Pre season backcountry turns
So it begins
Where did the last 6 months go? It feels like just yesterday I was riding that line in December. After a summer of surfing and MTB riding I was more than ready for a shred. Monday last week the reports said we got 20cm. The temps stayed low and the cams looked good so it was all systems go for a Sunday slide
Once again, just like in late Spring, Club Lake is the only location you can count on for a steep line after only one snow fall. We arrived at Charlotte Pass and noticed there was a lot of snow everywhere. We had expected most of the snow to melt but from the top of Charlotte Pass we binded in and rode down the path to the river for the crossing.
On the other side of the river we noticed the snow was super dry, with zero base. We made it to Club Lake in terrible time, dadbods unite, all those cupcakes over summer were now taking their toll.
As we arrived at Club Lake Rohan (a fellow BC rider) was coming down the face, we could hear the sound of ice as he was skiing down. Rohan got down and said from the top it wasn’t too bad but was really sketchy below. We decided to go straight up the Elevator Chute and not top out, hoping the chute was holding pow rather than the ice on Rohans line.
Rohan coming down, i know he’s a skier 
Crouse and I began our climb up the chute from the bottom. The snow had sun crust and wasn’t too bad until we got about halfway up. From there is was icy, the going was tough and the ice axe was working hard to pull me up. It was at this point I was questioning whether we should continue up or call it a day, I decided to push on and we got to the top of the chute safely.
Crouse and I going up
At the top we took an extended breather due to our dadbods once again letting us down. I decided to go first and began my decent down. On my first safety turn I lost my edge on the ice and fell, luckily I flipped forward when I fell on my toe edge and managed to recover straight back onto my heel edge. I’ll admit when I first started falling I thought I was a goner! It was an ugly line with safety turns to about halfway when I finally got to open up a bit more on the suncrust. Lots of rocks to avoid on the way down made for some quick thinking turns.
Me coming down
My POV going down
I went across to the other side and got some shots of Crouse coming down. When Crouse got to me we both whinged how unfit we were and that our legs were burning. We made our way back and had a wicked mellow ride for about a kilometre. Jumping over creeks and shrubs, with some nice fresh turns thrown in while whooping out loud and enjoying the remoteness.
We got back to the carpark and reminisced our line. It may not have been much but it was exciting and got the blood pumping. Ready for another bumper season in the backcountry.
@Jake, this is epic. Bloody awesome you’re getting out there so early in the season. Make some turns for me, will ya?