March 2, 2008, Castle Saddle sunshine

The Basset Hound Gang took off from Narada Falls under high clouds that were breaking up by the time we started climbing up to the saddle on a skin track thoughtfully laid down for us by a pair of younger skiers (yes, sometimes there can be an advantage to not being the first one up to the parking lot; perhaps the Subaru driver who tailgated us through the iciest part of the road up will understand that someday). We climbed through 18" powder until the bowl near the top, where the snow looked strongly wind-affected. I had visions of impending doom in the form of edges catching in crusty patches, strained knee ligaments and ignominious faceplants. I started making noises about turning around there and yo-yoing the powder, but the elder members of the party showed their wisdom by allowing the youngest member to whine but turning a deaf ear to my opinions.

As we enjoyed the great views from the top of the saddle I was delegated to write the trip report, either as penance for my impertinence or because I lost the "Not It" game that Gary learned from Ron ---though I suspect the real reason was that, as the youngest in the group (age 58), I'd be most likely to remember the details long enough to write the report  ;)

The snow in the bowl was slightly packed but not crusty at all, very uniform and forgiving all the way down; so good that we had to go up to the other side of the bowl for another run before dropping down the hill. Skinning up we heard some whumpfs from the steeper slopes by Pinnacle and decided not to get any closer to them.

We skied down the north-facing slope to the Reflection Lakes road in great 18"-deep powder, then climbed up the road to where we could drop down for another powder run through the trees toward Narada. The open slope above the parking lot had a 1" soft crust on it and was a bit heavier than anything else we hit all day, but after all the great snow we had we weren't complaining.

Thanks Gary, Dorothea and Diana for a great day.