Boise Ridge road/ 8th Street ski tour

After loading up at Ft. Boise at 8:15, Christmas Carol and Tiny Tim dropped us off at the Deer Point turnout right at 9am. The temp was in the teens and there was fresh snow (and a bit more coming down).

I had already waxed with Rex blue, and Ralph put on his skins. And we were off.

This picture is about 2/3 of the way up the climb to the intersection with the ridge road.

The sun was trying to peek through the clouds, but the wind was blowing. The result was a cold morning, even though we were building body heat by plowing fresh snow most of the way (the first mile or so had been broken by some skis, the rest was not).

We stopped at the saddle and Ralph was indoctrinated on kick wax.

Then it was time to head downhill. Yeehaw. It wasn't long and Deer Point was barely visible in the clouds behind us.

But there was enough depth, like boot-top deep, that we didn't get much free gliding; every step on this trip was earned.

After a couple of hours of good slogging, and loads of Christmassy-looking countryside, it was time of a brief lunch. But the temps were still in the teens and the wind was up... so we didn't tarry long.

We took turns busting the deeper snow, then it thinned out a little as we approached the climb to Eagleson summit. For the climb, Ralph skinned up and I used my poles a lot with just wax.

Once on top, I was hoping for sled tracks... but to my surprise, there were none. When we got to 8th Street, we saw why: the wind had created some of the most intense drifting I've seen. Of course, the absolutely flat light made the frequent drifts even more fun!

When we got below the Upper Hulls trailhead, I called Tom and he performed the angel of mercy thing, picking us up just below the uppermost residential driveway.

Ralph did this trip on an AT (Alpine Touring) setup. I told him that next trip we'll try to do more A and less T.

Merry Christmas!

Ralph's trip report

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