SkiNurse
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
OR: How it is much easier to ski down Lover’s Leap than to climb up!
Since the last failed attempt @ finding my ski, I had bought a couple of different maps and have studied them no less than 50 times. I have had other friends (that have more backcountry experience) look at them with me just to make sure I was reading them correctly. I really felt that I knew exactly how I could get back to Lover’s Leap in Blue Sky Basin, driving ~ 75% of the way on forest service roads and then hiking the last (and most difficult) 25%.
Went with a couple of friends that so enthusiastically volunteered for this adventure.
We met @ 7am and started the uneventful drive to Vail. Arrive in Vail `845am and drove to the area where I thought there would be an access gate to the forest service road. Well, there was a gate, but it was locked. So, we went to the Vail info center and the gal there had no clue what we were talking about. As we were leaving she said “IF you make it back, let me know how it goes”. Prophetic??? While one friend was using the restroom, I decided to take another look at the map. Hmm, something looks different. I asked my current cohort if the trails that I had been looking at look like a different color than the actual marked forest service roads. Damn it…yep, the color was oh so slightly different. And by the map key, the roads that I had depended on were “ski area access only…no private vehicles”.
Do I have a backup plan???? No.
In the process of talking to a couple of different people, we find out that there is a 4x4 road we can take into the back bowls. Now, I’ve looked at this road in my 4x4 books, but I didn’t bring any of them with me. At this time we are still feeling pretty adventurous, so off we go.
Passed some bicyclists and hikers…and even found a small waterfall! Which, of course, in the winter I didn’t know existed. The road then turns into a definite 4x4 road for the last 4 miles or so.
We come across “Wolf”. Wolf has a group of people in a custom Jeep for a 4x4 trip. We find out quickly that Wolf is originally from Austria, has a Jeep trip business during the summer and is a ski instructor during the winter. We tell him about the ski hunt and he in turn tells us about the condition of the road and checks out my Explorer real quick to make sure I have enough clearance that I have good tires for the conditions. Thank God, I passed the inspection. So off we go again.
The first 3 miles are just a dirt road. Basically a cat walk during the ski season. Beautiful views of the Gore Range. The road is a little more challenging, but not very difficult. We stop @ this incredible vista that overlooks the East Vail chutes (3 backcountry skiers died in avalanches in this area last winter) and I70 to have a quick picnic lunch. About a half hour after our lunch, we reach the area where we need to park. We are outside the ski boundary ropes of Outer Mongolia Bowl. Enjoy the view, get our stuff together and off we go. It is now already about noon. The altitude here is about 11,500 feet.
The beginning of the hike, we follow Two Elk Trail. To our left, is Outer Mongolia Bowl and to our right our 200 foot cliffs. There a rope and warning signs along the cliff edge. We then turn down into Outer Mongolia Bowl . The wildflowers are thigh deep and amazing, The peak wildflower season is about a month late this year d/t the later spring snow. The hike though, is not easy. Very uneven, lots of critter holes and very thick foliage. By accident, we disturbed a grouse nest which caused all sorts of drama for the mama grouses and their babies.
We head into the drainage area between Outer Mongolia Bowl and Siberia Bowl where we found our first ski! We did take it down and gave it to some Vail employees to take into security.
After scrambling down another hill, we end up on another “road”. Here there are about 15 tents set up and a van. I want to know who let the van down here cuz this is where I had wanted to drive to! (side note, a Vail ski patroller that was doing an EMT rotation where I work said they were probably doing seasonal construction and so Vail allowed the van through). It is now ~ 130pm. Altitude here ~9200 feet.
Here there is a road across a bridge that leads into Pete’s Bowl which is where Lover’s Leap (where I lost my ski) is located. We follow the road for about 30 minutes which gets us to the area where we need to do the long climb up. We will now be going from 9200 feet to 11,500 again at the ridge. The traverse up is less technically difficult than the original hike down from my car. But, it was still challenging. By 230pm we finally make it into the Lover’s Leap area.
The search begins.
The area that I lost my ski is very identifiable by one large and one smaller rock outcropping. One thought was that with the spring runoff that my ski might have traveled a bit. The way the terrain is though, there really was no way the ski would’ve traveled far.
