Took a little trip-Day #1

Every year I try to make it a point to take at least one trip a year to a mountain range just outside of our area. The last three years this has correlated with my buddy's spring break schedule.  Last year this was canceled due to the pandemic and we used our time riding local spots not knowing if and when things would be shut down.   This year things had changed and we decided to head out for a long weekend.  Due to a busy March, we were not able to swing more than three days off.  The weather was forecasted to be pretty unsettled, but you have to go when you get the opportunity.   Our First day of the journey was lost to a trailer malfunction that almost sent us back home.  We spent most of the day trying to repair the trailer enough to get it to a tire shop, and then the rest of the day bouncing from shop to shop to see who could work on it. 

 We were eventually told the part could not be ordered until the next day and we thought of every option we had to make the trip happen.   Like a Hail Mary with 6 seconds left in the game,  a part was found late in the day, and we were able to make it to our reservations at the hotel just in time leaving us with two full days for exploration.   It is easy to get frustrated or focus on the problems that occur during trips like this and let that ruin your day, but surprisingly we did not let it effect us or our trip.  Over the years we have realized that for us to get into these mountains is quite a production at times, and with productions and a sport that is at the whims of weather, you just have to expect a certain amount of unknown challenges to arise.  On this trip I was thankful to be able to not let this setback affect our trip. I found myself just being grateful that we were able to make it happen and be happy for the two days we did have in the mountains.  

The first day was supposed to have adverse weather just as predicted, the whole morning was socked in and snowing.  Getting your bearings without visibility is always a struggle but we were able to find a safe slope, check snowpack and get a warm up lap.   As we reached the ridge the sky broke out and we were able to finally get some ideas on what we would like to do.  A striking tight avi path was staring at us the whole morning from one of the bigger peaks so we decided to go investigate.  It had unconsolidated snow just deep enough for good turns on a stiff bed surface.  With no concerns we went to the top of skiable snow.  The weather was in an out the whole climb.  At times glimpses of the entire drainage and range would pop out and we would stare at the views just to be hit with another snow storm minuets later.   Dropping in the chute rode surprisingly great, so we decided to ride it again.   Both runs were really fun but with weather moving in and a big sled ride out,  we decided to call it a day and sled back out of the basin.  With a good handle on the area, we were excited to return the next day with hopes of better weather.