Editor: Dave Knoop is one of our Fasterskier training partners, and is famous in our group for his adventurous, high-speed, and “bonkable” outings.
I drove up to the Strawberry Reservoir area a little late on a Sunday am, about 10 am in the morning only to find it a well preserved winter wonderland everything still frozen and white as far as the eye could see even the reservoir looked mid winter frozen. Meanwhile a few thousand feet down below the day would push an easy 70F degrees in the valleys. I thought I'd ski the flats from Strawberry to Daniels Summit Lodge on groomed snowmobile trails for 10k turn around and head back to my car at an easy wandering pace. The trail had been freshly groomed, hard and fast. It was too good! Damn I felt good and I'm sure I looked good too but nobody was around to let me know of this fact. I had to let myself know.
Naturally the 10k-turnaround point came and went as I decided to do the whole 40k + loop sans water or food as I began to climb the canyon road up from the Daniels Summit lodge. The snow began to get pretty darn mushy as I climbed, realizing that the valley floor was an icebox but where I was heading 1,000 to 1500 feet up wasn't. I thought well I'll be skiing north slope in the trees surely it will be shaded there…..Yup it is in Dec. & Jan. where the sun doesn't even shine on this side but not now. Never mind the negatives,
it was too good of a day and I skied on. This former logging road turned groomed snowmobile road parallels the ridgeline above and eventually climbs to the ridgeline and that's just what I did after a few hours of cruising along. As I reached the top, the vista around me unfolded to spectacular scenery all around me. It was as good as the high plateau around Seefield, Austria that I had skied in early Febuary, WUNDERBAR!
