Our trip started off rather leisurely while making our first lap up towards North Chute on the east side of the pass. Although we were the first ones on the ascent, we weren't the first ones standing atop at the end of the climb. Effectively, a group behind us had snaked our initial line choice leaving us to ski down a rocky Sentinel Chute.
For lap number two, our plan was to ski Skull Bite but the chute was far too boney with an assortment of chocolate chip death cookies spread all throughout for our enjoyment. It was certainly not something worth ruining a pair of skis over, so we opted instead for Sam's Knob. Again, this chute was pretty thin with a few rocks tagged along the way down. Seems to be the running them for the day, however, conditions would improve shortly.
After a extended lunch break inside Pete Rabbit Hut where we heartily indulged in blackberry brandy, we skinned up 700 feet towards the top of Perfect Trees. From there, we skied the upper and lower 110's where the snow was excellent. I did hit the bottom a few times and felt the funky sunbaked snow underneath, but otherwise, it was pretty killer. In the lower part, I entered a narrow chute but unlike previous efforts, I found myself completely buried in a whiteroom catacomb of awesomeness. This was exactly what I was looking for today, and it was well worth the time and energy to find it.
If you feel so inclined to fully understand all this Berthoud Pass terminology, please refer to the topo map below that shows the majority of the routes and lines that are significant (click image to view in larger size):
And now the very short video recap of the day with a small segment of footage:
Berthoud Pass (2009.01.24) from Thomas Armento on Vimeo.
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