Pastoral (almost)

Last Sunday, Andrea and I skied up the valley between Sunburst and Magnum mountains in Turnagain Pass, over the saddle between the two, and on to an area called Pastoral. The day had started sunny and warm, but as we skinned up the valley, we could see a halo around the sun, indicating ice crystals in the air and a coming storm.

When we arrived at the saddle, we were rewarded with a spectacular view of the Pastoral area - but the clouds were already moving in fast and snow was beginning to fall. We descended into the valley and ate lunch on a rise with a commanding view of the amphitheater.

For a moment we thought we may continue our skin up the valley but the light was already very flat and we were afraid of getting stuck in the middle of the huge snowfield in a whiteout. We skied down the valley a bit, hiked back up to the saddle and made a nice run down Sunburst to the car just as the storm was gaining momentum.