End of your TAY streak?

I was ready to give it up this September. For a variety of reasons I have been losing motivation to get turns in the fall before the new snow arrives, but most of all because it hasn't been nearly as fun the past few years as it had been before that. I started skiing each month because I was finding great skiing even in the fall, but the recent low snow years and/or long hot summers have pretty much obliterated the "stashes" I enjoyed. I did ski this September after all, because new snow had fallen on the Muir (and also because of lots of encouragement from other skiers), and it was actually quite enjoyable. I'm prepared to break my streak in October if it doesn't look like I will have a good time. I'm up to 106 months, I've shown myself that I can do this TAY thing, and I don't really have anything else to prove.

I kept my streak intact by going "East Coast/FIS World Cup" style this September. I skied an ice sheet at the snout of the Paradise Glacier, just above a small tarn there. I got about 9 turns in on a 30-vertical-foot descent, on top of some less frozen ice covering a sheet of very dirty ice. I also attempted to ski between the crevasses on the Paradise Glacier, but did not have nearly the success that Lapaz25 or our friend Chuck had. See trip report for September 3, Paradise Glacier.<br><br>It's not easy finding turns, but what keeps me going is the company I keep, and the fact that I get away from the household grind at least once a month, doing (or pretending to do) something I love. Count me in until physical injury, disease, or some weird tragedy strikes!

Looking at the webcams, seems there's a hint of snow at Paradise.<br><br>October might be worth skiing.

Anybody look at the mountain forecast? It's gonna dump on Baker.

I've been keeping my streak up (don't get me wrong, these have been the most difficult months of my 12 years of doing this) but it sure takes will power. I skied the fryingpan glacier above summerland in august, and Inter Glacier in September, and they have melted and receded so much that the Inter Glacier, for example, was bulletproof blue ice at a 40 degree pitch, covered in a layer of gravel and rocks with crevasses everywhere, and melting ice from above creating waterfalls into every crevasse. It sure looked beautiful, but it was scary, and took every ice tool I had to climb it safely. <br><br>I haven't gone to muir because I'm saving that for this month, expecting it to be really bad, but I'm encourage by the current freezing level. I didn't want to be too sick of Muir by the time October came around to the point where I wouldn't want to go...<br><br>At the beginning I imposed a 1000 vertical foot limit for each day, and I've been cursing that decision this year! I had to climb 1200' up that ice slide of death around countless crevasses to get enough vertical in to be able to call it a day.<br><br>Here's a picture of the fryingpan cirque above summerland.<br><br>

I was mtn biking saturday in the cispus area. During two rides, I was innudated with large, wet snowflakes on both ridgetops over the day. As overriding childish giggling overtook me, the other non-skiers in our group could only shout heckling vulgarities, "What are you so happy about. Shut up! Let get out of here." <br><br>I kept my streak, and even had fun during my august ski. It is kind of like scrape boating down a river when high flow is faster paced and smoother, at times sliding over rocky drops can be challenging and install more appreciation for those high flow days .