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Don't Panic! There will be enough snow to ski Bald Mountain!
Just be sure to have a towel and a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster!
Life, the Universe and Everything
Bald Mountain A
Mileage: 8.85
Elevation Gain: 3,230'
Trailhead: French Gulch
Route: French Pass to NE gully
Partners: Natalie & Eli
Arriving at the trailhead Friday night, we settled down to let Deep Thought calculate the question to the Ultimate Answer of Life, the Universe and Everything. But the answer confused us, so another bigger computer had to be built to find out what the question was. And so we set off bright and early that morning to find the question with our new tag-a-long friend Eli!
Stream crossing - Photo Credit: Natalie
At the summit, we hung out for a while, until it became apparent that the Vogons were going to destroy Earth, and so we got ready to ski down and away before the meaning of life was lost forever!
Eli Shredding - Photo Credit: Natalie
Me skiing - Photo Credit: Natalie
Skiing the lower section - Photo Credit: Natalie
At the base, we were quite content to know we had found the meaning of life, the universe and everything, and hiked back out to our awaiting spaceships.
Mostly Harmless
Boreas Mountain
Mileage: 2.88
Elevation Gain: 1,587'
Trailhead: Boreas Pass
Route: Up, then butt ski down snow
Partner: solo
Being done with Bald early in the day, and the clouds being non-threatening it was time to consult The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and find some guidance. It pointed to advice, which in turn pointed to guidance. Hmmm I think I'll just wander up from Boreas Pass, and butt ski down the snow. Simple.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Traver Peak, McNamee Peak, Clinton Peak
Mileage: 9.97
Elevation Gain: 3,249'
Trailhead: Montgomery Reservoir
Route: Ridge Loop with East Chutes descent
Partner: Bethany
I had planned on driving the Wheeler Lake 4x4 road. Then I viewed the route on traildamage.com and realized that unless I had a Babel fish installed, I wasn't going to be able to safely drive it without an experienced spotter. The Vogon's are notoriously bad-tempered! So instead of being tormented with Vogon poetry, we decided to walk the extra miles up the road. No one with an Infinite Improbability Drive to hitchhike from either! Where's Zaphod Beeblebrox when you need him? Darn.
Once in the upper drainage I spied the handy work of Slartibartfast, who loved making crinkly edges. Won an award, you know. I knew what line I was skiing!
Walked up Traver, traversed to McNamee and then we saw it, the Glory Hole (ie Deep Thought). I went to ask it the question to Life, the Universe and Everything. It said it needed to think about it.
Once on Clinton (Margrathea), the inappropriate jokes continued unabated by all courtesies to taste. Soon it became apparent that storm clouds (missiles) were aimed directly at us, so a speedy descent to lower elevation became warranted.
Once below, the clouds (ie missiles) abated for a short while, turning into a bowl of petunias and a surprised whale. At least there was some water to ski in!
Then the planet became hostile again, and sent graupel and a lightning bolt to hurry us on our way back down the road. It was time to grab a bite to eat at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe!
If you are confused by the commentary within this TR, I suggest picking up a copy of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and grabbing a pint of Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster!
My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):
Nice work girls!
I too am looking for the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything I'm pretty sure its up in those mountains somewhere.
And the Hitchhiker's Guide is a great book.
As usual an entertaining report, Otina. Too funny, I looked up Babel Fish on Wikipedia, thinking it must be an obscure 4WD spotting tool. I don't speak Hitchhiker-ese but your report was a good primer!
-Tom
Natalie - Yup, a great ski season! 19 14ers and 15 other peaks skied May next season be even better!
GerryRigged - Thankfully I have found my meaning this year, considering I have never been happier than I am now!
Nick - No the Joules are not men's skis. Wish they were, maybe they wouldn't be weak noodles! Nothing like my aggressive in-bounds men's skis that I ride.
Breckskier - We ran into snow at 12K, around the stream crossing (well the road was a stream...) More photos on my webpage
Tom - Hitchhiker's is a great book. Well worth the read, if only to understand why so many of us reference it
I couldn't help myself, after having to txt Natalie on Friday night ”Don't Panic!”
Congrats on a fantastic ski season! Well picked lines, carefully timed descents, elegant creek crossings, no faceplants and beautifully layed out turns. Here's to the next one!
p.s. And for the record, I did panic when I first saw Bald. Way to stay the course, Captain ;) It turns out Grizzly A didn't look any better...
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