B.C. Skiing, Bountiful Ridge, January 7, 2015

Sunrise on the Davis County Wasatch.

A sunny morning on a snowy mountain is a religious experience. Even with bad snow it rewards one with a spiritual high.

I skied Bountiful Ridge early this morning before work. And what a difference a week makes. Last Monday I skied the best powder I've had in years, but today the conditions were as challenging as it gets. The bad spectrum was covered on all fronts: wet-unsupportable-slop, hard-impenetrable wind pillows, punchy, trippy (not trippy as in dreamy, but trippy as in breaking crusts that stopped you in your tracks, thus face planting). Not fun skiing. I skied a well protected NW aspect bowl (Crescent Bowl) that usually holds creamy powder when everything else sucks, and I did link about three turns in soft snow, but for the most part it really sucked. On top of that I forgot my crampons, which meant I kept losing my edge on the skin-up, and would start sliding backwards. The only remedy was to sit down to self arrest. New skin-track maneuver: the butt arrest? Overall it was a character building day ski-wise - a ski-day best to forget - but that beautiful sun on snow makes me believe in God.

Smog! This is at 6.8K feet and I'm just reaching clean air. the photo taken on 'Kara's Pot Farm' (ski run), which had 10 more inches last week. Wind and settling have taken a toll.  

Antelope Island and the waning moon. 

Sunrise over Rudy's Flat.

24 inches at Rudy's Flat today, losing 14 inches in a week due to a major wind event and settling. 

I placed this rock here about five years ago and thought it'd get swallowed by the oak long ago. 

View west from Rudy's Flat at sunrise .

Chikadee handiwork?

Antelope Island peeking out of the smog.

39 inches in mid Rectangle Bowl, at about 8,000 feet, losing six or seven inches this week. 

Almost in the sun, approaching the ridge near the top of Dead Tree Ridge.

Snow and sun lifts the soul.

Rectangle Peak from the junction of Bountiful Ridge and Dead Tree Ridge. 

My turns from last week, which were in above-knee powder, are now a reverse negative. In the last week 20 inches of feathery snow has blown away.

The central Wasatch from Bountiful Ridge. Dromedary, Sunrise and Broads Fork Twins are the highest peaks (L-R, mid-right).

We need snow!

Bad snow today but I did find a few creamy turns in the protected area of lower Crescent Bowl.

Long story. In short, I've removed this sign from the trunk of an old Doulgas Fir at Rudy's Flat at least once a year for the last three years, each time hucking it as far as I could into the brush. Today I took it out for good. The 'Trash Creep' is becoming epidemic at Rudy's Flat. That is, one innocent sign begats more signs (and trash) from the rest of humanity. Humans are sheep and if it's OK for one to leave their mark, it's OK for all, and often that means garbage. I'm no 'pot-hugging-tree-smoker,' but I like my mountains just the way God made them. This is the work of an ego, so I took it out. If the Winder's have a sincere, life altering reason for posting this sign, by all means, I will personally reattach this sign to the old Douglas Fir.    

Selfie along the wind-scoured ridge line while approaching Rectangle Peak.

A moose used my skin track from last week . . . 

as did a Mountain Lion . . . 

and a Coyote . . . 

and a snow-shoer. No disrespect, but snow-shoes ruin the skin-track.