Solo on the Cassin?

I asked my friend Cosmin Andron to share some of his experience on the Cassin last spring.

Solos are always a journey. This one no less so.







"It’s been snowing for days and I am going bonkers at the Ski Hill (NE Fork) camp (cca 2400 m alt.). Tent bound since the 13th of June I start doubting I’d be able to get on the “Cassin” on this trip and I’m getting sure my acclimatization is wearing out by the hour now… I’ve listened my music, I’ve read my books, I’ve weighted my options all the while the snow was incessantly falling…





Then it’s 20th morning and the sun is shining and the skies are clear. Mark, back at KIA, mentioned something about a break in the weather for the weekend and I guess this must be it. I am weighting my options: go light – no tent, no sleeping bag just the stove, my Sirius down jacket and compressor pants and some bars and gels. Or plan for a three days ascent and go heavy: tent, sleeping bag, food, haul line in case I need to pull my bag, some cams and screws in case I need an anchor… It’s all about weight and weighting my options.



I’ve never done the route and weather proved to change swiftly. I may have lost my acclimatisation while doing book-worm work in my tent for the last seven days. Caution takes over the judgment steering and I opt for the heavy option; and heavy it is. "





More of the story here:



http://www.cosmin-andron.com//07/cassin-ridge-solo/







Cosmin picks up the story here with the gear list he used and what he might suggest or use himself now listed in the2nd column..







Cosmin sez:



Before I left for the Cassin Ridge I was worried that I spent too much time (7 days) at low elevation (NE Fork) and that the weather window won’t last longer than that day. I knew the route was long and all I had was a printed topo. I had to make a choice if to go light or go prepared to stick it out. From the info I had (through the grapevine) was that a Russian team did the route while I was in 14000 ft Camp and they spent 4 days on it. I prepared for 3, but I thought luxurious 3 so I can extend to 5 or 6 if needed.





Not knowing what was the condition of the route I took enough gear to protect some pitches if necessary.



I am usually cold so I erred on the side of warmth rather than lightweight.



With such a gear load and bivy equipment my priority was not to move very fast but safe, which meant that I spent a whole day listening music on Cassin ledge, waiting for the night and firm snow conditions. Second day I wasted half of it wandering lost within the first rock band.



In I started climbing at 4am on 21 June. By 8am same day I was finishing setting up my tent on Cassin ledge and took some photos. I spent the whole day (very warm day) on the ledge listening to music. On 22 June at 12:45am I set off. I am at the hanging glacier early morning. I wasted 2 to 3 hours fixing my broken old Jetboil. I spent 1 hour eating and hiding from the sun. Lunchtime I entered the first rock bad, had a rest near M shape d rocks and spent the next 4 or so hours climbing up and down looking for the route. I joined a pair of Canadians that came up and found the bivy spot with them early that evening. On 23 June I left the bivy spot around 2:30pm (allowing the Canadian team three hours advance). By 9pm on 23 Jun I reached the bivy spot above the 3rd rock band (5350m) and the Canadian pair who were just cooking dinner. They left early morning on 24 June, for the summit. I packed up at 4pm and left for the summit at about 4:30pm. I was on the summit at exactly 11pm.







All in all the bag was quite heavy for what I am accustomed to and I haven’t used quite everything. The pro I used was:



- an ice –screw belay 50 up from the ‘shrund on the Japanese couloir so I can haul my backpack over it. (I fell into the ‘shrund while trying to climb it with my backpack on when the snow collapsed)



- the rope to haul the backpack in the Japanese couloir, and twice while climbing off-route in the first rock band



- the rope to abseil four/five times within the rock bad (used natural anchors)



- camalot # .5 and 60cm dynema sling





I had dual points on my Cyborgs and combined with the heavy backpack and hard ice or crumbly ice I had to kick twice/thrice to stick it. When I climbed without the backpack on, it went smooth. Besides climbing lighter, next time I’d stick to monopoints….



Having a third tool (first time ever) was a good choice. On the last abseil within the first rock band I clipped my Cobras on my ice-clippers and because of the tangle I unclipped the umbilical. I flicked the rope over my right hip, the Cobra snagged and unclipped and tumbled down the pitch and stopped on a shelf. Just then the Canadian pair was coming up so they brought it up, but it was comforting knowing I had another tool in my backpack.



