Audubon Ski

Last weekend I headed out to do some spring skiing with  a fellow Avid4 instructor Aaron Inouye. Who, as it turn's out is as psyched to get up early ( 3am ) as myself to go ski some great corn snow in the alpine..Although we didn't get a total over night freeze of the snow pack it still turned out to be a great morning and a nice ski descent..We skied the Crooked Couloir off of the South East side of Mount Audubon 13,223 about a 1,600 ft. ski descent down to Blue lake.

                                                            Crooked Couloir in red

                                          Aaron on the approach, some interesting lighting..

The toothpick couloir, the thin line on the left side of the photo..Ive been eye-ing this line since last year when Chris, Aaron Miller, and myself attempted to ski it...If I had to guess I'd say the entrance is around 55+ degrees..This line is located to the skiers left as your approaching Mt Toll on the backside/North side of Shoshone Peak..

                                                  Good view of Mt. Toll 12,979 from Audubon.

                                                        Climbing down low in the couloir...

                                                 Aaron, nearing the top of Crooked Couloir..

                                                                          Time to ski!!

                                             Aaron carving some of that sweet corn snow..

                                                        Great shot!.. Taken by Aaron Inouye

Although the road had been opened to Brainard lake we still decided to ride in..Riding your bike back to the car after an awesome day skiing in the mountains always feels good..

Peace,
Jason

Apache Peak Via Queens way..

I Had Wednesday off this week so Aaron and myself went out to ski Queens Way, a large spring ski descent off of Apache Peak 13,441 the second highest of all the Indian Peaks. Located high above the Isabelle glacier Ive always enjoyed shooting pics in this cirque..so here are a few of the best from our adventure..

                                                               Queens Way line in red...

    The approach took up about 4 hours from car to summit...This is just one of the large snowfields we traversed..

                                                    Aaron climbing the lower half of QW..

                  Nearing the top of the route...Great views down to Shoshone peak in the background..

                                              Hands down, my favorite pic of the morning..

                                           Big lines off  big peaks makes for lots of fun!!

             This is what a corn snow addict looks like..Is this how you want to live your life?? YES!

                                     We were able to ski all the way back down to Isabelle lake and admire our line from a distance..

Back at the trailhead by 11am for a cool refreshment..Nice green truck in the background...Watch out for those snow worms!!

                        Back to the car by noon thanks to the handy bicycle approach, my favorite...Ive shared many great ski descents with close friends over the past 3-4 years and I can say that I will miss skiing with ya Aaron..You've been a solid partner and I hope that in the future we can still make plans to get together and go on some more awesome adventures..Be safe up there in Washington and have fun, Ill come visit ya for sure.. Peace Dude!

Jason