3 At The 'Ghee

I was feeling spunky and a little stir-crazy this morning, so I taped up my ankle good and tight and loaded my snowboard gear into the truck for a foray up at Targhee.  Our snowpack is slowly growing and overall warm temps seem to have helped solidify a base.  Photos and stories were of honest-to-gawd powder up there!  I had to see for myself.

There were rumors from Thursday of a line of 100+ people skinning/bootpacking/whatever up the mountain, but despite my relatively late start there were only a handful of others.  Definitely a variety of personalities--lots of flavor.

It was good to see others up there.  Some may complain about the backcountry getting crowded, but I love seeing how earning turns is catching on!

The skinning was firm and fast, with only a light wind blowing across the upper ridge.  My last foray into the backcountry felt clunky and awkward (and sticky) but today started to feel normal again--I was able to hit a smooth stride and felt pretty good on the ups.

The signs at the top crack me up.  Seems like a wide spectrum of possible consequences.

And the riding was indeed honest-to-gawd powder!  Fast and soft, and I (amazingly) didn't hit a single rock.  Not that there weren't any out there, but with some decent route-finding it was no problem.

The snow in Chief Joseph Bowl was pretty sweet--slightly consolidated pow on a solid base.

Good enough, in fact, to crank out three top-to-bottom laps and feel good about it.  I was starting to feel rubbery by the top of the 3rd up, but never questioned whether it was worth it.

I felt as haggard as I looked nearing the top of lap 3.

All told, a fully worthwhile trip into the hills.  I saw a bunch of friends up there and got to share some fine pre-Thanksgiving turns.    Then I got to come home, play ball with the dogs, and snuggle in (with the dogs) for a post-riding nap.  Not bad.

Now we just need it to start snowing on West Yellowstone in time for the big nordic ski festival...