We searched the area for a hour . My ski was not there. We did find another ski, 6 cell phones (one an old analog phone), a femur w/ the knee ligaments still attached (hopefully an elk), lift tickets, ski passes, poles, goggles, sunglasses and some spare change.
By the time we got to High Noon Ridge (top of Lover’s Leap) it was 4pm and I’m very concerned about our time. We have a long way to hike back to the car and it finally started to rain. Luckily, no lightening, but on top of that ridge it was very cold, windy and wet. Down we start. By my decision, I thought it would be best to follow the lift out of Blue Sky Basin. By 530pm, I had made it down to the road that would lead us out of Blue Sky Basin with the other two 5 & 10 minutes behind.
To make a long story shorter, we ended up being able to get a ride from that area from a Vail employee @ 630pm to the top of Orient Express.
It took us about 20 minutes to walk down the road from China Bowl to Outer Mongolia. Then we had to start the trek up the hill under the lift. I swear it felt like it took an hour, but it was only another 30 minutes. By the time we got to the top of the lift, it was dark. No moon or starts cuz of the cloud cover. Luckily I had a headlamp with me…ok I ALWAYS have a headlamp with me for this just in case situation! We start the trek up to where I think my car is…oh, did I mention my GPS are dead now, so I can’t find our way point!. We find the path that we were on when we first start the hike.
Again, it seemed to take an hour before we saw the reflection of the sticker on my Thule basket, but it was only 20 minutes. Now we have shelter if needed! Happy to be at the car and feeling ok, we decide to attempt to drive back down the 4x4 road into town. The way down actually was easier than the way up and took about 90 minutes to make it into Vail.
Now we can head home!!! Vail has 3 entrances/exits and we were at the mid-Vail exit…which was closed for construction. Over to the East Vail entrance….which was closed for construction. Had to drive to the West Vail entrance (which is the total opposite was of where we wanted to go) and finally got on the freeway! It is now about 1115pm.
We finally make it back to the original meeting place safely about 130am…I had to stop a few time to wake myself up.
So, in conclusion, at least I KNOW my ski is no longer there. Where is it/?? Who knows. And maybe someone still will turn it into Vail security. Lesson learned, I will buy powder leashes for this upcoming season!
Some pics here:https://flickr.com/photos/23702053@N04/sets/72157606840390079/
Since the last failed attempt @ finding my ski, I had bought a couple of different maps and have studied them no less than 50 times. I have had other friends (that have more backcountry experience) look at them with me just to make sure I was reading them correctly. I really felt that I knew exactly how I could get back to Lover’s Leap in Blue Sky Basin, driving ~ 75% of the way on forest service roads and then hiking the last (and most difficult) 25%.
Went with a couple of friends that so enthusiastically volunteered for this adventure.
We met @ 7am and started the uneventful drive to Vail. Arrive in Vail `845am and drove to the area where I thought there would be an access gate to the forest service road. Well, there was a gate, but it was locked. So, we went to the Vail info center and the gal there had no clue what we were talking about. As we were leaving she said “IF you make it back, let me know how it goes”. Prophetic??? While one friend was using the restroom, I decided to take another look at the map. Hmm, something looks different. I asked my current cohort if the trails that I had been looking at look like a different color than the actual marked forest service roads. Damn it…yep, the color was oh so slightly different. And by the map key, the roads that I had depended on were “ski area access only…no private vehicles”.
Do I have a backup plan???? No.
In the process of talking to a couple of different people, we find out that there is a 4x4 road we can take into the back bowls. Now, I’ve looked at this road in my 4x4 books, but I didn’t bring any of them with me. At this time we are still feeling pretty adventurous, so off we go.
Passed some bicyclists and hikers…and even found a small waterfall! Which, of course, in the winter I didn’t know existed. The road then turns into a definite 4x4 road for the last 4 miles or so.
We come across “Wolf”. Wolf has a group of people in a custom Jeep for a 4x4 trip. We find out quickly that Wolf is originally from Austria, has a Jeep trip business during the summer and is a ski instructor during the winter. We tell him about the ski hunt and he in turn tells us about the condition of the road and checks out my Explorer real quick to make sure I have enough clearance that I have good tires for the conditions. Thank God, I passed the inspection. So off we go again.
