Wade Pruett and Allisa Martz
Cougar Mountain, December 24th, 2007
|
|
|
| |
| Coming to the Methow for the holidays from
Portland, Wade decided to surprise Allisa with a day of guided
backcountry skiing. Neither of them had done any real backcountry
touring before and wanted a day to learn the basic skills. They
were both accomplished snowboarders and wanted to improve their
skiing skills as well. |
| |
 |
| With Larry as their guide, they set off
for Cougar mountain, outside of Winthrop. When the lowland
skiing is good, Cougar is a hard place to beat. Easy access,
great views and fun terrain in the sun add up to a winning
combination. |
|
| |
 |
| They started up working on basic touring
skills and enjoying a winding, low angle uptrack. |
|
| |
 |
| The wind began to pick up at the first
transition, which made peeling skins a bit more difficult
during a few really strong gusts. |
|
| |
 |
| After moving to a more wind protected
area, Wade drops in for the third run of perfect, boottop
powder. |
|
| |
 |
| Wade transitioned easily from the snowboarding
world, drawing from a childhood of skiing. |
|
| |
 |
| Allisa had done much less skiing in her
youth, though with a little practice was also linking
turns right down the fall line. |
|
| |
 |
| The skiing was just too good to stop,
so we skinned up for a fourth run. There was no shortage
of untracked powder. |
|
| |
 |
| As the sun got low, the temperature began
to drop and the shadows grew long. Meanwhile the skiing
stayed really nice... |
|
| |
 |
| Last run of the day; Allisa makes beautiful
turns all the way down the slope. We toured back to the
car with just enough time for bakery stop in Winthrop
before heading back up to Mazama to end a great day of
skiing in the Methow Valley. |
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
