Be Careful for What you Wish…

snow day

Be careful what you ask for. We had been complaining about not having enough snow… Well, guess what we have now? Too much snow. No, we’re not complaining by any means – but it is the truth. More correctly, it was too much snow, too fast. Otherwise, some of us feel that we never have enough snow…

The Elan only made it 15 feet from the shed before being engulfed by the fresh snow. With that vividly in mind, we went for the big sleds. However, even they struggled around the ranch. On the trails we had already packed down, we were able to make it around. Get off of those, however, and it was another story – you could only go downhill, and if you wanted to go up hill, you had to get a good run at it. One of those days that pushes you and your sled to the max – in terrain that we usually think nothing of. We only made it a mile from the ranch…

Now, on a technical level… part of why these conditions are so challenging is that we have no base layer of snow. The snow we have had for the past month and a half has turned to the equivalent of sugar (just try making a snowball out of THAT).This new layer of snow, all 28 inches of it, piled on top of that sugar, offers as much resistance and support as mashed potatoes.  The equivalent of a cat swimming back to shore.

While it’s overwhelming at the moment, it is due time that we got a good storm – and still, we are disappointed to see it leave. This snow will set up and become manageable. Once that happens, let the games begin…

somewhere in there is a sled...

The long awaited snow

Finally, after a month’s wait, it is snowing again. In the past 5 hours it has put down a foot of snow – and still coming. Yesterday, we saw 4 inches of new snow - on top of the 10 inch “base.”

Tomorrow will tell this storms fate. Already, it is proving bountiful. The winter is looking up for us.

The Return to Silverton

Our sleds outside the hotel in Silverton.

Ah yes, it’s time for a ride report!

This past week, we took advantage of the low snow. Since the roads are still very follow able, it was no problem to just ride over Stoney Pass and into town…

We’ve done this route before. Last year, we did this route (see Ride 2/5/09 and Ride to Silverton, Part II), but we had to “contend” with a decent snowpack. This year, that is not the case yet. The roads are not filled in, but our shortcuts are instead rocky chasms.  We were able to follow the road the entire way over.

The problem spots we encountered last year were nothing more than a mellow road this year. Especially since we have our route figured out now, it was nothing short of cakewalk by our standards. Nobody even got stuck or even “temporarily delayed” – although my dad did set off a little wind-loaded, slab avalanche. 

 Since the ride over there was so easy, we checked into a hotel, and took off again for an evening ride. After a quick ride on the Silverton trails, we settled into our room for whatever food we could find and TV…Pretty typical for us, but not considering how we got to town…

Another cool thing is you can just ride around town. Hop off the snowmobile trail onto the city streets. From the stories, not much different from Yellowstone – minus the crowds and hype, of course. For us, it’s a town trip minus the truck. It’s the, ah, adventurous approach to going to town.

Hopefully we get more snow soon, so we can get back to our usual shenanigans. But in the meantime, we are able to make the most of the low snow by easily riding the terrain that most years threatens to take our sleds…

 

Looking back into town.

Making the Most of it

Making the most of the little snow... with the little sleds

Well, this year has started out dismal as far as snow goes. While we’re not happy about it, it has given the chance to do stuff you normally won’t find us doing.

For example, most years by this time we’re so infatuated with riding, that we don’t take time to really do anything else for fun (granted, nothing else is quite as fun when the conditions are good!). Instead of riding, we’re doing training….In the form of non-motorized activities. We’re talking stuff like snowshoeing. Despite the bad name (at least for those of us who would “rather be riding”), it is good exercise, and will hopefully have us in even better shape when we do ride.

Also, since balance is a big part of our main riding, I’m trying an extremely balance-intensive sport. Since there has been a surplus of ice, both on the river and on the road, I’ve started ice skating a little bit. Even without good snow, we find ways to stay entertained – and get in better shape. If/when we get more snow; we should be able to ride a little longer then before…

To date, we’ve only gotten one good ride into the Highcountry. But worry not, the season is still young – and there is no reason we can’t use the low snow to out advantage.  Tomorrow, we go on a little adventure… stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!!