I recently returned from Coachella and I brought a bad experience and bad attitude home. This was my 3rd consecutive year attending but this was the first time I had a negative experience over all. One way for a guy like me to wipe-the-slate clean is rigorous exercise, to sweat it out. I despise 'going to the gym' or 'training' and havnt for almost 10 years because anything you can find indoors, you can find outdoors. Anything you need to find anyway. It just might require a little extra creativity to find it and god forbid you have to wear a warm jacket and nobody sees you doing it. Therefore, I loaded up the gypsy wagon with my ski gear and my dog and took off for a solo weekend in one of MTs greatest road accessed areas; East Rosebud. I have spent many a night there and hope I have many more. There is a well known ski called the Chamonix couloir that is supposedly an epic descent and I had to check it out for myself. Luckily, I got a relatively late start to the day because the two guys that started an hour and a half before me put in a real nice boot pack up to the point that I caught them (about half way up). All three of us then swapped leads to break trail. Over 50% of the entire climb was post holing. Not just walking through waist deep snow but laying your ski poles on top of the snow, leaning forward on your hands and poles and crawling on your shins because the snow was too deep and powdery to get any purchase. We left a tunnel in the snow, not so much foot prints. The TH is at 6,200' and the top is 11,000'. Over 4,000' of that was incredible winter conditions powder skiing (when I say ski I really mean snowboarding). It took me 5 hours to reach the top and an hour to get back to the truck. Thats one of the big reasons I love ski mountaineering; the return trip takes a tiny fraction of the ascent time. I got back to the gypsy wagon in time to open a bottle of Bordeaux and wet a fly line. The brookies are biting. If there is one way to get your sweat on, go climb some snow in the Beartooths. Lord knows I got the attitude adjustment I was seeking!
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| I have one attempt on the famous California Ice. Ill get it some day. |
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| The ice flow was in much fatter conditions than a ear ago January when Devin and I tried to climb it. |
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| A couloir is like a gully that splits a rocky peak or cliff. |
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| The previous days storm loaded the couloir full of soft cold snow. Here I am in one of the easy-to-hike sections. The early birds are up in the constriction. |
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| So here is a good pic of how deep the snow was. So deep and cold that there isnt really even a trail behind the leader. |
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| Man was I ready to get to this high point. |
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| Probably the worst name for a beer ever, but probably one of the best beers ever. No there is no THC in it. |
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| Guys with beards always have the most fun on powder days. |
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| What does paradise look like? |
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| Found a really nice knife in the river while I was fishing. |
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| Beach bummin |
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| Three other reasons why I venture here. |
