7.11.09: Below 10,000 ft

**Lone Star** · 07-11-2009, 04:00 PM

It's getting to be the time when good turns are increasingly difficult to find, much less approach and ski. Summertime priorities take over as the fish begin to rise and the trails and rocks dry out. Even the 14ers (or 13ers in WY) chasers are starting to hang 'em up.

But I don't have the guts, determination, lungs, or ability to carry on a quest like the 14ers, anyway. I've embarked on a different mission--- late season low altitude turns within two miles of a trailhead.

So, A and I packed up and headed out to the Wyoming Range this morning. The approach was lush and teeming with life and colors.... the mosquitoes dominated the sky while the bluebells dominated the aspen understory

We soon reached the line we intended to ski, and were happy to see that there was still a shit-ton of snow left and that the suncups were about as sparse as could be hoped for this time of year. We hiked up to a set of cliff bands and topped out at 9,999 ft. I triangulated my position with my compass and GPS to ensure that we put on our skis at precisely this elevation so as not to break the 10,000 ft mark (a travesty in this pursuit of low elevation gnar)

A approaching the highest sub 10,000 ft point on the mountain

The view was pretty splendid from our mid-mountain cliff band and the breeze came up just enough to keep the bastard mosquitoes from sending us down early. We sipped water and beer and discussed our options and safety measures as we looked down our line.

I dropped in first, then got into a suitable safe zone and watched A come down:

A led the second pitch and I watched her ski effortlessly to the last bit of snow in the gully

see her?

ah yes, there she is

We cruised to the end of the snow, wandered around a bit picked a couple handfuls of fresh mint and some small artemisia guys that smelled 10 times sweeter and more fragrant than the big wyomng variety we skied past on our heroic descent.

Then, we gathered some snow in our water bottles, headed down to the trailhead, and ate delicious strawberry snowcones while we cruised back home. And, we saw a cool waterfall and made plans to explore it someday.

hooray for late spring in WY!!!

**renoenvy** · 07-11-2009, 04:15 PM

that's a nifty little tr

**IridePow** · 07-12-2009, 03:21 AM

nice summer stoke!

**alive** · 07-12-2009, 09:22 AM

Nice little patch of snow... Summer skiing is so great.

**snowful** · 07-12-2009, 11:18 AM

Nice TR.

This looks really good right about now:

Originally Posted by Lone Star

**Meadow Skipper** · 07-12-2009, 11:19 AM

Very cool. This made me laugh - it's a great image:

**summit** · 07-12-2009, 11:35 AM

good stuff!

**smitchell333** · 07-13-2009, 01:15 PM

Ahhhh that looks pleasant.

We camped out in the Bighorns Sat night on the way back to CO and saw some good looking lines still in up high.

**BigDumbRedhead** · 07-13-2009, 01:36 PM

Very nice Lone Star! Great spot for easy access summer skiing. And what a perfect corn ramp in spring! We hit it up last weekend in June and it was a good time. The cliff band in the center had just melted through the surface of the snow all the way across the face, and we skied the same finger as you. We made it out there in early May as well with full coverage and the best conditions I've ever scored in that location. After one summit lap we got multiple tows by a buddy and his 1000cc machine up to where the cliff band melts through later in the year. Ended up with a big vert day for backcountry, and one of the most fun outings of the season. We saw nobody all day.

**BigDumbRedhead** · 07-13-2009, 01:40 PM

Oh yeah, and that seems to be the only time of year that I want a mojito. Picking fresh mint after skiing and consuming it with alcohol is awesome!

**schwerty** · 07-13-2009, 03:29 PM

Very few WYo range TR's here! Good to see someone here is getting after it. Well done.

**Lone Star** · 07-16-2009, 09:02 PM

Originally Posted by BigDumbRedhead

Oh yeah, and that seems to be the only time of year that I want a mojito. Picking fresh mint after skiing and consuming it with alcohol is awesome!

A was also driven to concoct Mojitos after our ski last weekend. Think we may have seen you the last weekend in June-- we were a group of four making our way up the upper snowfield as a couple of folks finished up their ski and started hiking out. glad to see that other folks equally appreciate the line... but also is nice to run into only a few (super excited and friendly) people no matter when you go up!