Cherry Poppin’ Trails

I didn’t plan to have an epic ski day today, but that’s exactly what it was! Today is Monday and, due to an unfortunate turn of events, it also happens to be my only day off. (The guy who formerly gave me 2 days off each week hurt himself skiing, thus leaving us short staffed. Such are the hazards of ski bum living!) In any case, after a leisurely reveille of reading in bed and a breakfast of grapefruit, tea, and cheesy eggs and bacon in a toasted frame (made on a George Foreman, of course!), it was time to plan the day.

Originally, the plan was to check out a Freeski competition that had been delayed after a slide ruined the intended ski course two days prior. The resort was having a difficult time rescheduling/rerouting the event because the avalanche had been so damaging. Therefore it was unclear whether-or-not the event would be taking place. My back-up plan was to leave the ski canyon, rejoin civilization for a few hours, and catch a movie.

During breakfast in the EDR (employee dining room), fellow ski bum Andrew and I proceeded to formalize our plans. After calling the resort’s information line and learning the competition status was still undetermined, we decided to head out for a few runs before calling back for updated information. As often happens to be the case when dining in the EDR, another co-worker overheard us talking and joined in the fun.

After two easy warm-up runs, we called the info line and learned the competition was postponed for another day. Still, I was having such a fun time skiing with these two co-workers/housemates, that I decided to continue skiing and forgo the movie option. That’s when I brought up the idea of poppin’ some cherries. Since the beginning of the season there have been two spots on the mountain that have intimidated me: Eagle’s Nest and High Rustler. One is wooded with unmarked cliffs. The other is open for the whole world to see disaster. Both start on a mountain peak with a steep descent.

Since my two co-workers were both superior skiers with a nurturing rather than competitive nature, I asked them if they thought I could handled the “Nest” and “High Boy.” They were certain I could and eager to make it happen.

Part of the difficulty with this terrain is it’s accessibility, or lack thereof. One must cruise along an ungroomed traverse which entails leaning into the mountain and following a set of ski tracks that, through constant use, become a series of bumps. There is much to be said about this traverse, but I’ll wait and devote an entire post to this “High T”.

Upon successfully traversing the mountain, we arrived at its summit. We tackled Eagle’s Nest first. I asked Gwyneth to lead and Andrew would be sweeper behind me (just in case any pieces needed to be picked up). Here’s the view from the top, just before we crushed it! That building at the top of the picture is the lodge where we all work. 🙂

Next it was time for High Boy. The entry point for this also required cruising the High T and, since I was a High Rus virign, they opted have me enter it from the side rather than just hucking myself over the top of the mountain. I’ll save that for when there’s fresh powder and I’m more familiar with the terrain. Even though we took the rookie entry-point, I had to cross a series of big dips over sparsely covered granite. Luckily, my awesome guides demonstrated two options for dropping in and then talked me through the side stepping from below. (Thank you, both!!!)

Once I actually arrived at the summit of High Rustler, the rest was fairly easy. It was more open than Eagles Nest had been and, while it was somewhat bumped out, my guides/new friends were full of support making me know “I’ve got this.”

The high from accomplishing these two goals kept me smiling all day. And for keeping me safe I treated my friends to some poolside margaritas. What an epic day!