Another Monday Fun-Day

View into Glacier National Park.  The "mitten" of St. Nicholas dramatically dominates the center of the horizon.

Monday was yet another Fun-Day, full of skiing and conversation with good friends. Maybe this will become a weekly trend...?  My friends Caleb, Randy, and I are all taking an introductory avalanche safety course together and were eager to get out into the backcountry to test our new-found knowledge (as well as find some good snow to float through).  We got plenty of both.  After climbing into a drainage south of Essex, MT and gained the ridge above Marion Lake, we dug a snowpit and ran some stability tests.  Not really liking what we saw, we skied down the ridge hoping to find a better aspect to ski.  However, when we dropped off the other side of the ridge and dug another pit, the snowpack was less stable.  So, we jogged back up to the summit of Essex Mountain to contemplate our next course of action and enjoy the unbeatable views of the surrounding area on a clear, bluebird day.  We finally decided to ski the line we had originally intended but planned to take advantage of the terrain to avoid steeper rollovers and ski one at a time to keep an eye on each other.  We were rewarded with fresh tracks in amazing snow, even some face-shots.

Caleb earning his turns...

Good positive feedback to our pit analysis too: Randy kicked off a very small slough and we saw a small slab that another party had cut loose.  One of my heroes, Andrew McLean, says that it's possible to ski in the backcountry every day, even when avalanche danger is high, if you take advantage of the terrain.  Our group was successful yesterday by assessing the risk involved and skiing as the snow dictated.  Score!

...then shredding the powder, making all the effort worth it.