Twenty-four hours ago I was wedged in a snow shelter, dressed in all my clothing, zippered tightly into my sleeping bag. For the final three days of our ski course, we had one independent day of touring and then a two-day overnight…including the “bivy drill” in which candidates must dig a three-person shelter, complete with covered roof in under 30 minutes. I completed mine, but I gotta admit it wasn’t nearly the best one on the trip. Several others had way more sleepable configurations…yet another skill to work on.
We had good snow for the touring, but most of the time was taken up with more elaborate tour plans, rather than “just” getting turns. I’ll fire out a couple pics…for now I’m tired, about to crash, and looking forward to my debrief tomorrow with the course instructors, a five-hour drive to Anchorage, and then a midnight flight (direct!) to Denver. I’ll be wrestling with the punks before noon on Monday!
