Atonement

Someone who chose poorly was interested in atoning for his sin this morning. We enjoyed a nice sunrise.

And some nice turns. Not as nice as yesterday’s since Rustler was effectively tracked out (at least by October standards), but still worth getting up for.

Touring is as much about the up as the down. I love the up. A nice hike and good conversation with a friend is a reward in and of itself. Skiing down is a bonus.

As much stoke as I get from skiing powder in October, Kikkert’s comments from yesterday did a good job killing it. As Bob put it, “You thought you left those guys behind once the road season was over didn't you?”

Kikkerts said “The ‘rush to the barn’ syndrome is often when accidents occur (also having broken trail is never an excuse to drop in on people...especially in the Wasatch...where every skin track is going to be re-used).”

I know you “worked for many years as an avalanche forecaster” and already have all the answers, but let’s take this to its logical conclusion just for fun. Are you saying that if we put in the booter up the Y couloir, where the way up is also the way down, and you decided to follow us up, starting an hour or two later, that we would need to wait for you to get to the top before descending? That’s nonsense. Get up early and hike fast. If you don’t, go someplace someone hasn’t been or accept that there’s some additional risk in the route you’ve chosen.

Andy put it nicely in a comment on Dug’s blog: “Uh, maybe someone shouldn’t complain about people skiing above them when they didn’t put in the skin track. I’m just saying.”