Okay, it's mid-June, the skis are in the garage after a crazy tour over Memorial Day weekend that was a pure bushwhack. It's over, right? The summer blues induced by skiing withdrawal was starting to work it way into my brain. Then I got the call. Bryn and other ski buds were eyeing a ski day at Chinook Pass which is high enough to still be holding the snow. The weather forecast- 70 degrees and sunny.
We arrived at 10:30 and started up the west flank of Naches Peak. Wrapping around the south side, we made our way up to the skier's summit and soaked in the sun and 100+ mile views in all directions. The snow was perfectly consolidated and everything was still well covered, especially the north and east facing slopes. We first took a run down the south face, thinking that later in the afternoon, the snow would soften more than we would like. Then we turned to the north and dropped into the basin east of Naches Peak. Back up again for another run in the bowl in some incredibly nice snow for carving tele-turns.
We ended the tour with the group splitting up and taking two different routes down into the west bowl of Naches peak. For the finale, a couple of us dropped down to below Cayuse pass and were graciously picked up by the drivers of our cars.
It was a day of splendid blues skies that would drive anyone's blues away...
Check out the HD video on Vimeo.
