Off topic Conditions report - Long Draw area

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Alpine
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Off topic Conditions report - Long Draw area

Post by Alpine »

No place for this in the regular conditions report section but figured some of you may be interested.

We went cross country skiing yesterday on the 'The Meadows Ski trail' betwen the Long Draw road and Zimmerman Lake near Cameron Pass. On the drive up, until 1-2 miles below the Long Draw road we seriously thought we were going to be walking rather than skiing - south facing slopes along Hwy 14 completely dry, and sparse at best on north facing slopes. Once we got to Barnes Meadow Reservoir we started seeing some snow, and then once we got out onto the Long Draw road and especially along the ski trail, snow conditions were very, very good good.

Perfect weather, and great snow back in the trees. Highly recommended day tour, although the views of the surrounding above-treeline areas are somewhat limited. I would be happy to give some details about the trail to anyone interested as the online info seems a little sparse.

On a side note there was a fatal avalanche yesterday just over the pass on the Lake Agnes side of the pass. Please be careful out there...
"You know I've always loved you...and you know I always will." Third Day
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ChrisRoberts
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Re: Off topic Conditions report - Long Draw area

Post by ChrisRoberts »

Alpine wrote:No place for this in the regular conditions report section but figured some of you may be interested.

We went cross country skiing yesterday on the 'The Meadows Ski trail' betwen the Long Draw road and Zimmerman Lake near Cameron Pass. On the drive up, until 1-2 miles below the Long Draw road we seriously thought we were going to be walking rather than skiing - south facing slopes along Hwy 14 completely dry, and sparse at best on north facing slopes. Once we got to Barnes Meadow Reservoir we started seeing some snow, and then once we got out onto the Long Draw road and especially along the ski trail, snow conditions were very, very good good.

Perfect weather, and great snow back in the trees. Highly recommended day tour, although the views of the surrounding above-treeline areas are somewhat limited. I would be happy to give some details about the trail to anyone interested as the online info seems a little sparse.

On a side note there was a fatal avalanche yesterday just over the pass on the Lake Agnes side of the pass. Please be careful out there...
How often do you think that Meadow trail is used? Good trench?
Some rise, some fall, some climb to get to terrapin
NoCoChris: Now with less Colorado!
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Alpine
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Re: Off topic Conditions report - Long Draw area

Post by Alpine »

Chris,

It was surprising to me but it did not seem that well used. It appeared to have been several days at best since the last person went through. We went Saturday (and a nice one at that) following a big storm the previous weekend, so I was thinking we might see quite a few people, but we did not see anyone at all until we got to Zimmerman, then on the way back we could see that one small group had come part way up and turned back, but that was it. But lots of traffic in and out to Zimmerman Lake from the upper trailhead.

Trail is easy to follow through the trees as it is reasonably well marked, plus the winds don't destroy the track in the same way they do in more open areas. In the meadows the previous tracks were blown over and not decipherable, but if you look around there are a few permanent/semi-permanent bamboo markers so you can see which way to go.

By the way I would not ski it on anything less than heavier duty 3 pin gear unless you are really good with something lighter, as a few of the downhills and s-turns are not gimmes. Otherwise you may be doing a fair amount of sidestepping down some sections. Just my opinion. I was on metal edges skis with Rotafella SuperTelemark bindings and Karhu Traverse XCD boots, and that level of gear is sufficient.
"You know I've always loved you...and you know I always will." Third Day
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