Below I made two lists. In the first one is what I had in June . In the second list is what I would carry now if I were to do it again. I believe that with a partner, with an tweak in gear, in similar conditions and

climbing competently we could do it with two bivis and leading on a single 8.1 Iceline (not recommended by the manufacturer). Trying it alone again, with the benefit of current knowledge of the route and with a lighter pack I believe I could do it without a bivy. In neither scenario I am planning on super fast ascents.





gearin June if I were to do it again



Equipment Equipment



BD Speed 40L (with lid) BD Speed 30L (no lid)



BD Cobra (pair) BD Cobra (pair)







Grivel leash BD Spinner leash



Grivel Matrix Light hammerGrivel Quantum Light hammer -



BD Cyborg crampons BD Cyborg crampons



Grivel helmet BD Half dome helmet



BD Camalots ( .5, .75,1, 2, ) BD Camalots (.5) BD



BD Express screws (4) BD Express screws (1)



Titanium pegs (4) Titanium pegs (2)



BD nuts (5) - -



BD Neutrino (16) BD Neutrino (6)



BD Dyneema 60cm (8) BD Dyneema 60cm (3)



BD Dyneema 12cm (2) BD Dyneema 12cm



CT Oval locking biners (3) CT Oval locking biners (1)



BD Oval wiregate biner BD Oval wiregate biner



Kong Duck (2) Kong Duck (1)



BD ATC guide BD ATC guide



Arc’teryx M280 Harness Arc’teryx M280 Harness



Beal Iceline 8.1mm (1X50m) Beal IceTwin 7.7mm (1X50m)



Mammut 5mm X 5m- Mammut 5mm (1X2m)







Bivy gear Bivy gear



BD Firstlight tent

Valandre Odin Sleeping bag



Foam matteress



Jetboil and small canister) Jetboil and small canister







Food Food



Adventure Food – B-fast (3)



Adventure Food – Meal (3)



Adventure Food – Dessert (4)



Powerbars (6) Energy bars (5)



Sweets (100g) Sweets (50g)



Isostar powder (100g) Energy drink powder (50g)







Clothing Clothing



Arc’teryx Rho LT top Arc’teryx Rho AR top



HH bottom Arc’teryx Phase AR bottom



Arc’teryx Gamma SalopetteArc’teryx Gamma Salopette



Arc’teryx Accelero Pullover



Arc’teryx Gamma MX Hoody Arc’teryx Gamma MX Hoody







Arc’teryx Dually Belay Parka Arc’teryx Atom LT Hoody



Valandre Syrius Down Jacket Valandre Syrius Down Jacket



MH Compressor pantArc’teryx Alpha SL pant







Smartwool Hiking Liner x 2 Smartwool Hiking Liner



Smartwool Mt Extra HW x 2 Smartwool Mt Extra



BD Guide (old) gloves x 2 BD Punisher gloves



BD Absolute (old) mitt BD Absolute mitts



Valandre down mitt



Valandre down botties



Arc’teryx embroid capArc’teryx embroid cap



No-name fleece balaclava Arc’teryx Rho LT Balaclava



La Sportiva Spantik La Sportiva Spantik



BD gaiters BD gaiters







AccessoriesAccessories



Salice googles googles



Iridium satphone Spot device



Cassio Pro-Trek watch Cassio Pro-Trek watch



Keymaze GPS watch



iPod Shuffle music player iPod Shuffle music player



BD Mt walking poles (pair)



MSR snowshoes W Rib access to route



Nalgene bottle Nalgene bottle



Camera Camera

Mammoth Site of Hot Springs

Friday, August 26th - - Continuing south from Wind Cave National Park, I stopped in Hot Springs, South Dakota to take a look at the Mammoth Site located there.





Some 26,000 years ago a sink hole developed trapping unsuspecting Columbian and Wooly Mammoths as well as other animals. Once in the sink hole, the animals could not escape and their remains are slowly being uncovered, a fraction of an inch at a time, by archeologists. A building was constructed over the area of the sink hole to provide a good working space as well as a means of protecting the fragile bones.





Looking down into the pit you can see numerous tusks and other bones of the Mammoths. Several almost complete skeletons were found but mostly the various bones are scattered here and there throughout the site.





Here you can see the rear legs and the rib cage of a Columbian Mammoth that was desperately trying to escape from the sink hole. Alongside him (or her) are the tusks of another trapped Mammoth.





