ok so me and king kat hit the hill about 10, the M1000 fouls a plug right off, might have been an omen for what was to come for him
boondock from the bottom of kelsay to the top of sawtooth ridge and head for the chute we rode down to june lake. the base under the powder the week before was slush, this week ice below the pow so the chute was not going to happen! so we decided we'd head over to calamut lake, king kat likes to call it camalot maybe he thinks he's sir lancealot so we get about 3/4 of the way there and we come up to where we could see the southside of sawtooth itself. so king kat just has to head up there to take a look so off we go. get there and the chutes and climbs on the north side are just unreal. never seen so much wide open steep as you want climbing in my life, there was no way i was gonna be denied the first ride ever up there so we searched for the least insane route down. got to the west side and found a run down into the treeline which came out into the bowl about half way down. figured if i couldn't stop were plenty of trees that could help me out. king kat was not too impressed with my idea of heading down, but off i go into the trees and get down to where you go into the bowl. let me tell you i had to sit there for about 5 minutes to get up the courage to come out of that tree line, every nerve in my body was telling me to head right back up the hill and forget about this insanity!!! so i take a long look at my sled, figure it might be the last time i see it in one piece and break the treeline. WHAT A RUSH!!! i must of had enough adrenaline flowing by the time i hit the bottom to power a yami 4 stroke we had stared at that mountain many times from tipanongas and never thought in a million years anyone would ever ride it let alone me, what a feeling of accomplishment, wow! so i call ron up on the radio and he heads down, we head over to the drain to indigo lake and start heading down to it. got about 200 feet from the lake and was getting late, kind of a wierd feeling over there with 1000+ feet of mountain all around, almost a little erie. gives you the feeling you'd better be on top of your game or you might not be leaving. so we decide we've pushed our luck enough for one day and head back. knew the ride up to the top of the ridge was gonna be a challenge to say the least. there was actually about a foot of sweet pow on the north side so ron says he thinks we should be able to skip going through the trees and side hill around the treeline all the way up through the bowl to the top. i told him he was crazy and i was going back the way we came. so he heads up first, i give him about 30 yards and lay tracks to the outside of his. i watch him go past the point of no return to hit the trees and think hes crazy, so what do i do when i hit the point to turn into the trees? i think the vaccum from the M1000 pulled me right past that turn headed to the top so were commited now, the hill keeps pitching more to the right and is getting more and more vertical. am watching ron ahead of me and all of a sudden he's headed down the hill sideways being dragged by his sled, i look up and see why, the hill had got soooooooooo steep and pitched he just slid off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there was no hope to turn out so pointed the nose up the hill and pinned it, thank god it sank and didn't slide away. so here we are, rons not doing so well, he got slammed pretty hard quite a few times on the way down. ribs are hurting but worse is his leg, thought at first he might not be riding out on his own that day. took a few minutes got things sorted out, ron walked it off a little and decided he would be able to ride, so we got his sled situated and he goes to head the rest of the way into the trees and rolls his sled. luckily trees all around so no ghost ride. rolled him back up on his skis and headed back up to mine. took at least 20 mins for me to drag my sled backwards a few inches at a time and then hammer the throttle to keep it from running away. got down to a tree well where i could get it pointed down the hill. now rons having a lot of troubles getting through the trees to the top, just figured he was hurting. found a good line riding the right ski up to the top. we both get up there and find rons ripped the right lower a-arm out of the bulkhead, got the axe and the rope out, pounded and pulled the thing back into place and tied it to the left arm and rode it out just like that. what a feeling of relief when we hit the kelsay loop! so now king kats down for a while, the doctor said his leg and ribs should be better in 4-6 weeks now i'm in need of a riding partner, must not be too bright and a little insane heres some more pics, the first one is the last time i think king kat will be smiling for awhile...
boondock from the bottom of kelsay to the top of sawtooth ridge and head for the chute we rode down to june lake. the base under the powder the week before was slush, this week ice below the pow so the chute was not going to happen! so we decided we'd head over to calamut lake, king kat likes to call it camalot maybe he thinks he's sir lancealot so we get about 3/4 of the way there and we come up to where we could see the southside of sawtooth itself. so king kat just has to head up there to take a look so off we go. get there and the chutes and climbs on the north side are just unreal. never seen so much wide open steep as you want climbing in my life, there was no way i was gonna be denied the first ride ever up there so we searched for the least insane route down. got to the west side and found a run down into the treeline which came out into the bowl about half way down. figured if i couldn't stop were plenty of trees that could help me out. king kat was not too impressed with my idea of heading down, but off i go into the trees and get down to where you go into the bowl. let me tell you i had to sit there for about 5 minutes to get up the courage to come out of that tree line, every nerve in my body was telling me to head right back up the hill and forget about this insanity!!! so i take a long look at my sled, figure it might be the last time i see it in one piece and break the treeline. WHAT A RUSH!!! i must of had enough adrenaline flowing by the time i hit the bottom to power a yami 4 stroke we had stared at that mountain many times from tipanongas and never thought in a million years anyone would ever ride it let alone me, what a feeling of accomplishment, wow! so i call ron up on the radio and he heads down, we head over to the drain to indigo lake and start heading down to it. got about 200 feet from the lake and was getting late, kind of a wierd feeling over there with 1000+ feet of mountain all around, almost a little erie. gives you the feeling you'd better be on top of your game or you might not be leaving. so we decide we've pushed our luck enough for one day and head back. knew the ride up to the top of the ridge was gonna be a challenge to say the least. there was actually about a foot of sweet pow on the north side so ron says he thinks we should be able to skip going through the trees and side hill around the treeline all the way up through the bowl to the top. i told him he was crazy and i was going back the way we came. so he heads up first, i give him about 30 yards and lay tracks to the outside of his. i watch him go past the point of no return to hit the trees and think hes crazy, so what do i do when i hit the point to turn into the trees? i think the vaccum from the M1000 pulled me right past that turn headed to the top so were commited now, the hill keeps pitching more to the right and is getting more and more vertical. am watching ron ahead of me and all of a sudden he's headed down the hill sideways being dragged by his sled, i look up and see why, the hill had got soooooooooo steep and pitched he just slid off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there was no hope to turn out so pointed the nose up the hill and pinned it, thank god it sank and didn't slide away. so here we are, rons not doing so well, he got slammed pretty hard quite a few times on the way down. ribs are hurting but worse is his leg, thought at first he might not be riding out on his own that day. took a few minutes got things sorted out, ron walked it off a little and decided he would be able to ride, so we got his sled situated and he goes to head the rest of the way into the trees and rolls his sled. luckily trees all around so no ghost ride. rolled him back up on his skis and headed back up to mine. took at least 20 mins for me to drag my sled backwards a few inches at a time and then hammer the throttle to keep it from running away. got down to a tree well where i could get it pointed down the hill. now rons having a lot of troubles getting through the trees to the top, just figured he was hurting. found a good line riding the right ski up to the top. we both get up there and find rons ripped the right lower a-arm out of the bulkhead, got the axe and the rope out, pounded and pulled the thing back into place and tied it to the left arm and rode it out just like that. what a feeling of relief when we hit the kelsay loop! so now king kats down for a while, the doctor said his leg and ribs should be better in 4-6 weeks now i'm in need of a riding partner, must not be too bright and a little insane heres some more pics, the first one is the last time i think king kat will be smiling for awhile...