The first 3 miles are just a dirt road. Basically a cat walk during the ski season. Beautiful views of the Gore Range. The road is a little more challenging, but not very difficult. We stop @ this incredible vista that overlooks the East Vail chutes (3 backcountry skiers died in avalanches in this area last winter) and I70 to have a quick picnic lunch. About a half hour after our lunch, we reach the area where we need to park. We are outside the ski boundary ropes of Outer Mongolia Bowl. Enjoy the view, get our stuff together and off we go. It is now already about noon. The altitude here is about 11,500 feet.
The beginning of the hike, we follow Two Elk Trail. To our left, is Outer Mongolia Bowl and to our right our 200 foot cliffs. There a rope and warning signs along the cliff edge. We then turn down into Outer Mongolia Bowl . The wildflowers are thigh deep and amazing, The peak wildflower season is about a month late this year d/t the later spring snow. The hike though, is not easy. Very uneven, lots of critter holes and very thick foliage. By accident, we disturbed a grouse nest which caused all sorts of drama for the mama grouses and their babies.
We head into the drainage area between Outer Mongolia Bowl and Siberia Bowl where we found our first ski! We did take it down and gave it to some Vail employees to take into security.
After scrambling down another hill, we end up on another “road”. Here there are about 15 tents set up and a van. I want to know who let the van down here cuz this is where I had wanted to drive to! (side note, a Vail ski patroller that was doing an EMT rotation where I work said they were probably doing seasonal construction and so Vail allowed the van through). It is now ~ 130pm. Altitude here ~9200 feet.
Here there is a road across a bridge that leads into Pete’s Bowl which is where Lover’s Leap (where I lost my ski) is located. We follow the road for about 30 minutes which gets us to the area where we need to do the long climb up. We will now be going from 9200 feet to 11,500 again at the ridge. The traverse up is less technically difficult than the original hike down from my car. But, it was still challenging. By 230pm we finally make it into the Lover’s Leap area.
The search begins.
The area that I lost my ski is very identifiable by one large and one smaller rock outcropping. One thought was that with the spring runoff that my ski might have traveled a bit. The way the terrain is though, there really was no way the ski would’ve traveled far.
We searched the area for a hour . My ski was not there. We did find another ski, 6 cell phones (one an old analog phone), a femur w/ the knee ligaments still attached (hopefully an elk), lift tickets, ski passes, poles, goggles, sunglasses and some spare change.
By the time we got to High Noon Ridge (top of Lover’s Leap) it was 4pm and I’m very concerned about our time. We have a long way to hike back to the car and it finally started to rain. Luckily, no lightening, but on top of that ridge it was very cold, windy and wet. Down we start. By my decision, I thought it would be best to follow the lift out of Blue Sky Basin. By 530pm, I had made it down to the road that would lead us out of Blue Sky Basin with the other two 5 & 10 minutes behind.
To make a long story shorter, we ended up being able to get a ride from that area from a Vail employee @ 630pm to the top of Orient Express.
It took us about 20 minutes to walk down the road from China Bowl to Outer Mongolia. Then we had to start the trek up the hill under the lift. I swear it felt like it took an hour, but it was only another 30 minutes. By the time we got to the top of the lift, it was dark. No moon or starts cuz of the cloud cover. Luckily I had a headlamp with me…ok I ALWAYS have a headlamp with me for this just in case situation! We start the trek up to where I think my car is…oh, did I mention my GPS are dead now, so I can’t find our way point!. We find the path that we were on when we first start the hike.
Again, it seemed to take an hour before we saw the reflection of the sticker on my Thule basket, but it was only 20 minutes. Now we have shelter if needed! Happy to be at the car and feeling ok, we decide to attempt to drive back down the 4x4 road into town. The way down actually was easier than the way up and took about 90 minutes to make it into Vail.
Now we can head home!!! Vail has 3 entrances/exits and we were at the mid-Vail exit…which was closed for construction. Over to the East Vail entrance….which was closed for construction. Had to drive to the West Vail entrance (which is the total opposite was of where we wanted to go) and finally got on the freeway! It is now about 1115pm.
We finally make it back to the original meeting place safely about 130am…I had to stop a few time to wake myself up.
So, in conclusion, at least I KNOW my ski is no longer there. Where is it/?? Who knows. And maybe someone still will turn it into Vail security. Lesson learned, I will buy powder leashes for this upcoming season!
Some pics here:https://flickr.com/photos/23702053@N04/sets/72157606840390079/
