Liberator

Setting out at 8pm Tuesday; splitboarder, Miguel and I skinned up through the darkness of night to a sheltered bivy spot and crawled into our bags at 1am Wednesday.  Our intention, to ski a new line to us called Liberator; a NE facing avy path, draining into Bear Jaw canyon.  The skin up became a calming experience in a sea of mental uncertainty....me in a zone, counting each step out in my mind....right, then left.....1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2.........all the way to 40...then stop and breathe in 10 times while feeling the heart rate in my chest and neck recede from the red zone....and then repeat for 5 hours.  I quickly forgot all my worries as my heart rate, breathing and sensory organs took in the calm night on my breathing breaks.  The warm glow of a moon overhead, illuminated the snow in sparkles, casting long shadows from the trees in our path.....1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2.......breathe.....in, then out, 9 more times....then climb again until 3600ft of vertical Zen has been attained.

Our headlamps, turned to low, barely illuminated the carpet of snow around us....lights bobbing up and down in the darkness behind me; stars overhead shining down with clarity on an even clearer night.  Worries I had spinning in my head were sometimes voiced...and countered by Split with a wise reply.  One in particular stuck with me when I was future-tripping on the quality of snow for the next days line based on observations at the moment...his reply:  "Stop worrying about that, it's the future, it probably doesn't exist".  Indeed, I thought, as I continued to count.

Morning dawned with high winds, contrasting the previous nights calm.  We melted snow to make water for an hour or so, ate breakfast, then continued our climb up, making the ridge to the west of Abineau peak and peering into the Inner Basin, spotting and talking about lines skied in the past,and more to be done in the future.

From right to left:  Humphries Peak, a splitboarder, Fremont Peak, Doyle Peak (in trees).

Contouring around the north side of Abineau Peak, we made our way to the top of Liberator which drains into Bear Jaw Canyon....snacked and talked snow shop...me admiring the view of fading cinder cones and the north rim of the Grand Canyon on the horizon.

Photo By Troy Marino

We then dropped 1300ft on perfect, heavy whipped cream powder through perfectly spaced steep trees followed by open fall line avy path skiing down into Bear Jaw.  Time slows down when you live in the now........life as a blur passes you by, leaving you in the moment.

Pure expressions of wonder and happiness were seen, peering back up at the art of the turn, taken in instant reflection, cataloged away for remembrance on warm July days.....

True to it's name, Liberator freed me from the future....here I am, pondering the moments.  With a future uncertain, and a past fixed for eternity; ensure your moments are good ones.