TR: RMNP-The Blizzard of April 2013

[rmnpsplitter]

Given that the blizzard of April 2013 was forecasted for a week or so I lined up my work schedule for the chance of having either Tuesday or Wednesday of this week off depending on the best day for snow. Turned out I made the right call on taking off Wednesday. This TR doesn't have any pictures of big steep lines or ridiculous powder but it was still a very fun time in an area that is very special to me. Total snow from this storm was anywhere from 6-8" with the windloaded spots filling in much deeper than that. With the cold temps it really felt like winter again. Needless to say I was stoked!

The day started off as most ski days do. Waking up early, eating some food and drinking coffee and then rushing to meet Nate and Robbie to head up to the park. We arrived at the Bear Lake parking lot shortly before sunrise and began the quick skin up to Emerald Lake. Any time you can skin directly from your car in RMNP is a treat. Those days don't happen very often.

The lighting was really good with the clouds glowing gold and orange. The mountains had a very nice glow to them and we were treated to views such as this.




Upon making it to Dream Lake and getting our first glimpse into Tyndall Gorge we knew it was going to be a good day.


Not too long after that we found ourselves at the top of the apron of Dragon's Tail/Dead Elk. Robbie had only a couple hours left until he had to be heading down for work. We still wanted to hit a couple runs here and make it to another area and so unfortunately we didn't think we had time for booting up either of the couloirs. Bummer deal, conditions were likely amazing.

Anticipating some nice turns and enjoying the early morning light.


A nice north facing couloir across the valley. I don't think it will quite come into shape this year(its been bare until the past two storms).



Halfway down the first run. Likely the best so far of my season. Just enough snow to make it feel bottomless on my board.


At this point the winds had really picked up and we contemplated making another lap of the apron or heading down to Dream Lake for some more protected skiing. We ended up heading to Dream Lake. In hindsight we should've made another run in this area. It was the best of the day. Enjoying the views and transitioning.


The skin up the Dream Chutes was pretty quick and soon enough we found ourselves ready to drop again.


This was the deepest snow of the day by far. The wind had just loaded up this little area with easily a foot in all locations. Robbie making it count. My "artsy" shot of the day.


Back at Dream Lake. At this point we said goodbye to Robbie. Nate and I then discussed what the rest of the day was going to entail. We were both really tempted to head back to Emerald Lake and get a little further up but with how good the snow was in the trees we decided to head over to Chaos Canyon for some gladed skiing and also to hit Mario Gulley which has been our go-to spot this year.


Making our way back to Nymph Lake. Afternoon sun was in and out of clouds which made for some cool light.


Back into the trees, below Mario Gulley (aka Chaos Creek).


Another short skin up had us into Chaos Canyon. I had been in this area just a couple weeks ago for the last upslope event and was amazed at how much snow melted off the rocks in the short warm up we had. This zone also likely wont come into very good shape this year. Skinning through car sized boulders isn't very fun. So we stopped and had lunch and made our way back to Mario's. Still, a very aesthetic canyon.


We had made the right call going back to Mario's. It was deep indeed and Mario Gulley is filled with small little pillows that are really fun to mess around on.


After laps in there we were about ready to call it a day and head down and meet Mrs. Splitter for beers after she left work. The snow was starting to be affected by the sun anyways. Amazing what that April sun can do even with highs in the teens. This day was nice because we got to sample the goods in a few different locations. Normally I focus all my attention on one area. We called it the variety pack day. Good day, good snow and good friends. Ah yes, the Blizzard of April 2013 turned out to be ok.

[digitaldeath]

nice work, pretty similar to my experiences

[sklar]

love that area, only got 1 day out there this year though

[The SnowShow]

Nice pics

[MCH]

Very nice TR great pics

[plugboots]

Nice
.....

[Fritz]

Thanks for posting. Didn't think it was worth going back there based on our last outing, but looks pretty good! Coverage ok on the DT/DE aprons?

[rmnpsplitter]

^Coverage was pretty good on the apron. Definitely worthwhile and Sunday could be very nice if the forecast pans out.

[SILENCER]

love that area, only got 1 day out there this year though

Same here, just once. DT apron was good, but not as good as these pics show from Wednesday. Leftist skied well, and Dome 2 too.

Didn't think Mario Gully was a good bet the day we were there, but looked way fun here. Nicely done!