Well - the ski season has officially started. At least that is how it feels to me. Tree and I loaded up ASD Machine with warm clothes, my chainsaw and other items and sundry and headed up to Cain for the annual work party weekend.
We arrived Friday, moved our stuff into Pete's cabin and the fun began!
Sunny skies, happy people and energetic dogs all combined to get a lot of work done at Mt. Cain this weekend. Cindy, who made us lunch, figures she fed 83 people so it is fair to say that around 90 people showed up to help the mountain!
I ended up on a "brushing" crew. We headed up to about mid mountain via truck, then began to scramble up "Pete's", cutting saplings down and clearing little lines to either side. The brush was wet and the hill was steep. I felt like I was one sway away from falling down the hill most of the time, and I was lugging my chain saw!
You can just make out some of my handi-work in this shot from about 2/3rds of the way up Pete's.
My trusty little Stihl.
It was really fun, and very satisfying working on a run I enjoy skiing. It was also really cool to be able to cut small secret lines off to the side! Can't wait to try them out this season!
After we brushed up Pete's we headed up to the summit with a quick stop to peak into the West Bowl. Sure enough, there is still snow most of the way down. At this point, it won't be melting and new snow will probably start falling on it within a month!
My brushing companions for the day - from left to right Song, Bill and Pete.
The view looking back from the top of Pete's.
The West Bowl - still lots of snow!
Saturday night was a traditional (for Cain) pot luck supper at our buddy Pete's cabin. Lots of food, drink and good company. Maybe a tad too much drink...Sunday was a little slow but we made it home at a reasonable time.
I am very excited for the start of ski season. So much so that I just made a mega accommodations booking on the Mt. Cain website. Now I just need to put my nose to the grindstone and earn enough to pay for it all!