Early season turns near Hardscrabble
November 16th, 2008
Stoked on getting some skiing in on Friday, I went out in search of more turns on Saturday. This time we were a little more ambitious, heading up towards Sacajawea instead of just Bridger Bowl. Although our group might have been as big as six Steve and I were joined only by Alfred… and those other guys missed out! Not that there weren’t tons of other skiers up there enjoying it, but they still missed out. Conditions were… “variable”… as we gained elevation, starting with gloppy spring snow at the bottom and passing through a rain crust in the middle, but at the top 
it was pretty darn nice. The leeward side of the Bridgers always catches some nice snow, and in the high bowl between Sacajawea and Hardscrabble (No Name Peak?) where we skied this conventional wisdom held true. A few inches of creamy pow covered the hard, smooth under layer making for some tasty shrapling. We did one short run in the mini-glade up top, then on the second lap decided the steep run to the North looked irresistible. It was filled in nicely and drops about 1000ft into the other bowl with an excellent fall line. Concerned about the thin snowpack at the top we opted to down-climb into it rather than risk a bone-crushing hip-check from skiing it. Down-climbing is always a little scary and this was no exception, but the line was killer and we were excited to be able to ski some gnar this early in November!
That last picture is some hotness Steve took of me. See more of Steve’s photos at his blog.
Dude, that shot from the top is so awesome. Great timing and sweet application for the black and white.
for sure, Steve is really taking some nice photos this year. thanks for stopping by!