#puntabardini

3/28/17

All season long I had been going to the ski resorts attempting to learn to ski while I had a season pass. I had skied a couple of days over the past few years, but I knew the only way I would become decent was to really invest. So, I bought a season pass, rented skis for the season, and set aside peak bagging for the winter months to finally make some progress on this skill.

And then finally, at the start of my van trip, Leo and I headed to the Eastern Sierra. So, of course, I figured going to the mountaineering store in Mammoth would be a good option for looking at my first pair of skis. I wanted them to be decent both at the resort and in the backcountry, since I am currently too cheap and not invested enough to be one of those intense skiers with multiple pairs of skis. It was late March and the end of the season, so there was a big sale going on. I had purchased the Scarpa Gea RS boots from Alpenglow Sports in Tahoe City, and then in Mammoth I got a pair of K2 Wayback 88’s (they’re the men’s version — so they’re not pink!), some BD GlideLite Mohair skins, and the Dynafit Radical ST 2.0 bindings, all at a great price with free mounting. Score. So, I was ready to get out in the backcountry.

Looking out at Punta Bardini.

Kwyn had just finished her avy 1 class, and had made two friends — Ben and Magdalena — who were interested in doing some ski touring in the days after the class. I had met up with Kwyn in the afternoon of the last day of her class, to do the simplest “ski tour” ever (we went up a groomed road for 30 minutes and then skied back down, but at least I learned to put on skins, how to use my skis in each mode, etc). When meeting up with Kwyn, I briefly met Ben and Magdalena, and they invited our group to join them the next day for what they called an easy tour. I explained to them that I was a total beginner, had just bought my skis, was about to use them for the first time, but they said I should come along anyways. Okay, if they say so!

The next morning we (Kwyn, Leo, and I) met up at the Sherwins on the edge of Mammoth around 8:15am. They had picked out a simple looking ski tour up Punta Bardini, a big hill just to the south of Mammoth. It has some small bowls that we could come down if the avy conditions looked safe enough, and some small ridges covered in trees that we could take instead if we wanted a bit more protection.

Skinning up the ridge.

After having done it a total of one time before, I was now a pro at putting my skins on and setting everything up for walk mode. We took 15 mins to finish packing up, and then headed onto the snow to do our beacon check. After Leo led us through the routine, we started out on flat until we reached some rolling hills. I had my first opportunity to “ski” very small downhills in walk mode with skins still on. It was challenging, but I managed to make it down without falling.

We came to a bigger downhill that would take us to the base of Punta Bardini. Below us was a lot of shrubbery, and all the snow had melted out. We had the option to traverse far to the side to find some snow, but we opted to take off our skis and carry them down in hand, and then put them back on at the base.

From there, we started our true skin up Punta Bardini itself. The only other time I had skinned was briefly on our Pear Lake trip <LINK> which ended up being a disaster. I felt much more comfortable and confident this time (although, this much later in the season, there was also a lot more snow, which makes it easier). The sun was shining, there wasn’t too much wind, and there was great company. Ben and Magdalena are also doing the travel life right now, so hopefully we’ll be able to meet up with them at some point again in the future! Everyone was very encouraging and helpful with all things ski touring, so I felt very encouraged.

Nearing the top.

As we were going up, I did note that the terrain was kind of steep. We went up the ridge through the trees, which also made me nervous, but I kind of just went with it. It was also good to get some cardio going. I hadn’t done real uphill in ages, and over the course of the day we did over 2.5k ft of gain. We finally made it to the top around 12:30pm. We stopped and had a nice lunch on top, taking in views of the Minarets and Banner (Ritter was hidden behind Mammoth Mountain), and even a small sliver of Mono Lake. It was so nice up there that I somehow didn’t even think about how nervous I was for the way down!

But, sure enough, the time for that came. We stripped our skins, adjusted our boots, and got everything ready to ski. Okay, I got this, I told myself. I think I didn’t fully appreciate all the concerns I should have had though until we really started the downhill. 1) My new skis were a full 25cm longer than the rentals I had been on all season. 2) My new boots were way more aggressive than my rental boots. 3) I had never really backcountry skied before. And it was going to be steep. And there were a lot of trees. And the snow had a crust in places and was not consistent at all. Great.

Well, there was only one way to get down. Pretty much from the get go I was feeling the new length of my skis and the aggressiveness of my boots, so I felt pretty uncomfortable and out of control. But, the terrain wasn’t too steep at the top, and I managed to make some turns. I had my first fall, but it was luckily on my uphill side, so I was able to get up easily and continue down.

Obligatory summit selfie.

As I made a few more turns, I started to get less scared, despite falling. But then I had my first front-facing fall. I fell forward on top of my skis, and I had no idea how to move. I felt my right knee twisting the wrong way and I didn’t know how to move or get out of the position. Leo had been staying behind me to help me if I needed it, and he came to my assistance. I was totally freaking out and started tearing up. My knee was in pain, I didn’t know how to move, I didn’t know how to get out my skis, I couldn’t reach anything, I felt in over my head. Leo didn’t know what to do, and I just yelled to him to get my skis off so I could move. He managed to remove right ski, and I was finally free and no longer twisting the wrong way. It’s safe to say that I was totally freaked out and completely nervous about the rest of the descent. Bleh. I told Leo how scared I was and he just encouraged me, and told me I got it. I knew I had to pull it together and get down — that was the only option. I told Leo he should tell the rest of the group that they should just go ahead, because it was going to take us a long time, but they really said they had no problem waiting for us. That was nice of them, and kept my spirits high (while also made me feel bad/anxious about them waiting for me).

Well, back up on my skis and time to continue down. I managed to make a few more turns until pretty much the exact situation I just described happened again. I fell forward again, twisting my right knee, and didn’t know how to get out of it and was so nervous that I was hurting my knee. From there, I was spooked and really didn’t want to try any more turns on steep terrain. I’d decided I’d learned enough for the day and needed to get back out another day on easier terrain. As for today, I just needed to get down safely.

That meant that I ended up slide-slipping down the majority of the mountain from there. I felt embarrassed that I was doing that (especially since people kept encouraging me to do turns and actually ski), but I had just decided that I was too spooked and needed to get down. My knee felt a bit strained and I also didn’t want to risk hurting it. Occasionally, when the terrain was less steep and more open, I made some turns. But, for the vast majority of the way down, I was side-slipping.

Excitement on the summit, with Mammoth Mountain in the back.

Once we made it to the top of the bowls, we opted to take the bowls down instead of the ridge. It was definitely awesome seeing everyone ski down, and it was good motivation for me to get back out and keep learning and pushing myself. But, for now, I just kept side-slipping, and then made some turns at the bottom of the bowl as it started to get slightly less steep.

At the bottom of the bowl, we put our skins back on to head back up over the rolling hills. I was relieved that we had no more steep terrain to descend, and even excited for the few turns I would get to make down the easy hill at the end. It felt good that when we transitioned to ski mode for the last time and went down the hill, I at least was able to ski that back down safely and decently confidently.