Sunday: I woke up to the sound of Jeff saying, "Domi! Domi wake up!". I guess I had hot tubbed a little too long the night before. I walked into the kitchen to find English Muffins with ham and cheese melted on top which was a welcome sight for sore eyes. We took morning obs and left the house fairly early, at around 9 AM. We had to pack all of our stuff up however because we would not be coming back to the hut. We said goodbye to our 3 night home and the 2 house dogs followed us all the way back to the cars. Today the guides had given us the responsibility to choose our route for the day and my group had chosen to try and summit McMillin Peak which is right at 12,800 ft. We parked at the now familiar Red Mountain Pass parking lot and put on our gear. Our goal was to get back to the cars at 3:30. We began skinning up at a solid pace. We took occasional breaks for snacks or water or extra sunscreen, but all in all it was an admirable pace. We reached our pre-determined decision point a half an hour ahead of schedule and decided to push for the summit. We traversed through rocky windblown terrain and traveled right next to a small cornice before finally reaching the top; and oh how sweet it was. We stayed on the summit for around 45 minutes, enjoying the bluebird views, and lunch. We took some pictures with the other half of our group who arrived about 30 minutes after us, and then my group began our descent. We chose a fairly conservative route down, but it was none the less a blast. We got to one of the last headwalls before treeline and I decided to show off a little. I dropped in and was carving deeply and majestically when I caught one of my edges in a transition between corn snow to crust. One ski popped off, I flipped, the other ski popped off, I flipped again and finally came to a rest. I did a short mental check for injuries, realized I was ok, and broke into laughter. Everyone else joined in, happy to see I was alright. I then put on the ski that was closest to me and skied down to my other on one leg. Greg gave the group a little lecture on why it was important to stay in control and pay attention to changes in the snow. We skied the rest of the slope, managing the stop-go snow that is so common on warm days and we got back to the cars at 3:27. Perfect timing. We hung out and waited for about 15 minutes as the other group skied down. Once they had arrived we had a little debrief, said our goodbyes, and parted ways. I rode back to Durango with John and a woman named Lis.
All in all, I am so pleased to have been given the opportunity to be a part of this Avy 2 class and I hope I can continue to work for and with San Juan Mountain Guides for many years to come.
All in all, I am so pleased to have been given the opportunity to be a part of this Avy 2 class and I hope I can continue to work for and with San Juan Mountain Guides for many years to come.