Thursday, February 20, 2003

The more I go backcountry skiing in the Sierra, the more I want to go. Reading John Muir's The Mountains of California only intensifies the wish. The difficult conditions last week — boilerplate, wind slab, breakable crust — were just a chance for more experience and discovery. Difficult kick turns with ski crampons, bootpacking icy pitches, may have been hard at the time, but now they feel great. The hard-gained corn and chalky windpack taste even better then. Skiing inbounds in ski areas is still fun, but increasingly feels limited. Go out there, enjoy the silence and the hard work. Learn with a good guide. 10:49:07 PM