The Third Time's The Charm

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The telephone at the old lift station.

Attempt number three and we finally made it to the top of the ski resort.  Yay!!!  The weather was beautiful even though it was a bit chilly and windy at the top.  The biggest obstacle in reaching the summit was the strange mix of terrain.  The switch backs alternated between deep drifted snow and bone dry cobbles making it extremely frustrating and time consuming to have to constantly stop and put on or remove our snow shoes.  At times when we could see bare ground ahead of a snowy patch we'd chance it by leaving our snow shoes off and more often then not ended up thigh deep in snow.  It was a bit eerie on the way up listening to the chair lifts squeal and clang as they swung above us making us ever so mindful of just how convenient the lifts once were. I never seem to think we are going to make it all the way, but sure enough we rounded the corner to find the abandoned ski patrol shack and lift station at the top of the mountain.  There was even a lift chair left perfectly perched at the top for us to have a rest on.  We made our descent straight down the ski run instead of using the switch backs.  By accident, meaning I fell in the deep snow, we discovered the sport of butt sledding.  That's right, butt sledding.  Given an adequately steep enough hill one simply sits down, leans back, and enjoys the ride.  This new sport kept us happy and entertained all the way down the mountain.

View our hike to the top of the ski resort by kartoffeln on Breadcrumbs