so cold, so close (but not enough)

     So clear skies are predicted and I finally have some time off work again.  We just got 12+inches throughout the area.  12+" of  really light-and-fluffy on top of nothing.  It has been so warm that I forgot what cold was until I went out the past two days.  Yesterday was chilly and today was cold, subzero, luckily with no wind.  This makes for nice skinning temps if you can keep the face and hands warm but other than that it gets unpleasant.  Not too cold to keep me from seeking the goods that were not to be found in the front range.
     I went out to Arctic Valley yesterday with modest results.  As previously mentioned it was cold.  Half the time we were in a fog cloud which made for some really nasty vertigo while at the same time we were nicking rocks and tundra.  The other half the time there was a protective base from the previous snowfall, and the lighting was fair.  Summary: we need more snow folks.  Or if I could remember the routes that had consistent snow left on them before this snowfall.
     Then today I figured I would hit up what I thought was the tundra-covered slopes on the powerline side if peak 2-3.  I skinned out Powerline and ascended near the saddle between the two. Things were looking good until about 3/4 of the way up so I skied from there after peeking over to the Canyon road side(looked super thin).  I found out that the Powerline side was just as thin until 75% of the way down.  Yup, 2 core shots.  So not worth it in the skiing sense but not a total loss as the scenery was amazing, I can check off a ski down the Powerline side, exercised Lucy-dog, saw some ptarmigan/moose and put myself that much closer to legitimately needing new skis.  Probably skins too.