Dark Side of the Sonora Sun, Sonora Pass, CA – 05/17/08

Date:

May 17th, 2008

Location:

Sonora Pass, California – Late season backcountry skiing/splitboarding mecca for fun

Weather:

Lows near 39 F at 7:00AM climbing to 60-70 F during the afternoon. BLUEBIRD, mostly ZERO breeze, and no shade

Sonora Pass Soldiers: Skiers, Tele, Splitboarders…can’t believe we all get along!

666, Bcrider, Snowranger, AKbruin, SchralphMacchio, and mmcpheet

Photoslaves:

666, Bcrider, Snowranger, AKbruin, SchralphMacchio, and mmcpheet

Electronic Music: Modeselektor – ‘The Dark Side Of The Sun’

Synopsis: HOT!

The plan was to emulate the trip from about the same time last year. I would do a day trip from SF by leaving at an ungodly hour in the morning. The rest of the crew would meet before 7 AM at the side of the road at around 9,200 feet above the blue ocean. AKbruin, SchralphMacchio, and Snowranger would be hitting the area for the first time, so we decided to rally Bcrider and Mmcpheet to join in on the welcome tour.

For the past week, its been over 100 F in the valleys, upper 90’s in SF, and 70’s in the mountains. I was expecting horrible suncups. However, to our surprise, there were none. Also, no significant wet slide activity was witnessed to jaw our nerves. So, let the day commence….

Most people come home from the bars around this time on a Saturday morning…

I don’t remember taking this photo….

Near Oakdale, I saw the light….

3 hours 10 min with a stop…..’honey, I’m here!’

Bcrider and Mmcpheet already sweating from skinning….

Some kid marked up these rocks…I guess….

The game plan. Skin up the bowl, ski the Y couloir on the left, then ski to the base of Deadman’s on the right, boot up, then ski to the road. Should only take 8 hours….

Why skis the Y? U know WHY…

Going to be awesome booting up that, but just gotta’….

SchralphMaccio and the rest of the crew having a ‘Good Time’….

Mmcpheet waxed his skins with WD-40….so he made it to the summit in around 20 mins….

Looking good to me…

LONG LIVE THE SUFFERING…THE SWEET SUFFERING

Ah, Sierras to the South….

Ooooooohhhhhhhh…

AKbruin on top of Leavitt Peak @ 11,569 ft….

Snowranger is lost…

Obligatory…

Ok, so this dude pre-released before he dropped in. Yep, as in one ski sailed all the way to the valley floor. Not to be discouraged, he left his pack at the summit and went after it. Then booted back up. Ugh!

SchralphMacchio and Snowranger enjoying the post suffering…

666 is an ice-axe expert…

See? He made it!!!!

Mmcpheet is the first to drop in…

We like his spunk, we like his style…

Mountain goat descent steeze…

Bcrider drops in to the GnAr…

I know, I know…he’s on a snowboard.

…but he’s actually a really nice guy

Akbruin is now ready to make his first turns on his new Movements, not to be confused with Moments…

….then rips down like he’s running gates!

666 puts on a costume for taking pics….

Snowranger throws down a knee near center chute….

Schralph…schralping.

I like this pic….nice one buddy!

666 is twitching and ready to go…

Let the bass drop!

666 in a Moment of FUN!

Snowranger on telegraph hill…

Bcrider has gotz ze style…

The snow was super smooth….did I forget to mention that?

AKbruin slicing and dicing on the descent…

Bcrider, splitboard.com…

He pops on ollie…OMG INSANE!!!!

AKbruin lets the crew disperse, so he can hold a SuperG for himself…

Wax on, wax off….

666 likes to make his mark…

Bcrider has plenty of fans….

Mmcpheet…on his ways to Deadman’s….

666 finds a groomer…

AKbruin goes MASSIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Schralph shows the Cobra Kai that he’s not to be messed with….

Bcrider on the way to his next sufferfest….

Let the suffering begin…

Deadman’s around 2 in the afternoon…yep, the sun is right there….

‘Hey Mmcpheet! My iPhone says that I’ve burned 8,000 calories today!

666, so stoked to be on the summit…

Nice view to eat some Shot Blocks and drink some water….

The Skier and Boarder unite…"Let’s Do This!"

Shoulda’ just straightlined it…but we did just boot up the damn thing in 120 F heat.

mmcpheet messes up the snow…

Snowranger cashes in the 401K….

AKbruin slayin’….

666 carvin’…

Bcrider slashin’…

Shralph making Mr. Miyagi proud…

He then shows why "no mercy," is not the way of karate….

666 grooms a section….

mmcpheet tries to go all B&W to cool him off….

I like this sequence of the snowboarder…

Slap…

Slappy…

Slapped….

666 makes a right turn for a change….

Da rider gets all the good shots…

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

666 loves Sonora corn…

Because he’s a 4 edged freak…

Rider tries to throw corn all over his fanbase…

But I’m sure this one will go up on his Myspace…

Snowranger lets it run to the lake…

Akbruin making Movement Skis happy…

Yep, I think he liked them…

Schralph showing why he won the All-Valley Karate Tournament…

666 making steep turns….

Bcrider making lonely turns….

No no. Not fail, but SUCCESS!

‘Should we take another lap?’

OMG Bcrider SKIING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH SNAP! HE FELL IN!

LOL KEEP LOOKING FOR HIS BLUE SHIRT, I’M SURE HE’LL BE FLOATING DOWN SOON…

666 and SnowRanger get rewarded with this last pitch for the high traverse that barely went. Thank god it did!

Weeeeeeeeeeee! I get to drive back home now!

SnowRanger in our sick entrance to the snowfield…

Now we wait…

…and wait….

Screw it, 666 will walk the 2 miles…in Tecnicas!

Finally, Bcrider arrived with a pickup…

For some reason, he thinks its funny when I carry his splitboard…not sure why.

666 stoked…or tired…or both.

Next year we’re skiing that face damnit!

‘What, no WI-FI?’

ZE END