Mammoth 12/30/10

You know it’s a great powder day when the sun comes out to show off all the new snow and goods on the mountain.  Despite the holiday rush, today was an awesome day just with longer lift lines.  I headed out for a lunch ride break with Dan just in time for some lift openings.

It was a split decision but we headed to the backside to get in our lunch turns.  Just in time for chair #14 opening which had a good line up going but it was worth the wait.

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We received a couple feet of new snow which meant some tricky spots where you needed tracks to get out and lots of speed.  Our goal was to hit up the hemlocks which is through the backcountry gate and a hike up to drop in.

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The view of the backside from the hemlocks hike.  It was beautiful.  People getting powder turns and a lot of people sticking to the one stretch of groomers.

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Hiking up Hemlocks helped me forget that it was cold outside

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Right next to the hike was pure powder in the trees and no tracks.  Love looking at beautiful scenery like this

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At the top of the hemlocks.  Today was definitely a heart beating day, I love powder and trees but I’m also aware of the dangers and I was feeling the heart pounding my whole run which was fun but also very cautious until the end when it opened up.

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Dan getting his turns in the powder.

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We got some more powder but the deep snow definitely made it harder to ride some spots.  I got stuck a lot today on some flat spots but still had fun playing in the snow.

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Today could have gone a lot differently, a miscalculated turn, a tree well, riding without someone nearby, anything can happen on the mountain.  Stay safe in 2011 and look out for your friends you ride with.