Gnarly Alpental area tracks: who skied that????

MFONDA wrote: Also, it looked like that super steep face which usually doesn't have much snow on it (right to the left of Armstrong Express right at the bottom) looked like someone skied it. Pretty impressive <br><br>If this is a reference to the impressive clefted face overlooking the lodge then I can attest that its first descent was in ~1972 by Craig Wilbur, then on the pro patrol, and Mike Pretty, who was head of the pro patrol and later Alpental Area manager. <br><br>A chute above Shot 6 was skied about the same time by Craig and I believe Skip or Jerry Holdly, (They were brothers and am not sure about spelling their last name but it rhyms with coldly). Skip and Jerry later did a stint as patrolers at Sun Valley. Maybe they are still there. I recall Craig saying they had to rappel or belay part of the chute so it may not be the Shot 8 referenced above. I am not familiar with shot 8 but if its "skiable" then I am sure Craig et al could have skied it unaided. Perhaps they skied/rappelled another more difficult route nearby. On the other hand we all skied on 210 or 215 cm skis and maybe this necessitated some rope work in shot 8, (how wide is it?). <br><br>As some of you know 70/71, & 71/72 were record snow years and in my opinion the Pass had more snow then than in the epic 98/99 season. The deepest and lightest snow I have ever skied was on a Thursday in 1971. The snow was not only unfathomable but it caused me to meet my future wife, truly a red letter day. Anyway alot of stuff was filled in those years which lead to alot of first descents. Craig would be a wealth of information on that subject.

I had a 60$ student pass at Alpental from 69-72 and I remember seeing tracks down the cleft above the lodge.It was so inspireing.Nice to here the rest of the story and a name behind it. X

Shot 8 is wide. And probably the most accessible of these runs IMHO.<br><br>drC

If this is a reference to the impressive clefted face overlooking the lodge then I can attest that its first descent was in ~1972 by Craig Wilbur, then on the pro patrol, and Mike Pretty, who was head of the pro patrol and later Alpental Area manager.

<br><br>Hey Eric,<br><br>Didn't you also ski that face around the same time?  Maybe a little after Craig Wilbour et al.  My steel-trap memory (mangles everything that enters it   ) recalls that you did.<br><br>====<br><br>Edited to add:<br><br>I was just a scrawny junior high schooler at the time, but Eric probably remembers some other gnarly exploits from those days. Like the time some guys built a jump on top of the big snowshed just west of the pass and jumped over the westbound lanes of the highway. As I recall, Pete Hiltner was the main instigator.<br><br>Then there was the "pond jump" in the woods about half way up Chair 1 (what is now the Armstrong express). I remember Eric, my brother Gordy, and some of their hot dogger friends jumping off a 25-foot cliff into a big pool of water. SPLASH! (This was in spring.) Eric may still have movies of it.<br><br>Good memories!

Hey Lowell, I never did ski the face above the lodge. I've always been a little more cautious than some regarding the risk benefit analysis and it seemed like a lot of work to get to. It probably isn't that bad when you look at it from above though. I believe there was a fairly long clearing period after Wilbur and Pretty skied it. The tracks impressed alot of people over a good number of days.<br><br>Though younger Keith Crabtree was another instigator in some of those early antics. His dad, Lee, was the area manager in the first years of Alpental.<br><br>The pool jump is still there though it probably doesn't melt out much before the area closes. The Alpental used to close the last week of May. A jump into that pool was a great way to cool off after a sunny hot spring bump session. Yes I do have movies and you play a promenent role in one scene. Truely fond memories

When I skied Shot 8 with Cyril it was the best powder run I ever had off an Alpental lift. All the snow that had sluffed off the steep rock face made for ridiculous pillows on the slopes below it. Man that was fun!