back again

Yes I know its been a while.
What's been going on with me?
- we had a storm a few days ago which brought some snow (not enough - never enough!) and have had two fun days of powder hunting. Winds picked up today, closing lifts so today was more of a mellow day.
- Speaking of mellow days - been working on my snowboarding when I can get my hands on some equipment. Always a fun challenge to pick up another sport. Today I mastered the intermediate poma (after three tries). I got a 'who-ho' from the liftee when I eventually made it past the first post.

To give a sense of the average day here.
Wake up at light which is 8 to 8:30. Stick my head out the door to suss out the weather. Clear skies? Cloudy? Windy? How cold?
If its post-storm day, clear skis, low wind - the rush is on. If its not any of those things - the kettle is casually put on for tea, breakfast (eggs sandwhiches/ poridge) is lolly-gagged over, and its not uncommon to go back to bed. Meanwhile the various occupents of the Corbus apartments are calling on each other or dropping by to re-confirm ski plans or make up new ones. Who is going where? Touring? Skins? Do the snowbaroders need snowshoes? Is anyone bringing ice-axes? Who is up for what intense hikes? Who just wants to mess around on-piste? Anyone heard if marte is open? What was the wind direction was last night?

Plans are made, and then from approx 10 to whenever - executed against. Some days we only take one chairlift up to the top, and then start hiking for three hours - doing only one or two runs a day. Somedays not even the chairlift.

Generally finish sometime around three if the weather remains good all day. Earlier if it turns bad. Then its back home to bake up a random assortment of food/leftovers, steal showers (our hot water tank can only handle one shower every two hours ), and nap.

Sometime around 6 people emerge from their siestas. Dinner plans start to be made. Which usually don't materialize until 9 or 10 at night. And hten of course - its the evening plans. Who is going out where? Las Lenas is a pretty small place and yet - this is always a key discussion. The winebar? The pool- bar? The clubs? Or is there an impromptu house party somewhere nearby (follow the noise).

People drift back home at all hours, fall into bed and get ready to start the next day. :)

And that in a nutshell, is a day in Las Lenas.

excellent day!

Blue skies, a light dusting of snow yesterday, Marte running like a champ.
Highlight of today?
- after two 45 min boot packs ('I can do it, but you are going to have to wait for me') we (Ted, Chris, Dan and I) did the Banana chute off San Martin - which starts steep,mellows out a touch, gets steeper, and then chokes. Which means you have to point you skis and straightline through the narrow choke, then be able to somewhat control your speed once you exit into the bottom expanse (which was wide open). Luckily we had fantastic snow so it was pretty doable. But man, did you come out of it with a lot of speed.

Day before yesterday - did this massive 3 hour tour/hike to an amazing ridgeline full of perfect powder. It was alaskan-esq

Life here is about skiing, touring, skiing, eating, skiing, sleeping. Love it!

Awesome awesome birthday – and so much else that has been going on. Although really just the skiing.

- Marte: Jose and I on first chair. 50 degree chutes that went on and on and on - hundreds of feet worth. Sluff coming down ontop of me which was both cool and unnerving.
- Skiing until my legs just died (seriously - I was at the point where I would have rather straightlined and crashed then try to turn my skis)

- Next day - Marte was open again. More exploring down chutes and faces with Ted and Chris (roommates)

THEN today, too windy for Marte, but a crew of us pretty randomly hooked up in the slack country and six of us – Tim, Mattias, Ted, Chris, and Dan and I toured up to the ‘Officina’ an area of more chutes, etc. including some pretty gorgeous boot packing straight up along ridge lines. I did none of the trail breaking and am still utterly exhausted. The guys did not help my ego by continously exclaiming how EASY it was being last. Almost all of them are six footer guys with long legs that can step up stuff I have to crawl up. (mattias, thank god - is not six foot and understands my pain)

It was all worth it before we even started down - but we picked the right angle on the face, and had gorgeous snow.

Wonderful wonderful couple of days. If the wind doesn't die down, if marte doesn't open - more touring tomorrow! So for now - BED!

awesome awesome day today. Last two days its been storming here in Las Lenas, this morning it dawned clear - and the powder day was ON. Say about 1 and a half feet fresh.

