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High San Juans

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Weedy
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High San Juans

Postby Weedy » Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:01 am

It's a bit scoured above 12,000' in the San Juans but hopefully this will change over the next few days. A warm, light wind day yesterday was still a lot of fun. Flyin' into upper U.S. Basin.
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STF
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Re: High San Juans

Postby STF » Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:37 pm

Tasty Treats...

I want some....

glickster
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Re: High San Juans

Postby glickster » Tue Jan 31, 2012 6:23 am

The Mac gives another stellar evening session.
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matthepp
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Re: High San Juans

Postby matthepp » Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:39 pm

Cap'n Argh stopped through. Had a good day on McMillon. I little gusty, but the snow cover all the way up was perfect. 5000 feet of vert for free
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rvrrat
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Re: High San Juans

Postby rvrrat » Thu Feb 09, 2012 3:58 am

:lol: Just like I dig the Jackson Crews photography of their adventures, I dig the way you guys out there in SW Colo. are puttin' the GPS track on Google Earth of yours. I luv it and gets this east coast guy all stoked up. I am glad to see the Captain put the wind in his sails and get some goods with you all. It was a slow start to the year and I know their is not alot of snow. I luv to check out these trip reports with all the goodies attached. Thanks for postin! JR

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CaptainArgh
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Re: High San Juans

Postby CaptainArgh » Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:08 pm

Had an epic powder trip out to SW Colorado last week. Two powder days at Purgatory, a couple days snow kiting and then 4 friggin' epic days at Silverton...but this post is about the snow kiting. ;)

Always impressed how friendly kite communities are when you ask for tips and advice. Had at least four folks contact me after my post here and got to snowkite in two beautiful locations. First in Lemon Reservoir with TommyGun and then up Red Mountain Pass with MattHepp.

Matt took took me up to RMP for some truly epic snow kiting conditions. It was pretty humbling, actually, because I have only snow kited on rolling fields, frozen lakes and a couple times at Lizard Head pass. Up high there were entire different skill sets that were new to me. It is definitely not just as simple as taking your water gear and strapping on a snowboard. Learned how you guys will constantly loop the kite to drive up the hill or keep the kite aloft in funky wind. Also experienced the changing wind conditions at different elevations and when you go from the ridge to valleys.

Anyway, I enjoyed the learning experience kiting up the ridge and down the hill in that deep soft powdery snow, but watching Matt snowkite around that playground was a joy. We skinned/snowshoed up to a launch at around 11,500' and he kited up to 12,500'. He has a lot of backcountry experience, superb kite skills, and just made it look so easy. Anyway, I wouldn't go up to terrain like that without some locals so I really appreciated the opportunity. Below are some pics of that day;

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Matt on BigMac

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hike up

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settin' up

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A couple days earlier I met up with TommyGun for a powder day at Purgatory (snowboarding) and the following day for some snow kiting at Lemon Reservoir. It was a light day, but was more in line with the type of snow kiting I am used to. Got to play around a bit and see the potential of this park-and-ride kite spot when it really goes off. Apparently this is a pretty reliable location any time you have a sunny day which delivers nice thermal afternoon sessions. Some pics below, didn't get any action shots;

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dam end of lemon (typical launch is the far other end)

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setting up

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just a gorgeous day out there!

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waiting out a lull

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end of a beautiful day. i have no good excuse why that beer isn't a Ska. ;)


Thanks again for the tips, the stoke, and for showing me two of your beautiful kite launches. I can only imagine what the rest of them look like! I know you guys were out enjoying them while I was at Silverton for the remainder of my trip. No regrets, just glad everyone was out enjoying the powder!

-todd

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matthepp
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Re: High San Juans

Postby matthepp » Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:45 am

Had a memorable day today up on Snow Mesa. It was my first time there, but I was lucky to have the company of seasoned Snow Mesa veterans Tony and Scott. Really nice 12m conditions from WNW. Most of the mesa was fully covered with hard wind slab sastrugi, but we found some nice soft snow in a bowl just below Baldy Cinco y No es Cinco. The scale of the place is hard to comprehend!
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Noahpz
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Re: High San Juans

Postby Noahpz » Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:30 am

Yo, gkster, fucking draw dropping sunset!!! Burn my retinas for that shit! YES!!!

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matthepp
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Re: High San Juans

Postby matthepp » Mon Apr 30, 2012 3:22 pm

Kudos to the San Juan County plowing crew. You can park at 12,000 feet, step outside, pump up (or not), and kite some amazing terrain in the heart of the San Juans. Had a great late-season corn kite day yesterday in denver basin. A couple of inches of fresh over a nice frozen base, thin in spots. We just touched the tip of the iceberg. Lots more to explore.
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rvrrat
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Re: High San Juans

Postby rvrrat » Tue May 01, 2012 3:06 am

:lol: NICE. I was hopin' you all were not done out there. I hope to be able to get some when I come out in a month! JR


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