Queen of the Catskills

  Balsam Lake Mountain 15/33 Sometimes you need to start off with a catchy quote. My dad said to me today, “Ya know, Julie, you’ve had more injuries skiing than I had in my 3 years in the army, and that includes my year in Vietnam.” I’m fine, nothing happened. He just felt compelled to share that. Guess it’s a dad thing. Today’s sunlight looked like golden hour the entire day. I did Balsam Lake Mountain with Deborah for 15/33 on my project to ski the Catskills highest peaks. This is also the mountain where Deborah and I met last May. Like I said yesterday, the Catskills isn’t quite in yet for skiing without risk of seriously damaging your bases, but since the snow is so unpredictable, I ski whatever falls in whatever quantities. The snow is dense with a high moisture content. There are water bars appearing. My poles don’t even sink to the powder baskets and in the churned up snow, you can see that right underneath is a sheet of water flow ice. I bet an interesting, albeit dangerous...

Thomas Cole, Camel’s Hump, and Caudal (winter 14/33) Snow melting is like your dog running away. You’re heartbroken and hope it comes back, but you never know. This epitomizes what I’m feeling at this moment as the Catskills snowpack wanes before my eyes. Yesterday, basking in the aura of my increasing confidence, I attempted Black Dome from Lockwood Gap. Definitely not the route I would normally take to ski due to the ledges and other technical features. I was less than a half mile from the summit only to be stopped by a ledge that, despite my boot crampons, did not allow for a secure grip to hoist myself up with skis on my back. I also just got really bad vibes from the mountain. Black Dome was just not filled in enough to maneuver these obstacles safely from that approach. Today, I went via Barnum Rd. I bagged Thomas Cole, but I was just not feeling well and decided not to attempt the extra mileage to Black Dome. There are 2 peaks prior to reaching TC, so it’s a daunting route. Mul...