April 20-27, 2019
Once again we headed to Sorcerer Lodge this spring. I co-guided with Joel McBurney — a good friend but our paths have diverged for the past 10+ years and so it was great to work with him again! He brought along his friend Jeff Wexler who helped us out as an assistant guide and together we made a good team. Joel mixed it up between skiing and splitboarding, and Wexy impressed us with his lightning fast splitboard transitions and eagerness to ski the steep couloirs.
For spring skiing it does not get better than Sorcerer Lodge. While it’s at the top of my list of recommendations for people to head to extend their ski touring season, it’s also one of the best places for high alpine ski mountaineering anywhere, and the end of April is the perfect window. With a great snowpack and no interruptions from heliskiing (the heliski season ends the first week of April) I’ve had consistently excellent experiences with Sorcerer in the last week of April and this was no exception.
We had cold temperatures throughout the week and enjoyed the cold powder skiing typical of this high, dry north-facing glaciated zone. Low avalanche hazard, which is also typical for late April, allowed us to travel pretty much wherever we wanted to go. We didn’t hit Iconoclast this year, but we certainly could have: it was really that good.
What was extra special about this week is that it was a group of friends of Jim Joy. Jim sadly passed away last October in an accident down in Argentina. The week was full of Jim stories, toasts, and sadness mixed with the joy of coming together and celebrating a life well lived.
Here’s a collection of photos from the week. EnJOY!
