First Ski of the 2014 Season!

This year has been another slow start to the ski season.  After a blast of winter weather in mid November followed by a warm December, we finally have enough snow to venture out for a tour.

Tamara and I decided to get out this morning and head up above Idaho City to 1) make sure the boots we picked up for her last spring will work, and 2) just to get out!

We knew we would be interacting with the snowmobile crowd and immediately got our 2 stroke fill as two dudes revved their machines to an earsplitting noise level right next to us as we were getting dressed!  Oh well, everything can't be perfect all the time on these ski trips.
Now time to find some peace and quiet.

We were  on our feet at 9:30 heading up the snowmobile trail to Pilot's Peak in gray skies, a balmy 34 degrees and steadily falling snow.  Before we peeled off the main trail we had almost 2 dozen snow machines come by us, but everyone was courteous and slowed down as they slid by.

The snow was falling steadily as we climbed, and thankfully the forecasted 30 mph wind had not yet started.

Two and a half hours, 3 miles and 1800 feet later we reached our destination - Top of the World Bowl.

Tamara cruising up the mountain 

As we were climbing, the snow looked and felt good.  But after we transitioned to downhill mode, we quickly realized that the foot deep powder, was very, very heavy.  No worries though.  We did our best to keep on our feet.  Some did better than others!

And here are the shots where we managed to stay upright.

As this was our first time out and the conditions were close to miserable, we elected to only do the one run.  Once back to the car we were all smiles.  Hopefully, the storms this week will build a great base so we can have a long season.