[NMCCSC] Report on outing to Corral Canyon, Sat., Jan. 18

[Sam via NMCCSCeGroup]

Hello Skiers,

On Saturday, January 18, 2020, ten Ski Club members skied parts of the Corral Canyon and Calzada Trails in the Jemez Mountains. The group found 7 inches of new powder snow and old snow depths up to 18 inches. We also found areas of wind blown slab that is like crust but not as icy. NM-4 was mostly dry, but parking at the trailheads had not been plowed.

We skied up Corral Canyon from the trailhead at 8660 feet on the west side of the stream and then a short distance on the east side where we found logs under the snow. Generally, we were setting a 12-inch deep track. After side stepping from the stream crossing up to the old road on the west side, the skiing was much easier. About half of the skiers used skins during the ascent.

Due to the ascent in difficult terrain and the deep powder, we only skied to Junction Meadow by noon instead of much farther up the trail as we had done in the past. After lunch we decided to ski to Tee Intersection (9205 feet) instead of climbing 300 feet up to the ridge (9410 feet) with an overlook of the Sandia Mountains. After trying unsuccessfully to break trail in 24 inches of powder to follow Calzada Trail to Tee Intersection, we decided to ski south on Forest Service Road 280 (FR-280) on which the old snow had been compacted by a snow cat. Our set track was only about 10 inches deep.

After a water break at Tee Intersection, the group decided to ski FR-280 down to the highway instead of the more difficult Corral Canyon Trail. The road was generally easy to ski, but we did find short segments of wind slab and crusty snow cat tracks.

The length of the planned tour to the overlook was 3.7 miles round trip with an elevation change of 750 feet. The length of the route we skied was 4.3 miles with an elevation change of 545 feet. The attached Word document includes photos and a Google Earth satellite photo with the approximate skied route shown as a narrow white line. We were on the trail 4-1/2 hours in sunny but cool weather.

The Club members on the outing were Michael Arndt, Mary Rose Nichols, David Mayerson, Tom Broadbent, Terri Elisberg, Barbara Overman, Mary K. Gallagher, David Fitzgerald, Holly Noland, and Sam Beard.

Sam Beard, Trip Leader

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