Yesterday was probably the most extreme day of my life. At least while strapped into a snowboard. The day started off at Sugarbowl Ski Area on the Mt Disney chair. We got there right as the chair started loading at ~8:30 am. The "go to" area was going to be Mt Lincoln since they only opened it for one hour on Wednesday after having accumulated ~5' of new snow over the past couple days. We rode a couple of laps on Disney before realizing that they were loading Lincoln. Frantically we rushed down a mogul run to Lincoln. People were so pumped to hit the biggest moves of the year and let me tell you.....it went down!! People were going EVERYWHERE and demolishing themselves and the beloved powder. They opened the rope lines one run later and it was really ON. I went and hit Resolution Bowl which involved me ducking a dead tree and pointing it down the whole steep section into multiple airs and lots of face shots!! So FRESH!! Then they opened THE PALISADES. Basically the most extreme terrain at Sugarbowl that RARELY opens. It's been open 2 days in the past 3 YEARS since it takes SO much snow to fill it in. You had to do some mountaineering and lots of traversing above DO NOT FALL zones to get above the do-able runs. Unfortunately I lost Daron and the other usuals who know where they're going and had to venture into the unknown by myself. I settled on Perko's since I knew it didn't end in a 50' cliff (there are lots of lines that start off easy and end with huge cliff drops). There were 4 very steep spines that had one track each and I watched a guy drop in before me and ride the farthest one out. People gathered below starting whooping and cheering as soon as he went. I took a glance down the line, but couldn't convince myself it went all the way to the bottom, so I rode down a flute that dumped into the Perko's bottleneck. I had to point it down a mega-steep zone and out the bottom. WHEW!! By far the steepest run I've ever done (I watched Daron jump turn down the other side of Perko's.....not a flow to the bottom fun run!!). I decided to have a go at the other side of the Palisades so I went to the Disney chair. Right as I was getting ready to drop in I looked up and saw Daron billy-goating over the peak from the other side. We dropped in together and I followed Daron off a sweet spine to 5-10' drop. Not nearly as gripping as the E. Palisades. Daron wanted to go meet Warren for a lake run, but I decided to do another lap in the Palisades. Then I changed my mind and boy am I glad I caught up to Daron at the top. I ran to the van (literally) and switched boards. I have some super bling splitboard specific bindings that I had never ridden yet and today was the ultimate test. We rode up Mt Judah chair and put on our skins (Daron and I) while Warren started sidestepping up the slope. We skinned around the mountain and saw that the backside of Mt Judah had slid with a huge crown still visible across a 250 yard swath, probably 2-3' thick. SCARY!! We finished climbing up to Donner Peak and clambered up to the peak. Things had filled in drastically since the last time we were out here and we were surprised to learn that we could roll off the top with just a small 3-4' drop (instead of 20+). Here's where things really got interesting. Warren had heard that Daron wanted to ski "the bubbles" and was ready to take us down one of the most technically insane runs anywhere around Truckee. Daron wasn't totally sold and neither was I. That was before we started following Warren down one super steep face after another until we grouped up above the major crux. Warren gladly drops in first, makes a couple of jump turns down an extremely steep gully and then billy goats around the corner (literally using both poles and all). Then approximately 30 seconds later comes shooting out diagonally across the runout slope. One down two to go. Daron drop in as I spot him. He gets around the mega exposed corner and listens as Warren starts shouting directions and what is good/bad. He drops out of sight and I watch with nervous anticipation, awaiting my turn with fate. Then I keep waiting....."where is Daron?!!" I'm starting to become uneasy as I know what zone we're in, how good Warren and Daron are, and how long it's taking Daron to commit to dropping the line. Finally I see Daron come bounding out the bottom after what seemed like an eternity, but was in reality less than a minute. They seem so small now!! I ease myself down the gully and around the nose. Now I see why it took a minute to drop in....... An immediate, mandatory 10' drop onto a very steep powder face with spine, cliffs, and the possibility of cartwheeling down 600' if you didn't land the drop right. Then you had to cut through some tight little chutes before exhaling!! Near the bottom of my run I eye up some nice rock drops. I stop to scout out the biggest one just as Warren screams to point it off it....."it's only a 5 footer....nail it!!!" I point it off it alright, only it was more like a 20 footer!! I catch massive air and land in a bomb hole, butt check, then popped up and rode over to those guys. What a relief!! We snapped some shots, laughed a lot, and scoped out other possible runs before continuing down to "break in the box." The mountain is divided in half by an abandoned train tunnel that snakes along the flanks of Donner Peak. We use it to line up the second half of the run. We hike through the tunnel into the darkness. There are lots of ice chunks on the ground that make our trek more interesting. As soon as I think I'm home free my feet shoot over my head and I land like a ton of bricks, jacking my poor hand into some chuck of gravel. I work out the pain as we squirm out the narrow opening in the tunnel on top of the second half of the lake run. Below us is 600-700' of beautiful untouched snow with a TON of pillow drops. Basically as much fun as you should ever have in the snow. I have never hit so many drops in a row without dabbing or landing in a huge bomb hole. Without a doubt the sickest run of my life!! Daron and I end up doing another couple of runs....one mellow pow run off of Anderson Ridge and then back into the ski area from Lunch Rock. We finish off the night with Sushi happy hour at Dragonfly, then Margaritas at Casa Baeza, and finally some open mic at Bar of America. We put the X in extreme today!! Pic descriptions (since I can't rearrange them)- 1. Daron getting ready to drop into The Bubbles (w/ Warren shouting directions below); 2. The Palisades (I rode above the big tree on L and also far R of pic on second lap); 3. The Lake Run (w/ Donner Peak on the R and The Bubbles above the biggest tree in pic; second half of Lake Run on the L peak, coming out of the train tunnel); 4. Me hucking off solid 20' drop after shredding The Bubbles- above and L); 5. Me getting ready to do the 10' mandatory entrance drop at the crux of The Bubbles. More pics to be posted soon!!
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