May 21
I haven't been skiing for a couple of days because it's been too warm and the snow hasn't been refreezing at night. It finally got a few degrees cooler, so I decided it was time to go have a look.
I wanted to see what had happened in Broads and Mill B South, notorious for producing large slides in spring. A couple of friends were interested in skiing. We hiked up the Bowman trail, eventually putting skis on at around the 8'000 foot level and skinned up the Cabin run.
Near the top was a yearling moose. Murph the dog needed restraining to avoid a confrontation. The moose seemed lost and had dug out a large pit. It was reluctant to move and we tried not to excite the lost fellah.
We were a little early, but the snow was well frozen and supportable. At the bottom, evidence remains from the December slide cycle with flagged trees.
We skinned back up in softening snow, this time to the summit of Gobblers. A pair of binoculars came in handy for viewing the extensive wet slide avalanche cycle.
The little camera doesn't provide the same zoom as a pair of binoculars, but...
Broads had a good sized glide cycle, with a couple of extra wet slabs added.
Upper Mineral also has a nice sized crown in the bowl. G and I skied that on Friday May 13.
We were timely, well maybe a little late on the descent down the main face.
Gambrelli making some nice tele turns.
Mark had a short pair of Carbon Surfs mounted rando race style
We were able to ski to about 7100 feet on the exit out Porter, then the march down the road, taking the Bowman cut off back to our starting place.
The weather forecast indicates a week of above average temperatures with cooling for next weekend? By then we should have good supportable summer snow conditions.