Last week, I decided to get out of dreary Oregon and go home to Arizona for a little riding at my old home mountains. The day I flew into Phoenix it was 93F and I enjoyed the day in shorts and a T shirt having lunch at an outdoor cantina at Desert Ridge.
Well, the epic powder that nuked Northern Arizona at Sunrise and the San Fransisco Peaks complex outside of Flagstaff, Arizona two weeks ago, died a quick death in the Arizona sunshine this week. On Wednesday, I rode at Sunrise near Greer, Arizona and had a wonderful day in the great spring corn; exploring Sunrise, Apache and Cyclone Peaks. I will post a report of this portion of the trip on another post.
My original plans to hook up with a member of the KPAC and AZred60 to do the Snowbowl to Locket Meadow shuttle fell through due to lack of coverage in the lower, inner basin. Snowshoeing through 3 miles of mud/snow mix did`nt seem the best use of my limited time. So, AZred60 and I decided to just enjoy the great snow at Arizona Snowbowl. It was very firm conditions in the morning, but by lunchtime it was terrific spring cone on the groomed runs. Arizona Snowbowl has some nice groomed steeps off of the Agassiz lift and some of the off piste tree runs became decent by about 2:00 PM. Overall, I was there about two weeks too late as usual for that epic pow they had.
On Friday, I rode solo at Snowbowl soaking up that great Arizona sunshine while admiring the view of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon riding Agassiz Chair. I grabbed first chair on Sunset at 9:00 Am sharp then rode down Sidewinder to get on Agassiz. At the top, I decided "what the hell" and began hiking the boot track up across the upper Agassiz bowl. My intent was to traverse over to the north east side of the upper bowl and ride down through the dispersed trees which still had decent coverage. As per usual, I found myself climbing higher and higher until the top of Agassiz Ridge was now too close to not go to. The top of the Agassiz Chairlift is 11,500 and the ridge is right about at the 12,000 foot level, so I needed to pace myself being a sea level Oregon dweller. Still, I had made the ridge line in under an hour of climbing and my eyes were assaulted with an epic view of the Inner Basin of Kachina Peaks Wilderness and Sunset Crater with the Painted desert spreading out in dusty hues of red and orange to the north east.
The air was super clear as it usually is near Flagstaff so I had well over 100 miles of visibility. They call Montana "Big Sky Country" but I have to say that Arizona vistas give Montana a run for her money. I stood there like a total gaper just taking it all in. Then my attention focused in on the foreground; specifically the epic powder stashes at my feet descending 1200 vertical feet below me into the Inner Basin of Humphrey`s Cirque. Here, the westerly winds have carried all of the snow from the Snowbowl side over the ridge and deposited them like a blank canvas awaiting the artist`s brush.
As I stood, admiring this run, I became overwhelmed with the desire to drop in and have a snowgasm on this untracked, stable, yet soft wind packed pow. My only moment of hesitation was the thought of hiking back up this 45 degree pitch without my snowshoes. I instead, began hiking the ridge line toward Agassiz Saddle and Humphrey`s peak looming above me. At every new viewpoint, I observed epic and enticing chutes and lines to be had. Finally, I could take it no longer. I decided to get a "sample" by finding the highest point on the ridge line and dropping in. Instead of treating myself to the full orgasmic pleasure of this full 1200 vertical foot ride to the bottom of the Inner Basin, I maintained enough self control to do a traverse over to the low spot called Agassiz Saddle and stopped about 50 feet below the edge. I then post holed my way back to the saddle and then sat gazing at the truly monstrously epic line coming off the south face of Humphreys peak through chutes and cliff bands at an estimated 40-45 degree pitch for easily 1,500 to 2,000 vertical feet.
Sadly, with a plane to catch in Phoenix and a desire to enjoy the great riding conditions at Snowbowl, I reluctantly turned by back on this Arizona wonderland of alpine magic and began a zig zagging descent through the disperses trees on the south face of the Upper Bowl. The snow here was actually deeper than it looks from the chairlift and I had no trouble avoiding obstacles and staying on good snow. Since it was still early and below freezing, the stuff was hard as rock, but manageable.
I rode the rest of the day at Snowbowl, challenging myself on the truly massive moguls under the Agassiz Chair several times and just cruising the blacks like Casino, Tiger, Black Jack and Volcano. After 3 days of riding in that wonderful severe clear of Arizona`s sunny skies, I actually have restored my goggle tan and gotten rid of the winter blues from being in Oregon`s ever-gray environment. Here are some of the photos from my impromptu solo hike and ride on Arizona`s highest mountain.
Arizona Snowbowl Upper Basin to ridge Line Pics
San Fansisco Peaks from Highway 180 outside of Flagstaff
First Chair on Sunset heading up to the top
On the Agassiz Chair heading to the top of Snowbowl`s lower bowl
View to the northwest from the top of Agassiz Chair at 11,500 feet
Boot track across the upper Agassiz Bowl with the ridge line above
Looking back toward Agassiz from the middle of the upper bowl
Me with Humphrey`s peak looming above
View of Snowbowl to the west from the top of the ridge line
View to the east overlooking the Inner Basin, Sunset Crater and the Painted Desert
Looking south toward Agassiz Peak and Snowslide Canyon
Looking down the drop into Snowslide Canyon. Freemont Peak and Doyle Peaks in the distance
View of the northern drop into Snowslide
View of the south face of Humphrey`s Peak and the Inner Cirque
Lower bowl of the Inner Basin
Southern side of Humphrey`s Cirque with awesome chutes
One of the many sick drops
Do I or don`t I??????
South side chutes
Inner Basin viewed from Agassiz Saddle
View of Humphrey`s chutes from Agassiz Saddle
Believe it or not, this really is Arizona!
You can see all of my Arizona trip pictures, including Sunrise, on Webshots:
Full Album
Or for a slideshow:
Slideshow of pictures, photos, and videos, from webshots
