In which yers truly XCDs in the mountains like a big boy:
With judicious application of a certain amount of free beer, I managed to survive my work obligations in the city of lost wages. They ran out of Sculpin about 45 minutes into the first day, but nobody can prove I'm explicitly at fault for that.
By the end of the week, the conference was over and I was on my way north to see what Great Basin National Park had to offer.
Coming in from Ely:
Checking into my hotel, I found myself positively shivering with anticipation. And chills.
Yep. Head cold.
Nonetheless, I dragged my ass out of bed around noon the next day to see what the skiing looked like. Almost no snow where the road was closed this time of year. I decided to start hiking up the mountain to see if there actually was any skiable snow. Found it closing in on 9000 feet.
Unfortunately, my midwestern lungs combined with illness were having none of this high altitude bullshit and I called it a day after only a couple miles of hiking.
The next day was spent at more reasonable elevations and after putting in a full day hiking, I was certain I was ready to try skiing again.
Off to Cedar Breaks!
Yep, it's awesome. All kinds of fun little inclines with more than enough space through the trees.
Sure, the lingering cold was still kicking my ass, but the hardest part about meadow skipping for a midwesterner is adapting to the distances. Here in MI, if I can see something- it's probably pretty close. Out west, that sweet glade over yonder across the meadow might actually be like 3 miles.
Great snow, pretty much had the place to myself, hope to be back again some day.
Lessons learned:
Buy your beer in NV.
Also, don't get sick maybe?