I forget how far down they have excavated, perhaps a hundred feet or so, and they have uncovered the partial remains of 58 Mammoths. The sink hole is several hundred feet deep and they expect to find many more animals that were trapped.





After touring the main excavation site there is an impressive display in the exhibit hall. Prior to the tour, a video is shown that explains how the sink hole developed and how the animals were trapped within. It was well worth the slight detour south to visit the site.

Evening at Horseshoe Bay

Last night Roger (http://www.rogernordstromphoto.blogspot.com/) and I went down to Horseshoe Bay to shoot the sunset. I've been trying to show him some new areas along the lake that he hasn't seen yet. Horseshoe Bay can be a fun place to shoot, depending on the conditions. This evening when we were there the lake was smooth as glass, which is always nice to have when making images of the lake. At the entrance to the bay there is this nice, photogenic pile of rocks that I had fun shooting. I used my graduated neutral-density filters on the image above and the one below to help balance the exposure between the dark foreground and the brighter sky. Using the filters also helped bring out the detail in the underwater rocks in the foreground.

Climbing Cold?

I spent 12 hrs out yesterday. Not a big deal but recognised a few things I think worth mentioning.

To climb in the most efficient clothing system I think you have to climb what I consider, "cold". You want to run your clothing system at a level of heat that is well short of sweating the majority of time. So you want to be almost a tiny bit chilled a majority of time if you stop moving. And everyone starting off should feel a tiny bit chilled.

Almost the perfect storm for me yesterday. Dehydrated from the day before and little sleep the night before. Too much to get done in real life so I could get away for the day. Sound familiar? Been nursing a bad knee for several a weeks and finally had another MRI done to make sure I wasn't risking bigger injuries and more down time. So I was tired from the chronic knee pain of the last couple of weeks and had been trying to ignore the massive doses of Ibuprofen which is what I needed to get healed up.

At the trail head there was a huge temperature inversion that we didn't recognize in the predawn start. We had gained 5000' and it was cold. Seemed reasonable.

So I bundled up. With all the wrong things happening in the last 48 hrs I didn't want to be cold and uncomfortable. Being tired, dehydrated and edgy from the knee pain I just didn't tolerate the cold well that morning. It should have been an alarm bell.

Couple of hrs later we were well out of the temperature inversion. It was above freezing now and we were in the sun. I was over heated, sweating and stripping clothes as we climbed higher in the glacier basin. 1/2 way into the walk I noticed 3/4 of my day's water bottle was already gone. That was a little shocking as I generally pay careful attention to how I go through my water. That was my first alarm bell to just how out of it I really was.

What I had brought for water would have just barely been enough if everything went perfectly and we summited in 4 maybe 5 hours. I'd be dehydrated but could easily suck it up till we got back to the car.

Then the final straw was it took a full 6 hrs of trail breaking just to get to our 1500' climb. We knew the game was over 3 hrs into the walk but pressed on anyway to at least see what we in such a hurry to get up. Time to make this one a "teachable moment".

Quick bottom line? I over dressed because I wanted to me more comfortable. Unnoticed, I drank my water quickly because I was dehydrated from the previous 24 hrs. I then over heated because I over dressed, carried more than I should have in gear and clothing and not enough water.

So now as I get even more dehydrated, I get cold feet from wet boots I sweated out from being too warm. Then I am getting cold again because I am dehydrated and physically tired and having to add layers I can't easily technical climb in. Things have gone down hill fast in 6hrs. But it all started 56 or 72 hours beforehand I just didn't recognise it.

Truth is I should have stayed home and gotten some rest and re-hydrated and waited a day or so before going out again.. I would have climbed faster and better if I had done so.

My thought is if you are physically incapable of "climbing cold" do yourself a favor and stay home. I let the weather and my desire to spend time with a buddy sway me. We all do it.

The better we can identify what goes wrong and why the easier it is to have a better trip next time.

Holcot - Pitsford - Moulton - Holcot

Barry, Maureen, Gordon. just over 9 miles. Dry, some sun, windy.





Barry led this walk. We started from Holcot just after 9 am.





Across the fields from Holcot, with the morning sun casting shadows on the ploughed earth. Luckily the ground was dry.





We made for the gap in the hedge.











