[NMCCSC] Report of Coyote Call outing, Sat., Feb. 2

[Sam via NMCCSCeGroup]

Hello Skiers,

On Saturday, February 2, Ruth Bargman-Romero and Sam Beard led a Ski Club outing to the Coyote Call area on the Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains. The trailhead and parking area are located on the south side of NM-4 across the highway from Valle Grande.

The NMDOT had used a snow blower to plow wide shoulders and trailhead parking for 4 vehicles. The day was sunny with moderate temperatures. Snow conditions ranged from morning crust in the open areas to settled powder on the north slopes in the shade.

Ruth led beginners/Class I skiers Nancy Varvil, Katie Cunningham, and Chris Cochrum on a tour in the large meadows adjacent to the highway. Here they also practiced kick and glide, and sliding downhill. At the west end of the meadow, they ventured into the trees practicing herringbone, sidestep, kick turns, and traversing uphill and downhill.

Sam led Class II skiers Holly Noland, Ellen Bauman, and Linda Stiles on a counter-clockwise tour along the 3-mile Coyote Call Loop Trail. The most unusual aspect of this tour was finding several elk beds in the snow on the upper leg of the loop. The elk also walked along the road and left 18-inch deep holes in the snow for a distance of about one-quarter mile. Skiing past the holes and avoiding a fresh snowshoe track made skiing here somewhat tedious. We had lunch near the saddle between Rabbit Ridge and Scooter Peak.

We then descended the 1/2-mile steep eastern leg of the loop by various techniques, including snow plowing, side stepping, turning into the hillside, straight down with pole braking, and using kicker skins. We also sidestepped gingerly over two logs that were close together. Snow conditions were generally good, and kicking and gliding was very enjoyable as we completed the loop.

Both groups skied about 3 hours and returned to the vehicles at 1:30.

Photos are presented in the attached Word document.


Ruth and Sam
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