Despite being out of the wind, the longer we sat on the summit of Werner Peak the more the cold crept into our bones. Very soon we were preparing for the decent. We clipped in and continued north along the ridge looking for a good place drop into the west face and out of the wind. It was still bitter cold and we still had to cross the giant snow drifts, but at least we were going downhill.
We found a nice shot of sparse trees and dropped in, leapfrogging around each other. In early December I was more concerned about hitting rocks than anything else. But if you go into the backcountry without your eyes open and inattentive to potential avalanche danger, you put yourself at serious risk. We analysed the danger as we continued, but all we found were perfect open snowfields. It was glorious.
Eventually we got into the old growth forest and the terrain started to level off, signs that we were nearing the end of our adventure. We had suffered on the climb and reaped only a fraction of the skiing we would have gotten within the boundary of a resort. But the margin of fun had been exponential. Putting in the hard work for accomplishment, that's what brings a meaningful happiness. That’s type two fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment