Dave's Report - December 03, 2005

Craig is back - with funny, informative reports that just make you want to get back up on the hill. So , yesterday we set off again. Copious strips of sports tape all over Anita�s blisters, fixed the previous problem. If you could just purchase something that would pump oxygen into the lungs after the first � hour of trekking, we would buy it.

We thought that it would be a good idea, and save some walking, if we parked up near the Machinery shed, and hiked into Currie Bowl, instead of heading up to the Bears Den, and up Ballet , the favored route of many ( young people ). It was relatively smooth going (considering you�re walking uphill on skis) for the first � hour. Hard work but not debilitating, that is until we reached the place where the old fence , that took many victims, once stood. In its place are a row of posts that you can now ski through. If there was a boot track to the right of the gully, we didn�t find it, and the snow got deeper the further up we went.

Now they had obviously groomed to the left of the gully, but as we were now on the right of the gully, wanting to see what changes had been made over summer , we continued on. Bad choice. By the time we got to the ski out of 123�s we were in snow over our knees and completely exhausted. How does anyone get to the top of White Pass, we asked ? We stopped for a snack, and skied down. All the pain going up, now forgotten. We even thought we could go in the powder eight competition at one stage, but mental instability due to lack of oxygen was the reason. There is something completely addictive about skiing in snow that no one else has skied on.

So the next day, off we go again. This time starting out from the top of Highline Drive. By the way, you aren�t allowed to park on the road up there. Headed up Holiday, then up Elk, and stopped at the Bear�s Den for resuscitation. We never appreciated that land mark as much we do now. It is the defining destination point when you are on the verge of collapse. Had our snack, and saw some still untracked snow right down the treeline to the left of Bear. Couldn�t believe no one had skied on it, as it was now 1pm. With that thought spurring us on, we headed at a steady pace up Bear. Wouldn�t you know it, between the two trees at the top of the run, came 3 skiers. Now we are really happy for them, as they got there before we did.(NOT) We again had excellent skiing coming down. The Griz currently rocks.