This past weekend, I went to Beaver Creek with Nate and Andrew for a little bit of bluebird skiing, despite it having been dry for a few days (although BC had 9″ in the past week). We pulled into the lot at the same time, geared up, and took the shuttle to the first lift. The views in the Gore are amazing.

Ace proceeded to take us through a shortcut that he said was NFS land and thus no problem to ski through. A patroller at the bottom disagreed, but was nice enough to simply inform us rather than pull our passes for the week, as it was an honest mistake (which won’t be repeated). Feeling lucky, we headed towards Stone Creek so Andrew could steeze it up off some small cliffs.

Count it! Oh wait, no, don’t. Picture of the day:

Air to double-eject.

Sick!

After a couple laps there, we made our way out one of the backcountry gates at the top of a lift (which is right next to a patrol shack) for a short hike. As we turned on our beacons, a couple patrollers commended us for having all the proper gear, saying that most who head out the gates go without any of it. I’ve never been chastised or commended by patrol before, and to have both in the same day was a little ironic.

Nate:
Andrew:
The elusive point, captured in the wild (I missed a simultaneous double-point while still inbounds. It was amazing!):

Ace, contemplating his next drop:
Here we go!
Count it!
No, don’t count it. My buffer filled before the landing (due to shooting in RAW at 5fps) but like the first one, it was not successfully landed. A couple runs later and it was off to the bar for a couple beers:
Where this little guy was hanging out and being photogenic for me:
All in all, a great day. I can’t wait to do it again.