[NMCCSC] Class 1 Feb 15 Caldera Adventure and broken pole!

[Deborah McGrew via NMCCSCeGroup]

It was a great day!!
Thanks to Leslie for hosting and instigating!


On Sun, Feb 16, 2020 at 8:35 AM Leslie via NMCCSCeGroup <
nmccscegroup at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:

> Saturday Feb 15, seven of us met at Target on Paseo at 8am and headed to
> the Valles Caldera.
>
> Carol Miller, Debbie McGrew, James Whitfield, Michael Arndt, Tony Hsu and
> his son Kevin Hsu, and myself, Leslie LaBry, regrouped at the check in
> station in the Caldera at about 10:15. There were not many people in the
> parking lot upon arrival.
>
> The road was plowed, and a bit washboard, but frozen. With the temperature
> 24 degrees and warming, we took off from the check in station, first
> crossing the road, then heading west on the History Grove Loop towards the
> cabins. Michael and Jim started leading the group, and I brought up the
> back. We skied uphill alongside the road.
>
> When Carol and I got up toward the cabin area where everyone was crossing
> the road, we found Michael with a broken pole. By the side of the road, he
> did a quick repair with tape he had in his pack and kept going. Debbie took
> off, breaking trail to the History Grove, headed to our lunch stop. Temps
> were getting warmer, but everyone was managing fine with the snow, but
> Michael's repair quickly failed.
>
> Lunch was next at the History Grove, and time again for Michael to see if
> he could repair his pole. Tape alone was not the answer.
>
> Debbie, Michael, and Jim worked on trying to come up with some way to
> support Michael's pole where the break was. Unfortunately dry pine branches
> used to support it on the inside were not the answer. The final attempt was
> using a carabiner taped to the broken pole, not a lot of options to make
> this work!
>
> The final leg of this little adventure to the check in station was
> downhill. By this time the wind had picked up, dropping a fresh layer of
> icy snow on the existing track. In spite of the warming temps, the snow was
> still pretty good. With MaxiGlide on our skis, we headed downhill to the
> check in station.
>
> Back at the muddy parking lot by about 1:30, the temperature was about 45
> degrees. I found out at that time that the second repair on Michael's pole
> failed again.  But with one good pole, he managed to skied down to the
> check in station well before the last of us got in.
>
> Everyone enjoyed the day. Kevin (Tony's son) was not an experienced skier
> but he did great (that youth thing helps!). Michael, well we all know he
> will have a pair of new shiny ski poles on the next trip.
>
> I appreciate that so many people jumped on this trip with such short
> notice. Having not led a ski group before, I had not considered it until I
> talked to Sam on the Thursday night meeting that was before this trip. I
> appreciate his encouragement, route suggestion, and help in getting this
> posted as I did not have time Friday to deal with the details.
>
> Total elevation gain was about 200' and mileage about 4 to 4.5 miles.
> On the drive out of the Caldera, the road was now a sloppy mess of mud
> with water running down the road. A good time to head back to Abq!
>
> Leslie LaBry
>
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