Tuesday, November 22, 2011

First Turns of the Season



It was hard to image a better ski day, especially considering it was my first day on skis since May. Lookout Pass, Lost Trail Pass, and Lolo Pass had all picked up 16-24" in the past week. Lookout Pass opened for the season on November 18th. I was super jealous of all of stories of great early season ski days. It was time to make some turns of my own.

Work and family obligations prevented me from skiing until Sunday. I was worried I had missed out on all the fun. I was wrong.

We left Missoula at 8am and headed up Lolo Pass. We were excited to ski, but expectations were pretty low. At the very least we knew we would get some exercise and fresh air.

Portions of the road were snow covered and the snow level was much lower than we thought it would be. We became a little more optimistic. There were no cars in the pullout and the previous tracks were almost completely filled in.

The clouds slowly gave way to blue skies as we started skinning. It had turned into a picture perfect day.

We took three laps. The snow was light and deep. Temps stayed in the 20s all day long. Despite all of the obvious logs, stumps, and rocks littering Lolo Pass, we didn't hit anything.

My dog, Pika, was chest deep every step of the way. She loves the snow and loves chasing me down the mountain. She would have much preferred our day ended after our second lap though. It was her first day of the season too and I have not been able to run her as much I usually do. We both need to get in better shape.

It ended up being very memorable day. Not just a good early season day, just a good ski day. Here's to many more this season.

1 comment:

  1. Sounds awesome! Super jealous I missed this

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