Pow Pow

2/9/10
Gulmarg

This place has transformed. This storm has dumped over six feet of heavy, sticky snow so far and there is still more on the way. This is great news for the snowpack for places that didn’t have any previous cover. Temperatures are expected to drop and snow is still falling. This makes for light blower powder on top with a soft, secure base. Finally some good news. The alpine terrain is still questionable and tonight is the Avy Talk. We’re all curious to see what Ski Patrol has to say about it.

Today was a great day. This morning we hiked up right behind the hotel to the stump jump. Wes hit it first. He flew off the 25-foot drop and landed smoothly. Matt went next and did the same. The pressure was on and a huge part of me really wanted to jump this thing. There is an aqueduct about four feet wide that you must clear. If not, it’s a bit of an abrupt stop.

Cold feet got the better of me and I decided instead to hit a slightly smaller stump just to the side. It was about a 15-20 foot drop to the aqueduct below. I skinned up the flawless, deep powder and got strapped into my snowboard. Cameras were rolling. Game time.

I pointed through the deep powder and aimed at the white lump about 2 feet wide. Below it was Sam, taking pictures and Alan on video. My mind went blank and all thoughts stopped as I hit the point of no return. All of a sudden I’m in the air. And I’m not going very far, just mostly down. The jump had crumbled a bit when I rolled over it and my trajectory was greatly short. The flat landing rushed up at me and I braced for impact.

I landed flat on a huge cornice hanging off the aqueduct and just stuck there. No pain, no nothing. Just funny. Then all of a sudden the cornice cracked and I slowly rolled down with it. It was quite a comical thing and everyone was doubled over with laughter. Not quite the crowd response I was looking for. I immediately throw my skins back on and climb up to the top.

Take two.

So I point it from a little higher and aim for what’s rest of the take off (about one-foot wide now). Wind began to rush past my face as my heart was pumped incredibly hard. Then I’m flying. Just hanging there for a little while. I clear the flats and land a few feet down the steep downslope.

PLOP.

It wasn’t pretty, but I got an “A” for effort. After the next storm, I’ll definitely hit the bigger jump. It’s just a better ramp and landing.

So power has been off for the last 4 days. I’m quickly writing with what little battery life I have left and hopefully will have enough to send this out.

More to come soon, there’s 3,000 vertical feet of almost bottomless powder sitting on the mountain above us and I cannot wait to make my mark on the mountain.