Winter Trips

Though the snow wasn't great this winter, there were still some good moments, and Jess and I had a chance to get out a couple of times.  We took a quick visit to the front range, skiing out towards Hidden Lake.

 Camped out near the base of Hidden Peak.  The snow was pretty wind scoured, but it was good to be out in the mountains.

 Sun rising over the mountains.

 Jess skinning up towards a run with the Cook Inlet in the background.  There's awesome camping just a 3-hour skin from the city.

Some tracks on the way down.

We took another trip out toward Hatcher Pass on a beautiful almost-spring skiing day.

 Panorama at the top of Thousand Dollar Run.  There were a couple of inches of fresh snow on a pretty good base.  The bluebird day was pretty awesome, too.

 We skied up and around to April Bowl and laid some tracks down a section of April Bowl.  Old avy debris can be seen to skier's left.

Jess skinning up for another run.

Everything was going awesome until this photo.  I happened to snap this at the exact moment that Jess tore the ACL and meniscus in her right knee.  If you look closely in the shadow you can see a white puff of snow - Jess falling.

A month later, Jess had surgery.  Everything went well and 4 months post-surgery, she's been progressing on the road to recovery, jogging lightly, biking, and do some very gentle hiking.  It was a bummer of a way for her ski season to end, but ending on such a nice day has left her motivated to get back out there next spring.