Month 46: The Patches At Forestdale Divide

It’s getting to be a tough season for us year round skiers and riders, at least those of us without a budget for a trip to Australia, where it’s been dumping. Patches that normally stick around into late summer are disappearing quickly. But some of us have a streak to keep alive. So I managed to wedge a day of hiking and skiing into the middle of a very busy summer work schedule.

The requirements for today’s trip were a short drive, a short approach hike, and a shortage of sun cups. Having seen some pictures from earlier in the week, Vets and I headed up from Red Lake to Forestdale Divide, to an area commonly referred to as “The Patches.” Because these patches are relatively easy to reach by car, they are often the site for impromptu summer terrain park camps. The “Park Patch” or “Right Patch” was just about fully burnt out. You would only know a patch existed due to the scattered lumber and PVC pipe in the area.

We continued up to the Divide and located the Looney (or is it Luniz?) Patch. While the patch was small, the approach hike was shorter than a walk to the mailbox. The snow conditions were creamy and relatively smooth for mid-July. Vets and I put in five laps each on the first patch, with each lap yielding a natural 5 turns.  We turned our attention to the second smaller patch and milked 3 turns in perfect smooth corn. There’s something fun about the challenge of making three perfect turns on such a short run. It took several laps to get it right.

For the final patch, we returned downhill to the Middle Patch. Although the approach hike was slightly longer, at about 150 yards, the patch yielded a full 8 turns. Vets reported that this patch had shrunk by about 50% in the last 5 days. It won’t be there much longer, as the snow surface was generally less than 8 inches deep. I slipped one time putting skis on and easily punched through. That meant that one lap was plenty for me as I have another busy work week ahead. I don’t need the challenge of stitches or a broken bone this month.

Month 47 will likely involve a trip to the north, as I am truly craving some lift served turns….

Rossi looks at Mark skiing the first patch and decides the chase game is not worth it.

Relatively free of sun cups at Looney today.

Rossi decided that finding marmots was more fun today.

Vets sends the 3 turn patch with a spectacular foreground and background.

Rossi surveys the final patch of the day.