Mar 5 - Jenny Creek

We got a late start due to traffic and skinned in via Jenny Creek in the dark the whole way. The beginning through Eldora was covered, but then about a mile in there was a half mile stretch that was very bare that we booted (see pictures). After that, it was skinnable on a refrozen track all the way to the hut that progressively got softer as we gained elevation. It took us just under 2.5 hours to get there. Overnight, we received quite a bit of snow and by the time we left on Friday afternoon there was about 16 inches on the ground. The storm came in just right, starting warm in the high 20s and cooling into the mid teens producing an upright storm load. We skied the south aspect above Yankee Doodle lake in the trees which had good coverage thanks to the storms, but it was clear that there was low density snow over grass and rock in the more exposed areas. We skinned out via pipeline to the Eldora top gate. Coverage along that route was great thanks to the storm, but a little thin along frostbite Ridge where it was low density snow on rock (classic). Overall, we had a wonderful trip!

Regarding hut status, we brought two rolls of paper towels and now we are at five rolls of paper towels up there and plenty of wood for the remainder of the season. It seems that folks heeded the food warning because the place was tidy with no food to be seen when we arrived. We gave it a good buff before we left and hope it’s a great rest of the season up there!