May 092014
 
 SVT Guide, Joe St.Onge, remembers a May ski day on his child’s 2nd birthday:

 

Patrick Graham approaches the summit of Ryan Peak

Patrick Graham approaches the summit of Ryan Peak

It was May, locals had hung up their skis and our busy ski guiding season was coming to a close.  It was time to ski for ourselves.
 
My wife was pregnant with our second child and do to deliver within the week.  We had a check-up with our doctor and she said that it did not look imminent.  I took that diagnoses as: I could go ski the next day.  My wife is a skier and guide and she gets it.   She encouraged me to get one last ski in before the snow melted and another baby entered our lives.
 
It was a last minute tour plan.  I wanted to ski something “new”.  Ryan Peak is the tallest in the Boulder Mountains of Central Idaho.  It’s been skied, but not regularly as the approach is big.  I had a concept that it could be approached from the “other side” and had found out that the dirt road that crosses a high pass had just been plowed, allowing access to the “other side”.  A quick call to two of our guides and the plan was hatched for the next morning, early.  Conditions were perfect spring corn: firm for the climb and silky for the decent.  The approach was fast and fluid.  We followed wolf tracks up the remote canyon and later heard the howls from a den echo while on the peak.    We spied amazing future lines, one of which we skied later in the week when the doctor said it may be a couple more days before the baby came.  It was awesome.

  One Response to “May Ski Days-Peaks and Babies”

  1. Such a great shot of the lookers right couloir on the north face of Kent. I’ve always wondered about that line….

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