After yesterday’s amazing riding at Buffalo Pass, it wasn’t a hard decision to go back there today for more snowboarding. Despite a late night out, some of us rallied this morning with much needed coffee and made it back to the sleds for more powder turns. We had less people and ended up being more organized with the sleds so we were able to make a ton of laps during the day.
From Buffalo Pass we could see the Steamboat ski area in the distance
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We ended up going farther out in Buffalo Pass to find a new location to make tracks in and today was even better than yesterday on great conditions and turns. I kept thinking today how good the turns were, despite being a bit haggard this morning nothing beats waking up and getting powder turns every run.
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John, Trent and Shane at the top
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We went to three different spots today. The first was wide open with some tree turns on the way to the field, the second was endless aspen trees and the third was in between the road where no tracks were at. The third was my favorite turns of the day, we strapped in at the top and I found myself riding down with Trent on my left making his turns and me with fresh tracks on the right side. It was amazing.
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Liz from Zumiez getting a powder turn in
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Kate from Zumiez coming down the 3rd location
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Trent getting some powder turns in the aspens at our second location during the day.
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I snapped this shot of the first location in the morning, all you can see is our lines. We got some many turns in there and it was just our group getting those turns in.
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Not sure who this is but it’s one of my favorite shots from today getting freshies
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We ended the day getting back to the parking lot and loading up the sleds with people to get out, some carrying people and others strapped in riding next to the sled.
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On the way out, we snapped a group photo for today.
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A huge thanks to Marty Carrigan, Trent Bush and Shane Kofoed for inviting me to hang out for the weekend with everyone. It was amazing meeting everyone and all about having fun snowboarding. I got to meet a lot of the Zumiez headquarter employees before they head to the Zumiez 100K at Keystone this week. I can’t imagine a more fun weekend than spending it in the backcountry with rad riders making turns.
burritosandsnow
January 10, 2010 at 7:34 pmbeacons? 🙁 … glad you had a blast!
Shay
January 10, 2010 at 8:08 pmSorry I didn’t mention it in today’s post but I did in yesterday’s…we had beacons, probes and shovels in the backcountry.
happytheman
January 10, 2010 at 8:36 pmIt looks like you had a fantastic couple of days Shay! I’m curious, did you have to hike back to the peak or were you somehow coordinating the sleds??
burritosandsnow
January 10, 2010 at 8:58 pmgood to hear Shay .. and sorry to be the beacon nazi but ive lost friends and you have lots of traffic so always good to point out safety precautions.
Shay
January 10, 2010 at 9:05 pmHappy, definitely so far the best days of my life…that’s how good it was.
Nah we had sleds dialed today so no hiking. We switched out drivers so groups would take laps and we would have 3 sleds (I think we went 4/4/5 to a sled). So we’d shred down to the bottom and whoever was a driver would drive the sled down to pick us up. I drove once so someone could get their laps in. It worked out pretty good with making sure the drivers got ride turns and everyone switching it up.
Burrito, totally agree with you. We were very good, we rode in groups or pairs and everyone was accounted for all day. Plus everyone was a strong rider and the tree riding wasn’t anything hard for anyone which helps but we definitely made sure to make it a safe experience.
justin
January 10, 2010 at 9:13 pmWhat’s the CO snowpack like these days? Ours has been funky the past week or so with all the rain.
gags
January 11, 2010 at 6:24 amsome punchy layers underneath depending on your aspect…I think it’s better near steamboat, but in Summit and the SW there’s considerable avi danger on the steeper slopes
Trent
January 11, 2010 at 9:41 amGreat times Shay- Thanks for being there!
Shay
January 12, 2010 at 7:27 amDefinitely the snowpack on Buff Pass was better than the mountain, didn’t notice any punchy layers underneath and heavier in some spots but the cold temps made it so last week’s snow was still soft to ride. Buff is flat compared to other backcountry areas, mellow pitch for riding. Steamboat seems to be doing better than summit county on the snowpack. Over the weekend there was some human caused avalanches triggered on Rabbit Ears Pass nearby so definitely not safe, still considerable out there in backcountry.
Trent, it was awesome for sure! Glad I got to make turns with you!
Shane
January 12, 2010 at 9:32 amNice coverage Shay! Super fun and Im glad you could make it out.