If You Go Down In The Woods Today...
Trip date: Saturday Apr 16, 2022
Submitted by SteveR
Particpants:
Just me.
Discussion:
I was sidetracked from my plan of a modified and longer version of the "Skier Bob Special", by a tempting track leaving Tyrwhitt heading towards East Elk Pass, and ended up doing the backcountry circuit over to and through West Elk instead. Along the way I mostly followed the earlier in the day track of another lone skier, but skiers weren't the only ones out and about today! Off-trail travel conditions were excellent, and I even managed to hack out a few tentative turns in the 7 cm of soft snow over a smooth hard base, when descending the wide open logging cut to the power line on my 50 mm 3/4 metal edged skis. As for the groomed trails- Elk Pass and Patterson are still in close to pristine shape, albeit very firm and fast especially on the "big hill". I also skied small portions of Tyrwhitt and Blueberry, which were a bit softer feeling due to a few cm's of new since they were last groomed. Clouds moved in around noon and the afternoon stayed cool with scattered flurries, keeping the snow dry, and my Swix VR45 wax gripping.