Our first 'surprise treat' of the day - the view of Pitsford reservoir as we climbed the stile.






















































On we walked with the reservoir below us on the right - the southern part which we've walked round a few times, close to the shore. We passed a house some way off, on our left, surrounded by trees, but certain to have a great view of the water.











Then pretty high up, was 'surprise' number two, a cupola memorial just by the local cricket ground. It commemorates local businessman Lynn Anthony Wilson, who died in a car crash in .








We followed the path coming closer to the water where we saw a large colony of coots.





The we continued into Pitsford, turning left and walking a short distance along the Moulton Road, before taking a footpath to the left. The path turns right then left across three or four fields and turns right again just before a stud farm.



























We crossed the Pitsford - Moulton Road into Spectacle Lane. An unusual name, sure to whet the appetite.

















































So, to the first 'spectacle' - I should have taken the picture when we first spotted this 'ruined castle'. Life is just a bowl of should've's.

It is known as The Spectacle, and was built by William Wentworth in 1770, and was designed to be visible in silhouette from Boughton Hall.

I gleaned this information from the painted pixels website

























We left Spectacle Lane and on the other side of the road from Boughton to Moulton is Holly Lodge, built between 1857 and 1861 for the Jeyes family, of Fluid fame. I seem to be stalking the Jeyes family - I had lunch in their Apothocoffee Shop in Earls Barton last Friday.

Holly Lodge echoes the style of the Spectacle, and boasts a pair of gates representing a dozen farm implements.





















Philadelphus Jeyes designed the gates, which were erected in 1861.













They include replicas of 2 hay forks, 2 sickles, a scythe, a rake, a shepherd's crook, a ditch cutter, a stable fork, a flail, a spade and a woodman's axe.













From Holly Lodge we walked for a short distance along the road to Moulton before taking a footpath to the right, over a few higher than the average stiles. Some of the path includes horse riding trails from Moulton College.









We climbed up hill, and turned to the left, following the path into Moulton. This is a lively village centre with local shop, pub and stocks - locked to prevent fun-loving teens and walkers from playing silly games.





Instead, we sat staidly and devoured Maureen's scones on a bench in the square.













We walked out of Moulton on the road towards Billing and the A43, taking a footpath to the left. This involved crossing several fields of wheat, and a couple of recently ploughed fields. We walked alongside Marsh Spinney, where notices informed us that cycling was forbidden by local by-laws. It would have been a brave and slightly mad cyclist who climbed the stiles and tackled the uneven ground.

So far unidentified plant growing at the edge of a field of maize

Could it be the hallucinogenic and sometimes lethal Jimson Weed?

No fields of beans today, but we had to negotiate maize above head height with a narrow path through. Past Overstone Grange, we turned left Rectory farm, and followed the path back into Holcot.





Plenty of interest on this walk.

It was Just a Matter of Time...

On my meandering drive through Ohio back in September .., I stopped at the Strickland Cemetery in Vermillion Township, Ashland County where Jonathan and Elizabeth Hazlett are buried. They may be my 5th great-grandparents. I haven't been able to prove the connection yet but they are really the only candidates that I've found thus far. I'll have more on them in a future post.



A previous visit to the cemetery in October 1999 had resulted in rather poor non-digital photographs of their gravestones, which appeared to be very worn and not very legible. Pouring a little water on the stones brought out the engravings somewhat – enough to verify the transcriptions that had been previously published.



Since I had been to the cemetery before, I knew that their gravestones faced west and timed my visit so that the sun would be in an advantageous position. But I got there a little too soon.





The photo above was taken at 11:39 am. The inscriptions are barely noticeable. The stone on the left is for Elizabeth and the one on the right is for Jonathan. Since time was not an issue, and it was a beautiful day, I walked around the cemetery a bit then fixed a sandwich and had lunch while waiting for the sun to move a little further west.





Taken at 12:15 pm, the inscription on Elizabeth's stone is starting to appear.



I was amazed when, 18 minutes later (at 12:33 pm) the inscriptions were completely visible and could easily be read. All it took was some time and a little patience...





ELIZABETHWife ofJONATHAN HAZLETTDIEDMarch 3, 1848Aged 86 Years



JONATHAN HAZLETTDIEDSept. 16, 1853AGED82 Ys. 1 Mo. 1 D.

Photographs were taken September 18, .. at Strickland Cemetery in Vermillion Township, Ashland County, Ohio.



Did you notice anything unusual with the inscriptions?



Elizabeth appears to have been about nine years older than Jonathan!

