TR: The January Thaw

**zartagen** · 01-29-2015, 10:00 PM

Around these parts it's typical to have a January thaw. This year was no exception. Vail received only 18" (maybe 19") of snow all month. We milked that 18 inches for all it was worth.

On a particularly warm day we did some slushy meadow skipping on "Cold Night in the Woods"

The dogs came out for a few laps at Mayflower Gulch

The snowpack was settling down a bit, so we headed into the alpine

With a few inches of fresh snow, it was time for a backcountry booter session

Unfortunately, the season might be over in January for one of my friends after a bad landing. Heading to the ER from here

Today, we headed up Bald Mountain for some more alpine adventures

The persistent weak layers in the snowpack proved to be tricky

But the bed surface skied nicely

There was even enough snow to jump off some things

To quote BigDaddy: Lift is empty and stopped. Sky is quietly beautiful, with enough light, but going dark soon. You're paused mid run, still have some good turns left, but beers are waiting.

January wasn't half bad this year, but hopefully the thaw ends with it.

**Like a Boss** · 01-29-2015, 10:47 PM

Some fine lemonade. Nice work Z.

**Shorty_J** · 01-29-2015, 10:49 PM

Nice.

**adrenalated** · 01-29-2015, 11:02 PM

Good photos!

Send an obs to CAIC on that slide, if you haven't already.

**meter-man** · 01-29-2015, 11:56 PM

Wow, lucky buddy in the top of that slide pic. Scary stuff. And damn that's a great quote. Love those moments....

**grinch** · 01-30-2015, 12:03 AM

Very nice tr and beauty pics . Hope your friends ok

**powtario** · 01-30-2015, 02:04 AM

Lovely pics, serious pucker factor on that one! Was he cutting it when it went?

**zartagen** · 01-30-2015, 10:58 AM

That was me on top of that slide. I was cutting on top of a very subtle convex roll when it ripped at my feet. It was a tense moment for sure. The slide was reported to CAIC, so you can check it out there.