The Subway

Green Mountain Fast

Columbia - Harvard Traverse

Rim-to-River-to-Rim, Nankoweap Version

Trihutca Ski Tour

Been wanting to do this ski tour for a while.  In fact, it's part of my "Tour of the Incompletes" - a list of things that I've always wanted to do and/or failed on.  I skied to three 10th Mountain Division Huts: Fowler Hilliard, Shrine Mountain Inn, and Jackal Hut.  I've skied to 2 of the 3 of these several times, with different combinations of the 2 out of 3, but never all three.  Always been too gassed or not had the right conditions.  Thanks to the great weather and broken trail on Shrine Ridge, it was all good to go with very little trail breaking necessary.

Today is my birthday, and my brother's birthday as well, so we skied a portion of this together.  He and his family are staying in Vail this weekend with some friends - lucky them - and he had plans to ski the Commando Run today.  I convinced him to take a bypass on his way from Vail Pass to Vail and meet me on the south side of Shrine Ridge, just to the north of Ptarmigan Peak in Wilder Gulch.

I started from Pando (the northern trailhead of Camp Hale) at 5:15 am, and the plan was to meet my brother on the south end of Shrine Ridge at 8:00 am.  Skiing across the Camp Hale area over to Macallister Gulch was super cold.  My headlamp quickly went out, but thanks to the nearly full moon to the west, I was able to ski fine until the sun came up.

Made it to the Fowler Hilliard Hut (hut #1) just when the sun was hitting it.  I heard some noises from inside as I passed the hut, and I noticed some spillover sleeping bags in the entry area.  I also noticed that the group had brought in a snowmobile (at least one trip) despite the clearly labeled "No Snowmobiles" sign at the road.  There were also several pairs of skis left at the road, which probably meant that at least several guests were brought into the hut by snowmobile - I sure hope that the 10th Mtn ski huts aren't becoming snowmobile huts.

I was a bit early at the rendezvous spot, so I took a break and shoveled several spoonfuls of cake frosting into my mouth.  Ella had surprised me with it yesterday.  After a few minutes, I started to get cold, so I headed up the road to intercept Max as he came along.  Immediately, I spotted Max skiing down - we were both 10 minutes early, perfect timing!

The ski along Shrine Ridge was really nice, thanks to the skiers who had broken trail recently.  The ski down to the Shrine Huts (hut #2) was in amazing, powdery shape.  At the huts, I shared some frosting with Max (Ella made me do it), took off some layers, said goodbye to Max, then was on my way, reversing my route back to where I had met Max.

I climbed up to Ptarmigan Pass and skied down the 5 miles or so and 2,000 feet to the bottom of Pearl Creek.  The climb up Pearl Creek is always much longer than I expect, but before long I was at the Jackal Hut (hut #3, 7 hours and 25 miles).

The ski down from Jackal Hut to Camp Hale is fast and furious but was in great shape with great coverage compared to previous times I've been here.  A few more miles of skating and snowmobile fly-bys and I was back at Pando, in under 8 hours.

A great birthday, can't believe I'm already 35!

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Charlie N

Trihutca Ski Tour

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The Subway

Green Mountain Fast

Columbia - Harvard Traverse

Rim-to-River-to-Rim, Nankoweap Version

Trihutca Ski Tour

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