Exploration and New Lines

The crew was a little beat after hiking yesterday and we decided to do a little exploring without a lot of hiking. Clare was given a photo of a pretty impressive line last year and still had not skied it. We decided our mission would be to find it and ski it. Our first run, we were off by a bit, but we found some really good corn skiing.

The corn skiing was great!

The best part of the run was when we reached the bottom to see the line we were hunting for. We were so excited! It looked really cool, but I have to admit that it looked really steep. Clare decided she might want her helmet and Eric definitely wanted his camera. We headed back to the base to get prepared.

At the base we took a little break at the hospitality shack for some free gatorade and candy. After our snack, we headed back up the Marte chairlift on the hunt for Clare’s line.

We found the line. The best part about the line was the powder fields on the way down.

The zone we were in was so cool. It was full of spines and chutes.

After skiing the powder fields, it was a little difficult to get to the entrance of Clare’s line. We had to traverse over a rocky ridge with exposure on both sides. The closer we got, the steeper it looked.

We decided Clare would ski first because it was her idea. I wasn’t too upset to let her ski first. It was difficult to see the exit of the line. The light was really flat and steepness of the chute was intimidating. Yeah, I was nervous.

Clare dropped in with confidence and after two turns was out of sight. Everything seemed to go well for her, so I buckled my boots, took a deep breath, and headed towards the entrance of the line. I was so stoked when I got there. The line was sick. It was about 60 degrees with a straight-line at the bottom.

After initiating my first turn, I realized the snow was good and started to enjoy myself.

I was so stoked when I got the bottom. I skied up to Clare and gave her a huge hi-five. It was one of the steepest lines I had skied in Lenas. We had a great day and I am looking forward to our next adventure.