Dynamo Lighting Kit for Roadbikes

While I am generally a huge fan of dynamo lighting, I do not have it installed on what is currently my only roadbike. My plans for the bike did not involve significant amounts of night-time cycling; it was not meant to be a touring or randonneuring bike. For occasional riding in the dark I do have an excellent rechargeable battery headlight that lasts for hours and attaches easily to the handlebars. And I have an equally good tail light that attaches to the back of my saddle wedge tool bag. To install a dynamo hub wheel and lights on this bike would have added unnecessary weight and expense to the build.




I felt pretty good about my bike's lighting setup until I found myself wanting to join an overnight ride. Initially I thought that my super duper rechargeable battery headlight would last through the night. But when I did the math it became clear that it would not; I would need to add a second headlight and to bring several sets of spare batteries. Even at the height of summer an overnight ride in New England means 8+ hours of riding in the dark - and not the kind of milky suburban dark where you can leave the light on a low setting to conserve battery life; proper boonies dark that requires a powerful headbeam. I talked to the others doing the ride, and they all had dynamo lights. Now I felt foolish for not having a bike with appropriate lighting. But at the same time, how often would I do rides like this?






I was discussing this with local cyclist Pamela Blalock and she offered to lend me her mobile dynamo setup: a spare front wheel with a dynamo hub, and lights that are easy to attach and remove. With this kit, she can turn any 700C wheeled roadbike into an overnight bike. Extremely grateful to Pamela for the offer, frankly I was also skeptical that it would work out. To me, dynamo lighting was something that gets permanently installed - not attached and removed on a case by case basis! Furthermore, my bike has no fenders, no racks, no braze-ons. Could the lights be attached securely? I was worried that the installation process would be tricky, and that in the end something would end up falling off, disconnecting, or malfunctioning.




To my amazement, the installation process took mere minutes. The front wheel switch was seamless and soon my bike was sporting a dynamo hub. Then the headlight was attached to the brake bolt, as shown in the first picture. A thin cable runs straight down from the headlight to the hub, easily secured to the fork with a piece of tape.






For the tail light, a P-clamp was installed on the left chainstay. The wiring got routed along the chainstay and the top tube, secured with zip ties to the brake cable. The result was not beautiful, but neither was it flimsy. It was secure and problem-free. The positioning of the headlight and tail light beams were spot on.




Later I learned that other local cyclists employ a similar system for when they ride in the dark - a dynamo hub wheel and lights that get moved from bike to bike as needed. I would not have thought this to be a good idea until I tried it myself and experienced how easy and hassle-free it was. On a dedicated randonneuring or touring bike, it makes sense to have dynamo lighting permanently installed in a more elegant manner. But for those who want the option of using their pared-down roadbike for occasional night time riding, a kit like this can be a good solution. Pamela's setup includes a 32 spoke Velocity Aerohead wheel built around a Schmidt SON hub, a Lumotec Cyo IQ headlight and a Spanniga Pixeo tail light - though many alternatives exist.




At least here in New England, there seems to be an increasing amount of cross-over between road racing, randonneuring, endurance events, and casual long distance rides. And this cross-over is influencing how roadbikes are defined and equipped.I am still unsure what kind of cycling I will ultimately gravitate toward. But if more night time rides are in my future, a versatile dynamo setup like this is certainly worth considering.

Snow time...

Quite a bit of snow has fallen over the past week leaving plenty at Paradise (a solid 2 feet). As you can see in this John Piastuck image, skiers and boarders (32 ants by my count) are "chomping at the bit" to climb Panorama Point for early season turns... This is looking to be a very promising ski season folks. The question is, will it hold; will it continue?

The Washington State Climatologists have something to say about our weather. They just published an interesting report about our 2007 summer temperatures. It points to data that says we're still experiencing a warmer than normal trend (0.01 to be exact for Aug). I also found that they are willing to post an "Outlook" for the fall and winter. Check it out, but don't look for any clarity as it doesn't really predict anything substantial or exciting: "The Climate Prediction Center's 3-month outlook for November-December-January is for equal chances of above, below, or normal temperatures for Washington..."

Whatever the case, we're off to good start and the ants on Pan Point are seemingly stoked. With them are a few climbers who are hoping to find the summit this week. Perhaps they'll successfully weave through the upper mountain crevasses and visit Columbia Crest during this weather window.

