camp/ski S ptarmi and N suicide

     So more winter camp/ski trips are filling my schedule now that I am acquiring some gear for an upcoming mountaineering trip.  That gear and my legs both need testing so two buddies and I headed out for an overnighter in the front range.  We headed out from the canyon road trailhead and skinned along the base of peak 2/3/4 and flaketop in perfect weather: sunny, calm, clear and warmish.

     We were shooting for skiing something back near Rabbit Lake and decided to set up camp near the base of Ptarmigan's south face.  We went with the Black Diamond mid as we had another person compared to last outing's Go-lite shangri-la 3 as it offered a bit more room.  After constructing our sleeping ground and wind-break we skinned up Ptarmigan's south face to the bottom of the cliff bands and turned it from there as the sun was getting low and snow was hardening up.  A beautiful sunset run on better-than-expected conditions was the perfect way to conclude the day along with dinner.

      We melted our snow for water and ate dinner then hit the sack.  We were hoping for the forecasted northern lights show like the night before but didn't see anything.  The night was cold, calm and super-bright.  The lights from the city, stars and 1/3 moon reflecting off the snow were enough to make a headlamp unnecessary. 
     Rise and shine we got up whenever it was we got up, ate some breakfast and melted more snow, geared up for the goal of skiing something around Rabbit lake.  I had in mind one of the chutes off the Suicides, North in particular as that aspect had decent snow elsewhere.  After a short and easy skin back to the base we found the S. Suicide gully blown bare but the North one looked promising despite the rock field 2/3 of the way up so we went for it.

     It skied better than it skinned which was nice.  Amazing views out there, especially from Rabbit lake with all those peaks just shooting straight up.  Looking down Rabbit creek(?) valley was a great view of the Alaska Range and Sleeping Lady.  Nothing but breathtaking views in every direction: sunshine, ice flowing, rimey mountain tops, blue-est of blue skies, endless beautiful sastrugi.  The ski down was the cherry on top.
     We had a mellow and easy mostly-downhill skin back to camp, broke it down and skied the remaining ~3 miles back to the trailhead.  Another good outing. 
     My winter camping skills are improving as far as temperature and moisture management.  Still need work on hydration, but on the nutrition front I made huge progress with the help of a Mountainhouse Beef-Stroganoff meal and some home-made burritos.  mmm, mmm.  Good news is I can ski with a large and heavy pack.  The bad news is that the pack is noticably heavy and took it's toll on my legs by day 2.  Good news is I skied something new and after looking around back there I have a ton of ideas for other outings, both day-trips and overnight.

video of this outing:
https://vimeo.com/62133332
recent video i forgot to upload from the twin peaks outing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_0ZdxvgwNM