Copper Mountain

Bob is always excited about getting turns, and the first day of the season is certainly no exception. 7" of fresh had fallen in the last few days, bringing the Banner weather station report to a total of 16". We tried to lure Tom into joining us, but it was no go. So we rolled out of town a few minutes after 7 and headed up through Garden Valley for Banner Creek summit.

When we got to the parking spot, the car thermometer said -3. And the wind was blowing.

After what seemed like forever, we were ready to go, walking into the headwind and fighting the freezing feeling in our fingers.

As soon as we left the road, the wind died. As we trudged up the hill, we warmed up. It's hard to see, but Bob is not showing off his frostbite. Instead, he's holding up his main food for the day: Snickers left over from Halloween.

The climb was a little weird- low snow left us dinging rocks occasionally, and an old slab under the fresh powder meant our skis were sliding downhill if we tried to traverse too gradually. Trying to go straight uphill on your first day of skiing is not recommended- oooof.

We reached the lunch spot right at noon, and had a nice lunch, where we were joined by several others. Then it was up some more. It was obvious that there wasn't a ton of coverage up high, but Bob had a need to stand on the summit. Bob is not in the foreground, but closer to the trees. Note that even in low snow, the Copper cornices gain some size.

We did a little traversing from the summit looking for some softer stuff. We didn't have to go far to find some fatness- my tracks are on the left, Bob's on the right. Below the tree was the best snow of the day.

We did another yo-yo, where I got this shot of Bob.

Then it was back down the ridge toward the car, leaving a little P-tex on the way.

Sunshine and fresh powder: not bad for this season's starters.