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Skinned up to East Vail from the T-Bar last run of the day two days ago; I was originally planning on hitting Mushroom Bowl [Another very sick, resort-accessed BC area for those of you not familiar with Vail] becuase it's a bit safer as far as avy conditions go seeing as I was by myself. I carry a PBL Beacon [Personal Locator Beacon, basically a solo beacon], Avalung, Shovel, ect... but still wanted to play it safe a a snowboarder recently dieds in an avalanche in East Vail [R.I.P]. I skinned up to the top of the ridge overlooking benchmark bowl, king Tuts, WaterTower Chutes, Kind Arthurs, and other popular East Vail Lines. It had been snowing all day but just then the clouds parted and the sun came out, shining on over 3,000 vertical feet of untracked powder below. I put on my gear, traversed down a bit, and chose a relatively conservative line by East Vail Standards, the far side of an open bowl near some trees. I started out the line with a series of 5 to 10-foot pillows into some trees, followed by a 20-foot cliff with a nice, soft, dteep landing. I was a little nervous about the 20-footer but the landing looked good so I pointed em' straight and 'whoosh'.... next thing I remember was the deepest, plushest LZ of my life, and amazed to still be on both ski's , I picked up some speed and started ripping big turns down the remaining 2,000 vert. feet of the run... every turn was a face shot, knee to waist deep pow that was so light and fluffy it was blowing up in my face and IU could hardly see... I leaned back for fun and was amazed at how even though I was moving fast, only the back 1/3rd of my skis even were touching the snow... I really felt like I was floating. At the bottom I found a great, well-tracked cattrack out as usual, and coasted down to the East Vail Bus stop to catch the bus back to my car. The other people on the bus seemed a bit weirded out as I couldn't shake the shit-eaten grin off my face for a good half hour... I think I could have died happy then haha..... In short, probably the best run of my life.
stay steazy,
Phil.