Colorado Backcountry: The Tale of ‘The Storm’ - 30″ in 24 Hrs.

The Tale of 'The Storm' - 30" in 24 Hrs.
SurfTheEarth, jonpierre, snowfire, GFP, Alex, iskibc
by: iskibc
10.21.06

(you can 'right click - view image' to see full size picture)

7:45 AM, Friday
10.20.06

The early morning light vanishes as blue sky is overcome by dark-grey clouds and fierce NW winds. The first few flakes begin to drop from the sky, thus marking the beginning of ‘The Storm’.

9:50 AM, Friday
10.20.06

1 in 2. The winds pick up, the temperature drops, and the snowfall increases.

12:10 PM, Friday
10.20.06

“SLAM!!”, the door shuts forcibly behind me as I step out of my office and say goodbye to another hectic work week. By the time I reach the parking lot and climb into my truck, the stresses from the week begin to slowly subside. Looking to the west I can see The Storm has begun up high and the peaks are no longer visible.

12:55 PM, Friday
10.20.06

I enter the winter wonderland just past Idaho Springs where it’s dumping big fat flakes. At this point all stress dissipates and the stoke meter rises like the mercury in a thermometer on a hot summer day. The roads become snow packed and slick as I roll through Empire and up towards Berthoud Falls. The anticipation of finding some fresh up in the Gulch grows as I punch through the several inches of snow on the road up to the trailhead. At first glance in my rearview mirror all I can see is the white cold smoke dancing in the air and floating like vapor into the atmosphere.

1:05 PM, Friday
10.20.06

5 in 5. I shut the engine off, hit the E-brake, and step out into the cold winter air. The scene was surreal. It was like a scene from a Christmas snow globe. The snowfall was heavy, yet falling in slow motion. Flakes gently swayed down from the sky, taking their time to hit the snow covered ground. A good 5” of super light and airy snow had fallen since the storm started.

4:55 PM, Friday
10.20.06

Several laps up high through the trees paired with bottomless conditions made for a nice afternoon outing. The snow continues to come down and darkness slowly begins to creep as nightfall nears. My skin track from a few hours ago is filled in, and the snowfall begins to increase as I near the bottom of the trail. I dig out the beers I stashed in the snow bank earlier and celebrate another fine October day.

5:48 PM, Friday
10.20.06

Flip open the phone and start making the calls to the crew. “Tomorrow is gonna go off….NOAA is saying 10-24” by tomorrow morning, with locally higher amounts. Get the sleds ready and I’ll see you in the AM, early!”

9:45 PM, Friday
10.20.06

15 in 14. One last check of the SNOTEL sites before bed. Radar is nothing but blobs of dark green and purple over much of northern Colorado. Sleep will be difficult tonight.

3:30 AM, Saturday
10.21.06

Alarm goes off, jump in the shower and the day officially begins. After sleeping in for the past couple months, the early morning routine isn’t quite as speedy as it usually is. I roll out of the driveway, half asleep, and head to Golden to meet up with SurfTheEarth. A couple of inches had fallen overnight in Denver, making for slick roads.

6:30 AM, Saturday
10.21.06

We arrived at the trailhead and stepped out into the silence of the morning. Jonpierre and Alex pulled up shortly thereafter. Wading through thigh deep light and dry snow we unhooked the sled trailers and fired up the machines. It was quite apparent we were in the “locally higher amounts” zone the weather forecasters were talking about. We struck it rich and right on
the nose.

Flakes continued to fall, but it was apparent 'The Storm' was winding down as light shades of blue poked through the ceiling of clouds. Taking the sleds for a warm-up lap down the trail yielded constant over-the-head blower. I haven’t seen conditions likethis since last January during an epic 3-day storm.

7:30 AM, Saturday
10.21.06

30” in 24 hours. I still couldn’t believe how much it snowed. Was I dreaming? When am I going to wake up? This can’t be happening, not in October! January, yes, but not October.

We made our way up to the drop off zone and gazed at the virgin powder lines below us. Snow crystals glistened and gleamed in the slight morning light that was peering through the clouds.

SurfTheEarth, jonpierre, and Alex making trail:

8:00 AM, Saturday
10.21.06

I got dropped off and the rest of the crew cruised down to the pick-up location to spot me. I got the thumbs up and moments later dropped into the deep. It took a little bit to get moving as the snow was so deep. Cranking into my first turn a blast of cold smoke hit my face as I entered the white room. I was just waiting to hit bottom, but that never happened as
I made big GS turns down the face. Several turns later I met up with the crew at the pick-up zone wearing a big shit eating grin with snow covering my
face.

iski and snowfire:

snowfire:

Alex in the white room:

iskibc dropping in:

GFP white room:

GFP taking a little air:

Oooops:

More white room:

jonpierre first line of the day:

Down lower:

Line #2, jonpierre:

GFP:

iskibc:

GFP:

We headed back up and started to run shuttles. We worked the face until it was tracked up and then headed further down the ridge for more.

Snowfire rippin' hard:

coming up for air:

SurfTheEarth shreddin':

white room:

Cold smoke:

STE dropping in with crew watching over:

More white room:

Snowfire hittin' the high note:

Snowfire dropping in, jonpierre looking on:

This was by far the deepest and best snow I’ve skied in October. It really doesn’t get much better than this. Sharing a pow day with a bunch of friends and not seeing another soul is pure heaven.

Snowfire:

High fives, big smiles, and good times were had. We skied hard until the middle part of the day and then called it quits. It was hard to leave this utopia, but knowing it’s only going to get better is a good feeling. With more storms lined up for this week it will be hard to focus and get work done. As I type there’s still snow flying in the high country and fresh lines just waiting for tracks.