Spring skiing. Do you love it or hate it? The opinions run strong on both sides of the argument.
Some folks don’t care for the hassles of spring skiing. Mountain weather can change quickly in the spring so no matter how much you study weather reports, you’ll never be sure what will happen; Mother Nature always does as she pleases. A ton of questions will run through your mind as you contemplate your ski tour.
Will there will be enough coverage? Will it be so warm that the snow turns to mush? Will it be so cool that the snow won’t soften? Are there creek crossings and how fast-moving are the creeks? Will snow bridges hold? Once you pick a tour, the race against the weather begins.
“Let’s face it,” spring skiing skeptics say. “It’s time to move on to biking and climbing. Spring skiing is not worth it.”
But I’ve done enough spring skiing to know that the answer to the question “Is it worth it,” will for me always be yes. In spring, I’m in better skiing shape and ready for longer outings. And longer days = more time outdoors and more time to spend with my ski partners. Yes, the mix of weather conditions brings a bit of uncertainty to tours, but I enjoy watching the seasons collide. Winter holds on while new life springs forth. A good dose of sunshine dances with rain, snow, hail, and thunder. Water trickles off of rocky outcroppings, grass pokes out of the snow, and muck mingles with snow along the trails. After a long spring tour, the mud on my ski pants and caked in my boots always makes me smile. How can you not love spring skiing?
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Skiing Yellowstone’s Sepulcher Mountain
Back in mid-April, as Mike, Amy and I discussed skiing Sepulcher Mountain in Yellowstone National Park, we contemplated the usual questions before committing to the trip. Will there be enough snow? Will the weather hold out? Would it be worth the drive? In this case even I, who will always choose skiing before other activities, was skeptical. How could Sepulcher still be skiable? It’s south-facing and located in an area that doesn’t receive much snow. In addition, I received third-hand information from a retired park employee who has heard repeatedly that it’s not a great place to go; too much wind creates sketchy avalanche conditions.
On the other hand, Amy had information from someone who skied there two weeks prior and found coverage and conditions to be good. Cool weather predominated since then and the forecast looked favorable so there was a chance we’d hit it right. We decided to go for it, but we were only expecting a 50% chance of success.
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Mike and I broke down our campsite just outside the park and headed to the trailhead, and Amy drove from town that morning. We arrived at the trailhead and took off at 7:30 a.m. Although it wasn’t an alpine start, none of us are enthusiastic morning people and we were groggy. Snow was right up to our car and it is always nice to avoid hiking along a snow-free trail with skis on packs. We began the shuffle across the flat expanse. It was chilly, but we knew we’d warm up quickly. Rolling hills typical of Yellowstone were in front of us and a shallow creek meandered through the flats. Snow bridges were solid and creek crossings were easy.
The landscape began to rise and soon we arrived at the trail junction where we started working our way through a short canyon. Amy’s boisterous voice ricocheted off of the walls, and I thought of a line in The Youngbloods hippie anthem "Get Together."
Love is but a song we sing
Fear's the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Fear's the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
As we settled into the climb, we came across a few short muddy patches, which we clomped right through, skins and skis be damned. The Youngbloods tune continued to run through my mind and kept my thoughts lively.
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now
In one muddy spot, a fresh bear track was stamped into the trail. For a moment we were on high alert for bears, but we reminded ourselves we’re with Amy, and even she jokes that her booming voice is the best bear repellant.
Up we continued. A thin layer of crust covered the snow. Sparkling in the sunshine, it crinkled like cellophane as we poked it with our poles and skinned over it. By this point, the weather warmed and layers came off.
Skinning was straightforward and soon we were along the ridge to the summit. A cornice was easy to navigate, and we undulated along the ridge, skinning over lumpy piles of snow and around gnarled trees.
When we arrived at the summit, Electric Peak loomed under skies sprinkled with patches of pouffy white clouds. In the distance, the Teton mountains were faint illusions poking skyward. Sepulcher’s long ridge offered a grassy open space where we ate and lounged. We took some selfies and posed for our best influencer shots, and I attempted a handstand is ski boots before the wind picked up and clouds rolled in. We cut our summit lingering short and headed down.
Reversing our steps off of the summit, we navigated the lumpy terrain on the ridge, and snuck around the cornice before coming to our first real turns of the day. In front of us sat a long, consistent run. It was somewhat chunky at first but quickly turned into stellar spring conditions. On a pool table smooth surface, we arched effortless turns on the long, mellow pitch. Glorious.Skiing. Traversing. Shuffling along a short splotchy snow/mud mix. We repeated this a time or two. Soon, we were back to the valley floor and began the two-mile shuffle back to the car. The rain held off, snow bridges held, and snow remained consistent so there was no wallowing in rotten, faceted spring snow.
We noticed a few animal droppings throughout the day and animal tracks snaked their way through the meadow in front of us, but so far, we had not encountered any critters. Just as that thought crossed my mind, two bison tromped down the hillside, one stopping right in front of us. We headed to the right giving these beasts a wide girth. Bison always have the right of way.
Back at the trailhead, the first people we saw all day zoomed by in cars. We were tired yet content. It was a great day of spring skiing.
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Two more ski tours in Yellowstone:
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