After a failed attempt in November, we collected more beta and set out to ski Gorge Creek once again. Mark, Tess and I busted out for the day and after a gas up and two stops to visit our good friend Tim (Caffeine addicts....) we managed to wind our way up 15 km of logging road in the subaru and find the correct parking spot. The place is amazing. It's climbing right from your car with multiple options for routes. Large old growth forest make for protected skinning and good visibility. It was snowing all day and we did more of an exploratory tour that cranking out the yoyo laps. We could just see across the small valleys and we have some good ideas for future days out. The alpine breaks into several small open bowl features with tree runs along the edges. Perfect for all conditions. We dug a pit at least 2 m deep at lunch and did some testing. It was a great time, culminating with Mark nearly crashing hard into the pit trying to do a ski test. The results found some wind slab layers, and the first (~20 cm deep proved rather reactive). We decided to keep it mellow and skinned up to the summit, around the beautiful open bowl (we'll be back for you!) and then skied the trees on the far side. It was fantastic. The crust was even more evident higher up but then the skiing got better the lower and more protected it got. The runs aren't long but an easy skin track made for a quick last lap after some glorious steep trees with amazing snow. Too finish it all off, it was a nice tree ski all the way to the car. We're in love...
Check out the vids and pics. (Thanks to MR for lots of pics).
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