It was a fun day on Mt. Baker. The light rain on the drive north gave us hopes of fresh powder, but no such luck: it was two-and-a-half-week-old slush. Oh, well. The mountain was practically deserted; we rarely saw anyone else on the runs, and never had to wait for a lift. Thomas P. and David L. are both more experienced than I am, so I spent all day pushing myself to keep up, and taking harder runs than I’d normally tackle, but it was good – I could feel my confidence increasing over the course of the day, and after lunch tackled my first ever double-black-diamond run.

The new skis worked out OK. They didn’t feel as tight at high speeds as the big carvers I’m used to, but they are far more maneuverable on the steep mogully slopes, and didn’t feel as much like they wanted to soar out from under me every time I pointed downhill.

After a nice long shower and some clean clothes, I picked up some sushi and headed over to Heden for Mez’s “chess night” (which has long since lost any association with the game of chess). It was a small thing – half a dozen folks there when I arrived – but it was nice to hang out and talk before packing it in for the night.