Telle Turns!

I am really starting to get cabin fever. We got some new snow this weekend and I was all psyched to get out and go skiing. I woke up this morning and checked the weather, -8 with a -30 windchill! Man I thought Spring was supposed to be here. Is it ever going to get above zero?

Ashley and I were expecting a grocery delivery today so we got all bundled up and as we were walking to the airport we hear the plane take off. The 8 boxes and 195 lbs of groceries were left sitting in the tarmac, er snowmac?

We loaded the boxes into two orange boat sleds and pulled them home. I think we should have gotten the boxes in sooner, the lettuce was a little limp and the scallions were a bit nipped. But other than that, I can not complain, avocado and mango in the arctic are a real luxury. (Even though it cost about $200 to have it all delivered.)

So after having turkey sub sandwiches with fresh tomatoes and lettuce, I waited for the wind to die down. It did not. So finally I got all dressed to go skiing. Bibs, ploypro, light fleece, shell, hand warmers, fleece gloves, balaclava and my beaver hat. I put the goggles on for the first mile because it was so windy.

I think we got an inch or two of nice soft powdery snow. It was great to ski on... where it had not blown away. Out on the open tundra it had blown off and had accumulated in the stream bed of contact creek. I skied up the stream bed for good snow cover and some shelter from the wind.

I continued on into Little contact creek. The valley was narrow and the sides were steep. I had to cross some bare ice and tip-toe around some exposed rocks in the stream bed, but it was really pretty. The back side of Blueberry hill was looking smooth and not so steep. It was inviting. If I could make it up Mnt Ingsted surely I could make it up this little hill. I started climbing, making long switch backs up the slope. This was a lot easier than the climbing I did last week! The slope was so smooth. No rocks, no tussocks, just a firm base of snow with about 2 inches of powder. This was going to be good. I could not make it all the way to the top, it started to get a little bit steeper, and I did not want to take off my skis, the anticipation of making sweeping turns down the hill was just too much. I unhooked Zoey and turned my skis around...

As I started to gain some speed, the muscle memory started to take over and before I knew it, I was making telle turns!!

Zoey loves the snow, but hates to wait for me!

Looking up the Little Contact creek valley.

My tracks in contact creek.

Zoey looking to the West.

Panoramic views of the Mountains.

Click on the photos to view them full size!