5:50 AM
I woke 10 minutes to 6 o'clock. Let Hana out for a quick potty break, and then fed her. I grabbed the last of my things and put them in the car. My iPod, my lunch, my water and pack, pats for the pup, and a quick good bye to my house guest. My house guest was heading back east to take a test and I left her on the couch as I drove off to meet up with my skiing partners.
6:30 AM
I arrived a few minutes before meeting Mack. The bagel shop was closed. The market was closed. Okay, no breakfast. Mack was a couple minutes late and we quickly moved his gear into my Element. Mack quickly moved into grading papers. That is what he does on trips to climbing or skiing. As far as I know anyway.
7:00 AM
Doug was the first to arrive at the P&R in Purdy. We were running late, but it turns out that Walter wanted to meet even later. He settled on 7:10 AM. Introductions were made. I was the new guy in the group. And I was the youngest. 62, 56, 54, 36. You figure out the combination.
We loaded our gear into Walter's CR-V and drove off to Paradise on Mount Rainier. We stopped along the way at a small bakery. You're likely to miss it if you don't know about it. It was after the turn at Key Bank. I don't remember the path.
Watch Off
We arrived in the parking lot and unloaded. Snow was packed into the cooler so the beers would be cool at the end of the day. Mack, ever the social butterfly, chatted up a number of other skiers. He knew some of these people by name from the Turns All Year forums.
Skis On
We moved pretty fast. Mack and I have a little greeting.
"Are you Good?"
"Yes. Are you slow?"
"No."
We got moving up the ridge pretty quickly. I'd guess maybe 40 minutes to the ridge. At the ridge, Mack took a picture of me in front of the avalanche that slid the day before, or so we guessed. We then did the traverse across the ridge following safety protocols. Mack went first, moving quickly, then Doug, then Walter, and I followed to the ridge leading to Bundy's.
Unskinned
I grabbed some water and had half my PBJ. Mack took the first turns down Bundy's. Doug and Walter moved to make some turns too. I waited until they cleared the hump and made links to Mack's turns. A beautiful set of 8's were left on the slope.
We crossed the stream and were back to skinning our skis. Doug lead the way up the Mazama Ridge. Mack and I quickly took the lead and at the top drank more water and ate more food while we waited. Doug arrived first and Mack quickly put him to the beacon location test. Doug closed his eyes, and Mack and I made marks in the snow and buried one of the beacons. Doug then learned how to use a beacon to locate someone buried in an avalanch. Walter caught up and didn't rest much before we made the slow trek to the Back Bowl. Walter was the only one without a beacon... and he had the car keys. Huh. What were thinking?
Back Bowl
We arrived at the Back Bowl. The snow was pristine. I got nominated to make the first turns. I skied over the left edge of the cornice diving deep under it, and make a few turns before stopping so I could take pictures of Mack going over the top. The pictures will come later, as they are all on Mack's camera. The slide from my turns went on for some time. The cool/scary part of my slide is that it all occurred under the surface. A few pinwheels were seen but the sliding was all auditory for the next 30 seconds. It was Mack's turn next.
The sun was bright, and my polarizing lenses made it difficult to capture Mack, but I got a few successful pictures. Mack crossed the cornice and turned hard quickly under the lip and followed through with several turns as he skied past. I turned and linked his turns once again. We waited for Walter and Doug, but were quick to make our way to the top for a few more runs.
Mack and I moved far right for our second trip down the bowl. Mack moved high into the next ridge, and I took a lower ridge. Mack took the first turns this time, and I followed him making eleven turns in just over 200 feet. Here our attempt to lap the other two was successful, and we stole more clean lines. The bowl was being carved up pretty good. We met at the top of the bowl, I pushed down some couscous and shared in the offer of an orange slice and a swig of Mocha Kalua. I also finished off my water.
3:20 PM
One more set of turns in the Back Bowl was required. Mack and I made our way left of where I took my first turns. The rollover of the hill was steep. Mack took the first turns, and a couple far and high left of us on the ridge hooted and cheered him through his turns. It was my turn again, and I could feel my knees stiffening up. I took two turns, and lost my line. I crossed the Mack's slump and made a turn back, but lost my line again and crossed the slump again. Not a great line, but Mack told me to stay left. I skied down another hump and got some clean turns.
Mack started skiing to me and again there was a cornice/rollover for him to take, I cheered him through it and he made a clean drop. His shit-eating-grin was as wide as the Bowl, and unfortunately unphotographed.
4:20 PM
Fortunately, the trek was short before the final trek down to the road. We skinned a short distance. Mack pulled a Oreo Cookie Poptart out and we shared it. Then I took the lead for the first turns again. It was kind of crazy with trees on one edge, and ridge of snow on the other. I peeled through the turns and just found clean waves to leave in the behind. Across the way we could see our lines on Bundy's. Happiness.
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