Glacier Mountaineering Society

Sun, Jan 5 2014 - Ski Touring (View Original Event Details)

Coordinator(s):		Joe Grabowski
Participants:		Joe Grabowski, Jeremy Rossman, Denise Davies, Brian Kennedy, Denise Grabowski

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Write Up:
It pays to be flexible with the ski touring agenda. It helps if the group is flexible too. Denise Davies, Denise Grabowski, Brian Kennedy, Jeremy Rossman and I got out of the car at the Izaak Walton under clear skies and -5 degree temps. It was a frosty hike in the shade up to Marion Lake as we briskly made our way towards the sunshine trying in vain to keep our fingers warm and not over heat. On the way in I was going over options for the day. I’ve skied a number of times in this valley with these conditions so I opted for skiing the south facing slopes from the Marion Dickey ridge down to the lake. We did two runs and then went over our exit strategy. We decided to ski the 2,400’ run down the shady side of the ridge into Dickey Creek. Back to the car about 30 minutes before dark and -2 degrees. The storm of the previous 48 hours started warm and finished cold. This typically results in excellent powder skiing but not this time. The top 3” was dense making it a challenge to initiate turns. I’ve sensed this for about a year and it was confirmed this day. Skis with early rise tips or rocker are much easier to turn in top heavy snow. Denise Grabowski and Brian were all smiles and no effort. Denise Davies and I were plowing snow and working hard going downhill. For Jeremy, he’s too young and strong for it to matter. His skiing has really improved since last season. Making it back to the warmth of the home fire was especially rewarding today. Good skiers, an experienced and flexible group made a day where it was dangerously cold go smoothly. Another wonderful winter day in the Middle Fork thanks to my companions. I hope everyone is having as good a winter as I am having.

Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Tim Anderson at twamontana@gmail.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.