Ted (roommate) flies past me on a first run, which is just NOT on, so I POINT my skis down a 200 foot face and straight line it. I'm so close with my skis - being comfortable really letting them run the way they are supposed to.

Anyway- awesome three runs off the quad chair then Volcano opens - and we move over and have an even more powder-y run down through the gully -Just like shooting womprats in Beggar's Canyon.

THEN after two runs - that's skied out - Marte's closed, so we start this rather epic boot pack up avalanche debris to access a face. 30 mins of suffering later we lay down the best lines anyone got today. Then we did again - but went even higher. Then I was DONE. Later people would ask - what did you do today - and I'd say - you know those lines on the main face?
;)

Tomorrow is my birthday and word is Marte is going to open.

MARTE

So after that last optimisitc post, marte did not open. BUT IT DID OPEN TODAY.

There was a bit of a thing last night so most people in my place weren't up for the 9 am start. Headed out by myself and bump into Jose - the ex-ski patrol / guide who also had a feeling about marte opening.

Cue the waiting. Getting to the top of marte is a journey of three lifts, and patience. As Jose warned me : Be ready to be disappointed.

5 mins for the bottom poma to open. 30 mins for the next chairlift to open (winds already beginning to pick up). Then at least a 45 min wait at the bottom of marte- waiting for the ski patrol to give the go ahead. During this time a core group had formed - mostly gringos- and Jose gathered us together with a "who is here for the season? Now I tell you - be mean. People here get killed every year here and its because of the damn rookies skiing over our heads and causing avalanches. So you see someone - you yell at them, hit them, whatever. I almost hit someone last year who started skiing down ontop of my partner. We need to control it cause there is no one else to do it."

We got first chair :) The chair was open for approx 90 mins before it was shut down due to high winds, and in that time Jose and I managed to hit it twice.


First run - down a chute/coloir called mericioles that went on and on and on. Awesome views - non- stop, not particularly steep but long and long and endless sweeping turns in untracked snow. Dumps you out above the Volcano chair where a crowd of people had gathered, watching us ski it. :)

Second run - Jose 'knew this chute' and after carefully stepping over piles of rocks (my bases!) we enter it from the side and way steeper! Narrower - you actually had to ski it. Again so long. He let me go first this time and it was just awesome awesome fun. My sluff chasing me down 'don't stop' Jose had warned me - no where to exit until the bottom.

I had a good season at Revelstoke, worked on my skiing lots, but it did disappoint a little in these big lines with good snow. Good good day today!! Now must go buy Jose a beer :)

Its 10:40 pm - I can hear the bombs going off as the patrol does avalanche control. It's snowed all day today - about 15 cm - plus wind loading. Tomorrow its supposed to clear and with it, Marte off-piste will open. Setting alarms!

Marte is *the chair* it's rated as one of , if not the best, lift in the world for the terrain it accesses. It spiders its way up to the top of Las Lenas, precariously balanced along the ridges, angled towers protected against avalanches by giant ship-brows of cement. If patrol doesn't bomb during the storms, they risk that when they do, the avalanche they trigger will decable the lift. Not from the snow knocking the chairs down, but the percussion effect.

"The Marte chair accesses more expert terrain than any other lift on this planet. No skier could ever find - let alone ski - all the possibilities. It defines extreme."

ps. Don't worry mom! being safe!

Skiing!

Yes a post about skiing! Cause the skiing today was awesome.
For the last two days Las Lenas has been in a storm. Howling winds - zero visibility (yes I tried to ski anyway) then today woke up to see a sliver of blue beyong the clouds.
"Ted," I said. "I'm going skiing, I think its going to be a good day."

AND IT WAS IT WAS AWESOME

First we (Ted, Jason and Allison - jason and Allison are two aussie snowboarders living upstairs) drop off this side (right off the chairlift)- covering about 600 vertical feet on a consistent slope, untracked. Knee deep plus powder, smooth, light, my skis are sailing! Then get this - we do this about four more times before it starts getting tracked out. Just people here don't ski off-piste. And blue skies? Crystal blue! Gorgeous sun! Just one of those days that are so perfect.

Then they open another lift and basically -REPEAT - although here the snow was a bit heavier.

And the best news of all? they haven't even opened the main chair lift yet. Perhaps tomorrow. That's when its heading to a whole new level - couloirs, chutes, massive faces.