The Power of One Run

I was given the chance of a lifetime this past weekend. Arriving very early to start cleaning up the ski school and prep the area for customers I was approached by a few members of Ski Patrol. This is typically not much of an issue as the school usually talks a lot with them early morning to know what the run schedule will be like. I've typically have always offered to join them for an early morning of checking the runs, but have historically been declined. Apparently this was the day. With the amount of snow we'd received over the past week, the seasonal shift (a lot of the Volys are starting to do other things now), and the expected lower crowds I was invited to join the early morning avy patrol.

I had my boots, gear, and skis ready in 3 minutes.

Once at the top, I was paired off with two veteran patrollers who were assigned the back country area. A few boot packing moments later we're at the top of the ridge looking down on a pure white blanket of fresh snow. While I never was given the chance to throw the hand charges, I have to admit it was a blast to watch the snow go flying and set forth the rumbling of snow down below.

When all was said and done, I was offered first tracks down a section while the other two took first tracks down other runs. As I approached my run, I spotted another skier who was on dawn patrol coming up the backside of the mountain and figured I'd ask how the hike was. His paced quickened when he saw me come to a stop, check out a line, and look back over at him. A minute later he was at the top, out of breath, and standing about 100 yards away from me. I glanced back at him, he pulled out a huge smile and I just shook my head in a yes motion. We took off down the run enjoying the fresh few inches of powder and met at the bottom. He thanked me for waiting and joined me for another couple runs. All said, it was a great day!

While our morning didn't get any slides like these guys do, still it's a good view on what happens in the early AM hours....