Booting up a Ski Run on Halloween

Steve boots his way up the hill.

Originally thinking that it would be best to take a rest day on Halloween Sunday, I got home from skiing on Saturday to find that Steve Perman wanted a partner to get out with on the following day. I only made turns with Steve once last year, so I took the opportunity to say ‘yes.’ Like many things in life, I wasn’t sure when the next opportunity might present itself.

As a bonus, it had snowed about four inches, which made the turns down pretty nice. As a different sort of bonus, Steve doesn’t have a backcountry setup, so we booted our way up. It’s been a long time since I realized that booting and skinning seem to work my muscles differently, so I was happy to dice up the uphill workout. Booting, or walking uphill in ski boots, is the method of choice for ascending many couloirs, so it’s good to get those muscles in practice as we wait for deeper snow to fill in said couloirs.

A OK enjoying a stroll in the mountains..

Since we started up early, we saw a lot of folks ascending as we made our way through a lot of untracked snow on the descent. The snow high, rain lower combination began as we left, so we’ll see how that plays out with the new snow.

Steve leans into a turn.

Steve heads down the hill while many others head upwards..

I don't spend much time on chairlift accessed slopes, so this is by default a 'rare' picture. A OK just past the Collins lift mid-station.