Mt. Cardigan - January 6, 2013

First, I would like to take a moment to welcome Chris to the sport of skiing.  Chris is excited to strap on some planks for the first time this winter and from what I understand, he really enjoys reading this blog.  Welcome, Chris!

Second, I want to share some equally exciting news.  I'm the proud owner of a Go Pro.  Finally, at long last, this website will have some watchable video.  I expect there will be a learning curve as I try out different mounts and different resolutions, but even the worse Go Pro video is a massive upgrade over the narrow FOV offered by my old Contour.



With those two news updates out of the way, time for a quick overview of the trip Osgood, Chad and I took to Mt. Cardigan this past Sunday.  If you recall, Osgood and I first went to Mt. Cardigan last March on a blue bird day.  We skinned directly up the Duke's ski trail to the top of Firescrew, had lunch, took in the views, and then almost killed ourselves on the decent because the snow was covered with a thick crust that made turning and speed control just about impossible.

In evaluating the snow pack, we felt like Cardigan would have normal snow this time around, and it was a gentle enough grade that we were pretty sure there would be sufficient coverage unlike many of the slides we are eager to try for the first time this winter.  I met Osgood and Chad in our usual spot, the Concord Trailways in Concord, and then we headed north at about 8 a.m. for the short 50 minute drive to Cardigan. 

This time, we skinned up the Alexandra ski trail to the summit of Cardigan first.  The Alexandra ski trail is definitely more interesting then the Dukes, but unfortunately, the summit of Cardigan was covered with ice, so if we wanted to ski the Alexandra ski trail, it would have been a pretty short day.  Instead, we decided to summit Cardigan (challenging without crampons!), cross over to Firescrew, and try our luck over there.

(Halfway up the Alexandra)

                                           (Working our way up to the summit of Cardigan)

Visibility was extremely low on the summit of Cardigan, and the going was slick, to the say the least.  Its always surprising to me how disorienting it can be on the top of a relatively simple mountain, but it definitely took us a while to find the trail cutting over to Firescrew.  Once we did, the going was easy however, and we found the snow was much better even though the elevation was only a couple of hundred feet lower.  We stopped for lunch a little after 1 p.m., took two laps on the snow fields, and then headed down the Duke trail.  

(lunch break on Firescrew)

Enjoy my first Go Pro video! Especially you, Chris!