Kendall Card 2.0

My good friend Josh moved to Ohio.

It was two years ago that we first started to dawn patrol together, right after I started working at Backcountry.com. I found in him a like minded backcountry skier – one of (semi) conservative lines, a knack for adventure, nary a phobia of early morning starts and a nose for powder. We even spent a portion of last summer cutting a trail through heinous scrub oak so that one of our favorite dawn patrol skiing stashes would be easier to access.

So on the morning of his departure it only seemed right that I would give him a proper send-off as we returned to the location of our first ski tour together – Flagstaff.

On that first outing, we found the skin up Flagstaff bulletproof and Josh’s skins were having issues. He cursed them and with a bit of duct tape and determination we made the summit of Flagstaff only to turn around and ski right back down having run out of time. To this day I still remember how dry and light the snow looked on the north face of Flagstaff. I stood there staring down into the untracked powder of Days Fork from the top of Flagstaff. I remember the angst I felt with the decision to ski back down the heinous bulletproof junk that led back to the car with meetings and TPS reports looming.

This time though I would have the upper hand.

Like our first outing, the skin track was bullet proof and we soon favored booting up Flagstaff rather than test our skills with skins and edge work. As I approached the top of the peak the snow went from thin and firm to dry and light. Probing my ski pole on the north facing aspect that dropped into Days Fork, I felt the anticipation grow and yelled down to Josh, “It’s dry!”. His pace increased.

Dropping in the first couple of turns were on chalky firm snow but it soon yielded to dry fast pow. Small turns morphed into fast GS and then super G turns as I neared the bottom of the basin. Watching Josh rip fast smooth turns in untracked dry powder was as good as it gets. As he swept into the bottom of the basin we clicked poles, the air buzzing with stoke. For this very reason I sometimes get more stoked watching my friends ski pow than I do myself.

The skin back up to the top was steep and although the snow was dry the sun was HOT! We got to the top and Josh said something about the needing to go down and start the long drive to Ohio but how it was so tough not to take another run. I put my foot down. “Sack up, gear up and let’s drop in for round 2!”. I’m sure Josh’s wife thinks I’m a poor influence but I had to do it, if not for me for Josh. One last run.

The second lap was faster than the first and spicy in nature as we flashed a steep ramp to a couple of tree lined chutes. By the time we arrived back at the top of Flagstaff the time had come to call it a day. I wondered if Emma’s Ridge would be corn by now and we headed that way. As we neared the top I knew we had scored.

Descending in tandem thanks to solid conditions, we skied some of the best corn I’ve ever skied. I could hear Josh’s hoots just over my shoulder as I lead down. It was the run that kept on giving…untracked and super smooth corn. What a way to finish what was already a perfect day of skiing with one of the best ski partners I’ve ever had the chance to share the skin track with.