-6 F is Too Cold for Grilling Bratwurst

With rumors of a slower and deeper than expected storm swirling, Scott E. and I made a plan to ski on Tuesday. We decided to wait until after the storm hit to pick a location so we could target the deepest snow.

Yesterday morning we met at the Park-n-Ride and reviewed snow totals and avalanche forecasts. The western half of Summit County (the Vail area) received the most snow but we ultimately decided on Berthoud Pass as a destination. It's closer, you don't have to pay to park, and we are both much more familiar with the terrain and where to find the goods.

We decided to shuttle my truck down to the Second Creek trailhead then drive back up to the Pass for a one way tour of Current and Second Creeks. We geared up and left the Pass around 9:00. The temperature was a balmy -6 F.

"AVALANCHE BLASTING AT ANY TIME USING LONG RANGE WEAPONRY"

After a quick 600 foot ascent up the West Side, we decided on a mellow run known as The Meadows. While transitioning from climbing to skiing...

Fail #1 - I broke a heel throw on one of my bindings

Luckily it was still mostly functional, although I could no longer disengage my binding without removing my mittens and subjecting my hands to deeply negative temperatures. We skied The Meadows and...

Fail #2 - Rangerdog came up limping during his descent

Luckily he just had ice built up in between his toes so we stopped on the Aqueduct and gave him time to chew it out, although this was a recurring problem all day. After a few minutes we skied The Flume down to the Current Creek drainage.

Scott pointing the way near the top of The Meadows

Me in The Flume

We found a spot to eat soup and drink tea in the sun, then continued up the Current Creek drainage heading toward the Upper 110s. We passed the Peter Rabbit Hut, intersected the Aqueduct further west, and...

Fail #3 - One of my climbing skins failed

I've skied over 100 days on these skins and they have never failed me, but the extreme cold rendered the glue useless so I improvised a fix by wrapping an orange ski strap around the ski/skin under my foot and continued on. We followed the Aqueduct north and east to the 110s, found an uptrack, and climbed a few hundred feet to the saddle above.

Peter Rabbit Hut

The original plan was to ski the south facing Upper 110s back to the Current Creek drainage, then skin back up the 110s and drop a north facing slope into the Second Creek drainage and ski out to my truck. However, on our way up the 110s we realized the snow conditions were not great (a few inches of storm snow on a concrete slab that had no doubt formed over the past few weeks of little snow and lots of wind and solar) so we changed plans and decided to lap the north facing stuff twice instead.

Scott looking north towards the Second Creek drainage and the Winter Park ski resort

Second Creek Headwall

The skiing was good. Really good for this season. The north facing aspect was shaded and wind loaded so the few inches of fresh actually skied like shin to knee deep powder. At the bottom of the run Scott mixed up a Pabst Blue Energy v2.0. The original version called for a Lemon-Lime 5 Hour Energy added to a 12 ounce can of PBR but we decided it was too sweet so we stepped up to a 16 ounce can instead. The current version was still too sweet so v3.0 will include a 24 ounce can...It was so cold out that the beer froze onto our mustaches, and I coined the term "Pabsicle."

Pabst Blue Energy v2.0

We transitioned again and began the climb back up to the top of Side Pocket/Narnia Woods. Unlike earlier in the day when we could follow a pre-existing skin track, this time we had to break trail since no one had skied this zone since the recent storm. The slope we were climbing was north facing (it gets very little sun in winter) so the snowpack was deep and faceted (faceted snow is angular with very poor bonding, aka "sugar snow"). This meant that even with our skis on we routinely sank knee deep into the snow, which made for a slow, tiring ascent back up the slope. We reached the top of the ridge and headed slightly east before transitioning for a NNE descent into the Second Creek drainage when...

Fail #4 - I broke the OTHER heel throw on my bindings

Scott led the way and I followed, but halfway down I made a left turn on a double fall line slope that fell off to my right and...

Fail #5 - I went down. Uninjured, but covered in snow.

We continued on and a few hundred feet later...

Fail #6 - I went down again. This time I fell face first and somehow landed on my back, with my head downhill and my skis buried and facing to the right. Luckily my head wasn't buried so I could breathe. I extricated my skis, struggled to flip them 180 degrees so they faced to the left, then manged to pull off a backward somersault to get my skis below me so I could try to stand up. I was ready to get back to my truck.

Fail #6 - Nice reflection in my goggles

Safely down to the flats adjacent to Second Creek, Scott skied ahead and I skied slowly so Rangerdog could keep up. A few minutes later we were back at the truck.

Pretty light in the Second Creek drainage

After reversing the truck about ten feet so we could sit in the sunlight, I pulled the portable kegerator out of the cab, connected the beer lines and poured us two pints of Vail Pale Ale. Half a pint later...

Fail #7 - We lost sun for good at the Second Creek TH

We decided to drive back up the the Pass where we hoped to find plenty of sun and fire up Scott's grill for some cheddar brats and another round of beers. There was plenty of sun, but we learned two things...

Fail #8 - Propane grills don't work at -6 F

Fail #9 - Kegerator taps freeze at -6 F

I put the kegerator in the truck, closed the doors, blasted the heat for a few minutes, and was able to pull two more pale ales through the tap.

The coldest beer I ever drank

After finishing our pints, we decided to pack up and drive down towards Empire, where we knew of a pullout that should have been warmer and less windy...

Fail #10 - The pullout was already in the shade

So we continued on and found a "scenic" pullout overlooking I-70. This time both the grill and the kegerator worked. 

Scott showing off his new grill

We were all set to enjoy cheddar brats and bacon wrapped serrano peppers with our pints of Centennial Blonde Ale but...

Fail #11 - Scott forgot the buns

Bunless cheddar brats are still delicious

Fed and rehydrated, it was time to go home. I turned my truck key and...

Fail #12 - I drained my battery listening to the Grateful Dead. Oops. I didn't even get to my favorite track on the album: Unbroken Chain (Studio Acoustic Demo).

We hooked up some jumper cables and got my truck to start on the first try.

On the way home, I reflected on how great a day I really had. We enjoyed a lengthy ski tour on a sunny (Tues)day(!) and we ate and drank well afterward. How many people can say they've grilled brats and drank keg beer at 11,307 feet?