If you are planning to climb this fall, here are few safety, registration and camping tips:

• Expect crevasses: Though it's been snowing quite a bit this Sept/Oct, be prepared for lightly covered crevasses on the mountain.
• Avalanche: Yes, slides have killed climbers in the fall on Mount Rainier and it could easily happen again. It doesn't take much to knock a team into a terrain trap (crevasse, cliff, hole) or bury someone. This is especially the case if the wind is blowing which could contribute to large snow deposits.
• Poor weather: Ok, this is a constant on Rainier, but fall is definitely the time when storms linger longer than expected and climbers regret their "fast and light" plans. Be prepared to sit out inclement weather and expect heavy wet snow.

You can register in Longmire at the museum, or self register (i.e. honor system) at Paradise on the front porch of the Jackson Visitor Center. Most teams will select the Camp Muir Public Shelter for high camp accommodations. Over the past few years, that hut has been very accessible... But you should still bring a shovel to dig out the door and always clean up after you leave. On nice/busy weekends, bring your ear plugs (snoring, running stoves, chatter) and expect to breath stove exhaust in the hut.

Ocean from shipwreck

http://www.iredale.de/maritime/peter1.htm This the web site where there are photos of the Peter Iredale before it went down and right after in 1906 as well as one from 1999.

Snowpack Profile Update

There is 17" of new snow on the ground since the extreme avalanche conditions and avalanche activity earlier this week. The forecast is calling for 12-18" tonight and 7-11" on Saturday with the possibility of more snow on Sunday.





Neither a compression test or extended column test yielded any failures. No evidence of recent avalanche activity in the immediate area allows me to think that the slope did not fail earlier in the week, unlike many other slopes in the area.





All layers were well defined and fairly settled.

Snow Worm

After A Bath

This is Stormy. He was yawning after getting the spa treatment. I gave him a good bath. He looked so shiny and cute.

Fall Aspens

We took a trip to the Jemez Mountains last week to see if any of the aspen trees leaves were turning that nice shade of yellow they turn in the fall. there were lots of beautiful trees. And there was one squirrel that wanted his photo taken. These squirrels are called Abert or tassle eared squirrles.

your last chance at free gear for a month!

Tomorrow at midnight I'll draw a member's number and give away your choice of aBlue Ice Warthog or a Octopuss pack. But you must be a member of the blog to get drawn.

chouinard ice poster

My long time climbing partner has an original Chouinard poster (this one in fact) for sale if anyone is interested. If so you can leave a bid in the comments.



super topo comments here:



http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/2200762/Chouinard-Ice-poster

Erling Stordahl ..

Jennifer and I went out again for some Nordic turns. The weather was colder and wetter than on Saturday but we persisted, hoping it would be drier once we were on the east side of the crest. It was moderately drier, and we left the car in a light rain/mist to check out the trails.

We paid extra for these level of trail grooming?

While it appears the main snowmobile road was groomed. When we got off it and headed toward Trollhaugen the grooming wasn't quite right. It appears they did attempt to groom, but only made one pass and that bare boots and four wheeled vehicles destroyed it somewhat. Past Trollhaugen the grooming effort was more obvious, but still wasn't up to par. We reached the same point in the woods we had last time and proceeded to follow other skiers tracks in the woods which returned us to the "groomed" section after a short loop.

Skiers tracks in the woods

We started heading back to the car on a different set of skiers tracks and then took a turn to make our trip a little longer. (At this point the rain was changing to a wintry mix.) After a bit of fun easy terrain, we got to a hill. I was inclined to turn around and call it quits when a family came down the hill. I asked the teenage girl what was that way and she responded with "fun hills." So I asked Jennifer is she wanted to turn around or continue, and we decided on continuing.

We climbed up a hill for a bit and then were on rolling terrain before tackling a larger hill. Then we had the task of descending the large hill which neither of us were up to. If it was groomed we would have had better success, but Jennifer took off her skis and walked it. While I sidestepped parts and tried to snowplow other sections. After a few falls we were back on more level terrain that we knew where we were. At this point is was full on snowing and we just headed back to the car.

Happier now the snow is falling.

This was a good workout with the uphills, but I'm still not ready for those types of downhills without grooming on skinny skis. Not sure why the grooming was so bad and incomplete. There was certainly enough snow for it. I'm guessing the grooming won't be right there until January.