Saturday, July 11, 2009

Castle Hill to Porters

Jane starting out with the days mission in sight
We awoke to yet another amazing day in Castle Hill and with the snow down to the valley floor we slipped into our ski boots and walked out the front door with Mt Cloudsley's Long Spur the day's objective.
Jane passing through an old farm gate at the toe of Long Spur
We started skinning about 50 meters from the house and skinned through the beech forest in Thomas Bush and up onto Long Spur.
Long Spur- the climb of 100 kick turns..........
I run up Long Spur in the summer, taking around 2hrs to the top, but with new snow and a skin track to put in progress was slow as we kick turned our way up.
Me booting on one of a few short, rocky sections on the Spur
Jane about to start the final skin to Mt Cloudsley's 2107m summit
We reached the top of Cloudsley after 1400m of climbing and 3hrs 20mins. Once on top we headed south for Mt Enys, having already arranged for our car to be at Porters.
Jane skinning with the Ryton Valley and Mt Rolleston in the background
The views and low down from atop Mt Enys
Jane skiing some excellent powder off Mt Enys' east face
We reached Mt Enys, 2194m, just under a hour after leaving Cloudsley and skied some great snow. We also met Duncan and Kath who were doing the same trip but in reverse.
My tracks west
I got a quick run in the west facing slopes that skied great before we traversed back into Porters via Bluff Face.
Back to reality- Bluff Face
We got back into Porters and were reminded how the other side skis. The upside of "reality" is they have coffee and BLT sandwiches!

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"The skier who forsakes the lifts to climb under his own power to a mountain summit is a very different person from the downhill only piste basher and is often regarded by the latter as something of a curiosity.
But he was the creator of the sport; and possibly with him lies the future"
-Robin Fedden, The book of Europen Skiing, 1966
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