TR: Christmas in June 6.4.05

[iskibc]

TR: Xmas in June 6.4.05
iskibc, milli
Jones Pass



June powder. Who can pass that up? Heh . After calling just about every maggot and civilian I know, and hearing just about every excuse, I had to look to my most dependable and loyal ski partner.....



She looks ready, doesn't she?

Milli never says, "no", or "hey man, it's June, give it up already!", or "man, my hangover is going to kill me if I even think about exercise right now"...etc. etc. etc.


Woke up a little late, checked snotel and Berthoud was reporting 8" of new overnight. Looked at a few other sites and they were reporting anything from 7"-12" at 5 AM. Looked outside the window and it was pouring rain and there were no signs of this storm letting up. Made the calls and got nothing but excuses from everyone. A solo with the dog is always a fun time, especially when there's fresh pow for the taking. Loaded up the truck and headed off for Jones Pass.

The drive up:

Milli: "Hey jackass, put down the camera and get your eyes on the road!"



A few minutes later the sleet changed over to snow and milli was psyched:



The road at the beginning of the TH was snow packed, but there was another set of tracks up the road, so I went for it. A good 6" at 10,200' and it was still coming down hard.

I made it up to about 11,100' before large snowdrifts blocked the road in front of me. Stepped out of the truck and there was easily 9" of fresh lying on the ground. Wet and somewhat heavy, but still fresh snow. Quickly got dressed and geared up and we were on the trail within minutes. For these few hours my mind was thinking January as my watch was saying June. Big fat flakes dumping out of the sky and a foot or more of fresh lying on the ground and trees. It felt great to get my mind back into winter mode for a half day. A nice escape from reality.

Milli next to the river:






Milli and I skinned up the access road all the way up to the top of the pass in a steady dumping of snow. Not another soul in sight and the quietness of the snow falling around us was calming.

Once we got above tree line there was a lot of wind-loading on northerly facing aspects. I found anything from 9"-20" of new snow. The snow seemed to be bonding fairly well to the underlying layers, so we continued on. No signs of instability, so we went for some steeper terrain than planned.

We made it up to 12,700' and then made our descent. I found a nice loaded gully with a good 16" of heavy, yet creamy pow. Smooth, knee deep turns all the way back down to the truck.

Milli is still learning how to use the camera, so no ski shots today


Milli had face shots all the way down and wore the same shit eatin' grin all the way back home.

[Ski Drunk]

Great TR man. Way to get some in June.

[mr_gyptian]

killin it.

[skideeppow]

Unreal!!!! People say i have a hard time letting go. I am heading up to AK for kings and corn on Fri, and then it is over for me (till las lenas in Sept). At this rate the snowpack is not going to melt.

[iskibc]

Unreal!!!! People say i have a hard time letting go. I am heading up to AK for kings and corn on Fri, and then it is over for me (till las lenas in Sept). At this rate the snowpack is not going to melt.

Yup, it's almost neverending. I've gotten a pow day every month except for July in Colorado. Just waiting for that mid-summer freak storm up high.

You are one lucky bastid. K&C seems like a killer time. Can't get much better than reelin' in a couple of kings and then several thousand vert in the afternoon.

[Trackhead]

Very nice.

I was wondering if the west would get one more storm.

[Tresckow]

Trackhead

I was wondering if the west would get one more storm.

Maybe this Monday and Tuesday?

Way to get after it Dave. I've been enjoying your TR's all winter, and the hell with the calender.

[gramps]

Nice! Can't believe everyone turned you down on a June powder day.

[BENDOR]

Awesome man , your DOG has some personality thats for sure

[freshie247]

It just keeps rollin on in !

[Kellie]

Great TR - and she looks like one helluva ski partner - stoked no matter the time of year!

[weibo]

That's a solid Saturday in June. Screw cutting the lawn let's go skiing.

[Lostinthetrees]

Totally sucks. Please stop posting.
Gonna have to move back to the States if you keep this up.

On a positive note: I especially like that 1st photo of the creek cascading away! Thanks for sharing that photo.

[bdog]

Killer TR! Nothing like summer pow! Snow level in the Cascades today through Tuesday is 4000'! Feels more like March or April here today.

[release]

Great TR and beautiful dog. Christmas in June.

[gorms]

Probally saw your skin track.....a few of us went up there saturday as well. Classic alpine start where we were putting on skins on at 3pm and skiing at dinner time. Completely nuking up top when we got there.

Had a couple of turns blow up in my face on the way down....certainly special in June.

[Mtn Man]

Dayum that looks sweet! Thanks for the TR. Looks like puppy likes the face shots too!

B)

[Z]

killin it man, killin it

[bcrider]

cha-ching!

killer stoke!

love the doggy perspective too.

thanks.

[Mountain Freak]

I need to get a dog!

[Squirrel99]

Christmas in June kicks ass!

Can't believe anyone would turn down a June Powder Day

We may not have had the epic June pow day yesterday, but it dumped from 10am past closing in a whiteout for 'closing day' at Whistler yesterday. Even got me some good untracked 3" of dust on slush through Little Whistler.

Sweet pics- here's hoping for more summer powder TR's on the way! Keep slaying it, mang!

[HyRUPz]