• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

St. Mary's 7/10/14

skiNEwhere

Active member
Joined
Oct 29, 2006
Messages
4,141
Points
38
Location
Dubai
So me and my buddy jacoby decided to hike up to the top of St.Mary's glacier today to get some turns in.

I planned to ski to the lookers right of this photo
ImageUploadedByAlpineZone1405034227.070658.jpg

I parked as close as I could get the Subaru to the base and we were off!

ImageUploadedByAlpineZone1405034073.842933.jpg

It's crazy how different the terrain looks compared to last month when I skinned up this same route. There was actually a little bit of bushwhacking needed at the bottom, I even had a tough time spotting an entry point.

ImageUploadedByAlpineZone1405034304.037075.jpg

There was a lot of brush to clear through. And way too much ahead. I decided to alter my route and ski about a half mile away from where I originally intended to hike. I took this pic on my ATV yesterday

ImageUploadedByAlpineZone1405034424.879128.jpg

To get over there, I had to cross this mini rock field which was a PIA due to the fact most of the rocks were somewhat looseImageUploadedByAlpineZone1405035956.100052.jpg

I started hiking up the side of the glacier, still on the rocks until I was forced to hike up on the snow itself.

I wanted to make it to the top of the snowline, but the weather had other ideas. Clouds started rolling in and I could tell thunder and lightning was going to come with the rain. If you see the bottleneck of snow in the previous pic, I probably stopped just after that.


As soon as I started putting my ski boots on, it started drizzling. By the time I was about to start skiing down there was a little hail mixed in with thunder and lightning. Seeing as I was in a hurry I didn't enjoy my turns as much as I could've, but relatively speaking the snow sucked. It was slushy and bumpy, and not the good kind of slush bumps. More like snow melting at different rates which caused a lot of divots.

I swapped over to the regular boots and started hiking back down the normal, conventional trail that people take to get to the glacier, instead of the trail I took up.

It was absolutely pouring with thunder and lightning, yet some people were still hiking up. I even saw one lady intentionally hiding under the lone tree above the lake.

I made it back to my car, albeit soaked. I had a good time and so did my dog, seeing as the only other alternative was not skiing at all. Worth it :)
 
Last edited:

skiNEwhere

Active member
Joined
Oct 29, 2006
Messages
4,141
Points
38
Location
Dubai
ImageUploadedByAlpineZone1405036351.587167.jpg
ImageUploadedByAlpineZone1405036367.518617.jpg

One thing I thought was funny but didn't get a picture of was my dog in the snow. On the way up, when there were a couple of small patches of snow, he would climb to the top of it, and would then slide down while sort of running too. When he got to the bottom, he would go back to the top and repeat.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who enjoys sliding on snow :D
 

bzrperfspec77

Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2011
Messages
180
Points
16
Location
Granville, MA
That's great, way to get it! Your dog looks just like a coyote! Glad to hear that he enjoyed the trip just as much as you did!
 

dlague

Active member
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
8,792
Points
36
Location
CS, Colorado
Always wanted to earn my turns but have never done it - one of these days I hope to!
 
Top