Brad Foley's Blog Posts

•April 24, 2010 • Leave a Comment

After 22″ in 24 hours the the skiing in Telluride was fantastic, one of those big spring dumps to cap the end of the “ski season”.  I bumped into Cedar Palmer for a quick run in a little stash he likes to call the triple drops.

After finding or landmarks and a quick laugh at how much snow had fallen over night it was time for a little fun.

Skiing out out the bottom of the run we all new we be back for more.

After a season ending injury last year it feels great to get back into the snow get to it.  With a fragile snow pack and firm skiing on the ski area we decided the best thing was to hit the backyard for some mellow pow and some not mellow control work.  Patience has never been one of my strong suits when it comes skiing, but this year more than ever we have had to endure long periods of little to no snow, long cold days and a very tender snow pack.  I can’t take it anymore, it’s time.  One of my favorite zones to ski in the San Juans sits just over the ridge from the Telluride ski area, the Cirque above the Alta lakes Observatory.  With an unlimited variety of terrain, from mini golf power to the steepest of couloir skiing Garrett and I made the call the night before to go “play” in his backyard.

Skiing over from the ski area was more an exercise in avoiding rocks on the south-facing slope down to the Observatory.  Moving quietly through the trees past a few “Red Coats” on “break” we made our way down to the house for some left-over chicken and a hot drink.  After a quick bite we made our way up the skin track to the top of the Powder Reserve, ski cutting the pitch above the trestle we found light, dry snow perfect for skiing.  Making turns back to the house for another hot drink, we were putting our skins on for another lap, this time pushing higher to the top of the Bride’s maid couloir.   Putting in the skin track to the top of the Bride’s maid I was surprised to find the couloir was  holding better  snow than we expected.  It was satisfying to reach the top knowing that we had made the right call.  A few minutes to evaluate the snow pack, good to go.  Garrett dropped first, making little noise as he moved down thru the snow leaving his mark behind.  One more pitch of skiing back to the house we found perfect snow and few face shots as a wonderful bonus.

Cold and a little tired we sat around telling a few jokes and watching the alpenglow fade on the west face of Palmyra Peak.  Nothing left to do now put grab our headlamps and puffy coats and head home.  Just another great day in the mountains playing in the snow with my Wagner skis.

The Corner Pocket by Brad Foley               Photos by Brad Foley and Chason Russell

 

The day started out normal enough, coffee, breakfast, morning phone calls to find a ski partner for the day and out the door.  By the time I had made it to town Chason was calling with one thing on his mind, the Corner Pocket.  As one of the last unskied lines on the west face of Silver Mountain the Corner Pocket was high on the list of ski decents.  After grabbing climbing gear and ropes Erin Raley, Chason Russell and I were on the lifts and on our way to Silver Mountain.

Moving quickly through upper Lena basin we made it to the entrance of the Corner Pocket at the top of the ridge between Palmyra Peak and Silver Mountain.  Looking down the couloir that led to the hanging snowfield of the Corner we knew that it was going to be more of an adventure than we had thought. 

Wanting to ski the line as pure as possible Chason kept the ropes in his backpack and headed down the steep, rocky terrain.  Sidestepping with skis on to a small patch of snow we were able to make a few turns to the next section of extremely steep rock.  Trying not to think of the cliff below we made it through the crux of the down climb with adding only a few grey hairs.

 

 

Back on snow and feeling much more comfortable we had finally made it to the heart of the Corner Pocket.  The heat of the sun had left us with soft easy skiing snow; with breathtaking views to the west and smiles now on our faces the only thing left to do was ski.  Left right left right down to the “powder reserve” and on to the Observatory for a much needed rest before skinning back to our cars.  Even if someone had skied the Corner Pocket before us, it didn’t matter I was just happy to have spent the day with two great friends in one of the most beautiful places around.

 

 

 

 

 

The Why Couloir January 11, 2009 — Words and photos by Brad Foley

Knowing that the skiing out the backcountry gate had been hit hard over the last two days and wanting to ski soft snow for Scott’s birthday we headed to the east side of the Bear Creek valley. The forecast was for blue skies and the Why had looked good from across the valley as we headed to the gate.

Dan, Ryan and I had yet to ski the Why Couloir and Scott having only skied it once before we decided to go. Adding to the spaghetti string of tracks on the way to the skin route we were excited with the idea of soft snow and blue skies. Climbing quickly we made the ridge just as the weather began to deteriorate. With wind increasing and snow now starting to fall we negotiated the intricate ridge to the entrance of the Why, wondering if we had made the right decision. A little billy goating and we were in the main couloir. Since it was Scott’s birthday it only made sense that he drop in first and we hoped the snow was soft and the falling snow made for an amazing scene.


Skiing conservatively down the steep couloir, we found a mix of dense powder and some wind board in the middle section of the couloir. With three large cliff bands at the bottom we traversed out to the exit couloir and found turn after turn of perfect light, dry San Juan powder, the best skiing of the day.

The clouds were lifting and our spirits high, we were all feeling lucky to have been able spend the day together in such a magical place. It was Scott’s fortieth and my first time in the Why, I hope it was as memorable for him as it was for me. Why not…