Eddie Can Ski. Watch Eddie Ski. Ski, Eddie, Ski!

After spending way too much time thinking about skiing, talking about skiing, and sometimes not having a lot of fun skiing, it was fantastic to have an old friend from Seattle come down to simply ski for fun.  I was stoked to show Eddie around the neighborhood, even if only for the weekend, while he waits for winter to return to the Pacific North-wet.

He wasn't due to arrive until Friday afternoon, so Patsy and I went, well, skiing!

Saturday was dark and dreary, with low clouds, bad light, and a wicked wind crossing the ridge.  So we stayed down low, but I was still able to show Eddie the snow in Peril Ridge, High Yellow, Counterweight Gully, the Chute That Seldom Slides, and Scott Chute.  We finished the day with a run down Gentian Gully.

Sunday was blue-bird, and Patsy joined us in the morning for some great snow.  We warmed up in the Palisades before Patsy took off to take care of some school work.


Photos:  Riding the Summit Chair, Patsy shralping the tele-gnar-gnar down Wolverine Bowl

I started to show Eddie what is really some of my favorite terrain along the North Ridge, and we were not dissapointed.   First we skied Beaver's Tail, my own name for the tallest chute on the far skier's left side of Beaver Bowl.  It required a little cornice cutting to really get ready, but the snow was knee deep and velvet and un-tracked.  On our second lap I was chuckling to see all the snowboarders lined up to drop in.

Photos:  Eddie knows how to hike / Making turn #2 in the Beaver's Tail / The VIP was vipping.

Our second lap was out to Estelle Bowl, we're we dropped the cornice into the right side of the bowl.  Let's see what my camera's video function did:

Finally, we stopped for lunch, and grabbed avie packs and beacons.  For our last run I wanted to show Eddie one of Alpine Meadows signature side-country runs, the M2 Couloir on Munchkins Rock.  So we road three chairs, traversed around the Subdivision Bowl, and finally found what we wanted.


The snow in M2 was perfect - knee deep softness even in the narrowest point.  We slid all the way out to the road before strapping our skis to our packs and hiking for 35 minutes back to the lot.  Special thanks to Patsy for her patience!!

Eddie decided that he needed to get on the road - he was driving back to Seattle - so he stayed long enough to clean up and get on the road.  Thanks for the visit!!


Photos:  Eddie entering the crux of M2 / Looking back at a proud line

Statistics:  Three days of great lift-accessed skiing in and around Alpine Meadows, California.  Best Run Award to skiing the M2 Couloir!!