail did I think she had probably had enough. So off came the skins, and we enjoyed a fun ski down together.

Back in town, that's the look of a happy pup and a successful ski debut.

Welcome: 2007/2008 Ski Season

With the Phitin' Phils unceremoniously dumped from the playoffs a mere three games in, I needed a way to forget my troubles for a bit. Luckily, Mother Nature obliged, and left 5 inches of new snow overnight.


New snow, however, isn't all one needs to launch a ski season. Without a solid base beneath it, you run the risk of some serious ski or lower appendage injury when you sink through the fluff and smash into the underlying ground features.


There's only a couple of places in all of Colorado that hold snow all year round and thus would provide a suitable base layer for our new snow, and one of them -- Montezuma Basin -- is located a stones throw from Aspen. Of course, that toss of the stone involves two hours of driving, an hour of which is on the worst dirt and rock road you can imagine and involves no less than three river crossings. Since we don't have an amphibious vehicle -- yet -- my buddy Todd and I opted for the Nitti family Nissan Pathfinder.

I apologize for the graininess (is that a word?) of the pics, but Lauren and I don't currently have a functional camera. (Christmas present idea!) Here's our parking spot, located 12,200 feet above sea level. The drive to this point is NOT for the faint of heart, as the drop-off is vertigo inducing. The beauty of a "road" like this is when you're tired of driving, you kind of just stop and park, wherever you are. It's not like anyone else is coming up behind you.
During our climb we ran into two other guys with similar desires to start their season. Here's a view back towards the road (it's the snaking white thing heading downvalley), and in the middle of the picture, you can make out the form of the two climbers. This talus field was all snow the last time Todd and I were up here, which coincidentally, was my last day on snow for last season, June 15th. Now, with a summer of melt behind us, the climb was a real pain in the ass, trying to negotiate all of these boulders.

I really have no idea of what this picture is. Is it someone's turns? A group of marmots? Avalanche debris? Why did I take this? Discuss.

From the base of the snow field, a view of Castle Peak and all 14,265 feet of its majesty. Our goal was not the summit, as it is currently unskiable, but rather the ridge just below the cliff band in the upper left hand corner of the picture.

On the way up, a cool shot of Castle Peak's North Coulour, which we skied to close last season. It's the vertical swath of white in the center of the picture. It looks quite a bit steeper and much more formidable without snow on it, I must say. Here's a couple of pictures from when we skied it in June:

The skiing was, well skiing. I'd give it a 3 out of 10, but it was October 6th, after all. This was more of a fitness day than anything else, climbing over 1,000 vertical feet. It was good to get the feel of a heavy pack on the back, boots on the feet, and of course, skis on the snow. I'm guessing there will be a couple more days before winter is through.

Ouch

Oh! somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Aspen -- the mighty Phillies are knocked out.