Dawn over the lake.
Mt. Rose, NV
It's six o'clock in the morning, it's cold, dark and I'm skinning up a cat track in the Mt. Rose backcountry. As darkness begins to lift, a beautiful firelit sky reveals the eerie fog that is blanketing the Lake Tahoe Basin. Our crew includes eight humans following two dogs who are more anxious than any of us and have decided to lead the way. I have to admit that I don't see too many sunrises but for the next two hours I keep asking myself why I don't do this more often. I promise that this winter the back country is on.
Two hours later I find myself at the top of what remains of the Mt. Rose tram. The wind has picked up and is whistling through the structure which is coated in a layer of ice that would impress anyone living on Hoth. At this point it's me and my dog alone on top of a frozen world. He and I stay warm by playing a game of snowball catch, which for him, never gets old. Some food and an inspection of the surrounding mountains later and I'm still alone, where is the mob I came here with? I decide to ski down to the last place I saw them, worst case is that they're lagging and I will do a lap on this hill . . . at any rate I'm making turns. As I make my way down, I see the crew and I notice that an interesting turn has taken in our day in the backcountry. Not just one, but two kickers are perfectly placed on a roller that at this point I can't see over. My first reaction is disappointment, did I really just skin for two hours in the dark to hit a kicker? After some time to digest the development, I reluctantly settle into the idea of throwing my meat. As I look over the edge of the roller though, reluctance turns to panic and I say "Did you guys see the rocks right in the landing zone?" Apparently they had, it will make for some good photos.
Huck and burn. Front flips, back flips, spins, grabs and only one person sticks a landing. Whatevers, we're all having fun and almost no one hit the rocks. I can't think of any better place to get these tricks down. Once the landing zone craters have craters we decide to head out. Half the group decides to ski down to the cars, jobs and a broken board need to be dealt with. The rest of us, including the dogs, go out looking for some good snow.
Two days after a big dump we should be able to find something to tear into. A quick 30 minute skin later we get to the saddle we were aiming for. Looks like the wind got to most of it, but there looks like some soft snow along a line that the mountain's shadow is casting on the slope. We dive in, the snow is good for about three turns, but quickly becomes a thick breakable crust. The rest of the way down we ride snow that is variable at best, but everyone is smiling and happy to be there. The day finishes with a sloppy slog down to the road. It's three o'clock by now, we've been out here for nine hours. Looks like we logged some overtime today. Hot showers and cold beers are the only thing I'm thinking about . . . oh yea, and where we're going skiing tomorrow. Roll On.
