Cat Skiing at Copper

[amanda]

So it's not much of a trip since I'm a season passholder at Copper but we did spend the weekend up there. Plus they started running the Snow Cat at Copper this weekend and we got some of the first runs of the season on Tucker Mountain. Here are some pictures.

https://picasaweb.google.com/amanda.erath/CopperCatSkiingJan2009?authkey=Xn3GRd6gjbU#

 

[MaineSkiLady]

oh my, fabulous pics!
Hey everyone, look at these.
Great report!

 

[Robyn]

Great photos! Wonder if my exercise induced asthma will let me do that hike this year? I'd love to!

 

[Christy]

What level of skier do you need to be to do this? And I know it's first come first served--how early did you get there?

 

[Robyn]

Christy, are you coming to the Summit I can't remember? If so, there will be a group heading for Tucker on the Copper day.

 

[Lori_K]

Great pics, Amanda! Looks like a ton of fun.

What skis were you on?

 

[SkiNurse]

How long did the hike take you?

 

[amanda]

Christy - It seems to me that as long as you are an advanced skier you would be fine. There are a lot of options once you are up there. Some of the runs are a little steeper but very open and others had a gentler slope but with trees that could be tight in spots. They do warn you that it is natural alpine environment so there may be unmarked obstacles and bomb holes and things of that sort. There wasn't anything terribly scairy up there though. No cornices or crazy tight chutes or anything like that. I am by no means an expert skier and I had a blast. I think as long as you are comfortable in deep snow and varying conditions you'll be fine. We got there around 1:00 on Saturday and caught the last cat up, and on Sunday we were there around 11:00 and got to go up twice. The cat only holds 12 people so chances are you'll have to wait a while but it was so worth it. They stop taking people up at 2:00 so they will have time to make sure everyone gets down.

Robyn - I also have asthma and I did okay on the hike. It was only about a 20 minute hike to get all the way over to the Freemont Glade 2.

Lori K - I was on my Auras of course!

 

[Christy]

Thanks, that sounds out of my league for this year.

Christy, are you coming to the Summit I can't remember? If so, there will be a group heading for Tucker on the Copper day.

No but I'll be at Copper mid-March with my husband and in-laws.

 

[pinto]

Ooh, nice! I saw that it was open, but the timing never worked out during the weekend (kids had friends, and we were meeting others, etc.)

Monday I was alone, and when I went back there, patrol was doing control work, so cat was stopped. I skied over off Sierra for a while, and when I came back over, it was open again, but I had to meet a tile guy at 1 and didn't have time. RATS. It looked great.

(Although, Monday, it wasn't really necessary, as there was no one on the mountain, and I had as many fresh tracks as I wanted ... much of it was windblown, but I skied Jupiter Bowl and Buzzard's Alley four or five times and barely crossed anything. Not to gloat or anything.)

 

[Robyn]

(Although, Monday, it wasn't really necessary, as there was no one on the mountain, and I had as many fresh tracks as I wanted ... much of it was windblown, but I skied Jupiter Bowl and Buzzard's Alley four or five times and barely crossed anything. Not to gloat or anything.)

Oh, no, not gloating at all!

I'm hoping we'll hook up on Friday for turns with SnowHot's crew!

 

[pinto]

Oh, no, not gloating at all!

Maybe it will make you feel better if I tell you that the wind knocked me down up at the top of Lillie G's ... it blew my skis and poles out of my hands, then blew me back into a drift. That was a first.

(I was ski-less because I was riding the poma, and about 80% to the top, when it stopped. I stood there in this horrible wind for a while; finally the lift ops came up on the snowmobile and said it would be a while, peel off and ski down. I batted my eyelashes behind my goggles and asked if he could take me the rest of the way up on his machine. He obliged. But when I got off to get ready to ski, whoosh. THat was weird. I wonder how fast the wind was?? My skis blew OUT of my hands.)

 

[Robyn]

Maybe it will make you feel better if I tell you that the wind knocked me down up at the top of Lillie G's ... it blew my skis and poles out of my hands, then blew me back into a drift. That was a first.

(I was ski-less because I was riding the poma, and about 80% to the top, when it stopped. I stood there in this horrible wind for a while; finally the lift ops came up on the snowmobile and said it would be a while, peel off and ski down. I batted my eyelashes behind my goggles and asked if he could take me the rest of the way up on his machine. He obliged. But when I got off to get ready to ski, whoosh. THat was weird. I wonder how fast the wind was?? My skis blew OUT of my hands.)

Ahahahahahahahaha!!!! That's freaking hilarious! Thanks for sharing that one. :D

 

[pinto]

Amanda, how was the coverage? Did you ski Fremont 2 each time, or any others?

 

[amanda]

We skied Freemont 2 and Freemont 3. The coverage was generally really good. There were a few little tree tops or plants poking through in spots and a couple big rocks that were exposed but generally there was just lots of deep snow. We also skied Lallarookn on the other side of the sadle because they were still doing avy work on Tucker on our first trip up on Sunday.