Thunder Meadows

Snowy wonderland.  This place is awesome.  After 2 days at the Thunder Meadows hut, we did not want to leave this powder paradise.

Once we forgot about the treacherous slog up to the hut, we got tropical by mixing ourselves some cocktails sans the little umbrellas.  Since the day was out, we had some fun with dinner, complete with flambe and warmed biscuits, bacon and cheese.  Fuel for the day tomorrow.

Our home away from home would stay warm while we went for an epic day of skiing.  As we made our first ascent of the day, I distinctly remember that my jacket smelled exquisitely of fried meat - bacon specifically.  If the bears were around, we would be a prime target.  Needless to say we did not get eaten.

I don't think the snow stopped blowing all day, despite the clear morning air, but a high ceiling made for good times all around, as storm after storm rolled overhead.

Center punch on Orca Bowl, John and I flew down the slope with nothing but smiles on our faces.  This is the kind of skiing that we had been waiting for all season.  Who knew the snow could be soooo good when you weren't skiing on depth hoar in the Rockies?

We decided to check out the Cabin Bowl ridgeline.  Ridiculous uptrack was the name of the game here.  But as difficult as it was to set, it was the easiest way to the top of the ridge, and did not disappoint.

Cabin Ridge

Fortunately we were able to reuse the same track several more times throughout the weekend to sluff out three perfect chutes in perfect snow for perfect turns!!

This would, in some form, become our standard loop around, and we got to know the slog up cabin bowl pretty well.  I thought I was going to be doing kickturns in my sleep.  John also noticed the immense amount of kickturns as we climbed for nearly an hour back up to the hut...

After a good feed that night, we decided to try our hand at night skiing.  Hahah, eau naturale was our plan: to ski without headlamps.  After a bit, we decided that might not be the best plan after having visions of being swallowed by a monster compression.  But it was a surreal view.

We had one more day to play around, so decided to check out Big Steep Mother, just around the corner...  Another big steep mother of an uptrack to the top of the ridgeline.  Needless to say that it was worth it.  We rolled out just in time to miss the incoming storm.

More photos below!  Enjoy :)

~Yuri

Big Steep Mother