That's it. That's all. Its over.
Well, at least skiing at Mt Cain is. For the season. Well, skiing with tee-bar assist. This post started strong but seems to be losing speed. Probably because I am so freaking tired...
Looking back at the West Bowl after my first of four laps Saturday morning.
I rolled in Friday night and was greeted with an offer I couldn't refuse. Carry a case of beer from the parking lot up the short hill to the picnic tables behind the ticket booth and I could have one. Yes sir! And then two free burgers followed! I hung around the Kapitany for a while, and then the lodge where a jam session was going on, and greeted all of the people I have come to know throughout the season. You see, Cain really is a community. Towards the end of the evening I overheard the planning for the mornings shovel crew going on. Hearing they were lacking people, I decided to jump in. Just to explain, "shovel crew" at Mt Cain involves meeting in the lodge at 7:25 am, getting towed to the top by the cat, and shovelling the snow of the upper tee track where the snow cat can't get to it. All in all, there's a good 200 foot stretch of the tee track that has to be done by hand. Turns out some rain Wednesday night had frozen to a nice hard crust that the four of us had to break out. At one point one of the more experienced locals commented that it was one of the hardest shovel crews of the year. Great!
After we finished, the reward - first ride to the top. We headed into the West Bowl to get a quick back country run in. Conditions were "dust on crust" - about an inch of fine powder on the rain crust from early in the week with the odd wind drift. Fast and actually pretty fun!
Looking down the bowl for the first run of the day on Saturday.
After that first run, I headed into the lodge for a second breakfast and then hooked up with my buddy Pete and the two ladies he was showing around for the rest of the day. And what a day! In total we fit in one east bowl run and three more West Bowl runs! The last run of the day involved pretty much everyone on the mountain climbing up to the "Golf Clubs", drinking and smoking and gabbing before dropping in for the last run.
End of the year party at the Golf Clubs!
That last run on Saturday was pretty awesome. It even involved considerable Gnar!!! Pole whacking followed by a really loud (by me) "Hey, check me out while I rip this shit up!" to the entire assembly, and of course everyone watched as first Dave, then Pete and then I dropped into the West Bowl. I skied the first pitch (to hoots and hollers), stopped, looked back at the crowd and yelled "I'm the best skier on the mountain!" After yelling, I looked around a little and noticed much to my shock that I had stopped about six inches from the edge of a cliff! YIKES! I side stepped up to where Pete was who then egged me on to ski a super steep line. I wish it was rated, I am sure I would have gotten a decent whack of Gnar points for it!
The red arrow is about where I stopped an noticed I was on top of a cliff...
The red line is the gnarly little chute I skied.
I'm not sure who or what she was dressed up as, but she was flashy AND happy!
My awesome, $20 vintage end of the season ski outfit! The jacket is a 1991 vintage Sun Ice.
I know this because the free lift ticket voucher is stil inside!
Saturday night there was a pretty epic potluck in the lodge followed by beers and another impromptu jam session. For some unknown reason I decided to be responsible and go to bed early. Will wonders never cease! I even had a fresh bottle of whisky which miraculously remained unopened all weekend! I must be getting wise...about damn time.
Sunday dawned cold, snowy and windy. Hardly spring skiing. Somehow I managed to get out of bed, eat, pack my room and get my gear on in time for first tee. After a couple of runs I hooked up with a couple of locals and headed into the west bowl. We managed one more bowl lap before lunch (when they also closed the upper tee) and headed into the lodge. On the way out we discussed hamburgers and how one would be really nice. Lo and behold we could smell burgers on the grill from half way down the mountain and when we got to the lodge there was a bbq set up and burgers ready to eat! WOOT!
After eating I convinced Pete that we needed one more bowl run to end the season. So, up to the top of the lower tee we rode and then we skinned up to the top of the hill. One final rip down the bowl (with a little more fresh snow) and it was over.
Not looking like spring at all!
I thought I would feel sad now that the official Mount Cain season is over. Maybe I'm just too damn tired. Or maybe I have had so much freaking fun that I will be buoyed by it until next year! Whatever it is, there is definitely some more skiing to do and hopefully I run into some of the people I have gotten to know this season befire next season starts.
and don't forget - I'm the best skier on this mountain!!!