March 9, 2010

Last Sunday, each of our expedition groups went skinning up (that's when we put things called "skins" on our skis and ski uphill!) and skiing around. This was our practice backcountry ski day, intended to work out any kinks and get us totally ready for the winter expedition. First thing in the morning, we met up with all our gear and were issued avalanche transceivers and shovels. Then we popped on our skis and headed out. We had a fun time breaking trail. We practiced taking skins on and off without falling in the snow (sometimes with more luck than other times). And, before we knew it, we were back in the van heading to HMI, feeling tired and excited for the expedition. 

Today, prep-day, was pretty crazy. We had to learn how to pack our new sleds, since our packs are much more full on this trip than they were in the KOFA wildlife refuge where we went for the first trip. Because our packs have lots of warm layers in them, all of the miscellaneous group equipment went into the sleds. Each tarp group of 3-4 people has two sleds in which they will carry all of their gear. This gear includes food, stoves, neo over-booties (camp shoes that are extremely insulated), foam pads, pots and pans, and most importantly, fuel.

As we prep for expedition everyone is excited to get off campus, but also a bit nervous about what lays ahead. Today was our second prep day of the semester, but it had a different feel than packing for the KOFA. We had to collect piles of winter clothing and mountains of food. Everyone is taking about an extra pound of food per day in order to stay warm. All the groups made goals for the second expedition. Tomorrow morning we depart for what we all hope will be ten amazing days living in and amongst the snow and mountains.

We will be going to the Mosquito Range, the Sawatch Range, and the shoulder of Mount Zion. The four different groups will be scattered in these three areas. We will only be making about three camps, and staying at each one for a few nights. The idea behind staying at these camps for a few nights at a time is that we can move from camp to camp, mound snow, and then give the snow time to harden so we can build quigloos. Quigloos differ from igloos in the sense that they are dug out of snow piles we mound ourselves, whereas igloos are snow blocks.

As we close in on the winter expedition, we are anticipating it will be cold and snowy in the mountains. We expect some great tele-skiing lines, but also some hard work. Building our shelters will likely prove pretty difficult because of all the shoveling. We think our camps will be amazing: with our own homemade kitchen with shelves and our quigloo right next door, it will be very convenient and fun. The classes on the cold and how to stay warm also reassured many of us about our fears of the cold. Overall, we are really looking forward to this trip, and hope to find some knee-deep powder to rip through on telemark skis.   

We'll tell you all about it when we get back!

By: Max Rosen, Seton Talty, Tom Crandall, & Sam Peterson