Jeff Campbell

Last winter, I foolishly let a ski of mine be blown off a ridge on Cardiff Pass. Despite my best endzone dive, it slipped through my fingers. Needless to say, I finally found some time to go searching. I found a game trail that led me to the drainage where I suspected it might be. I started a Grid Search. The brush was really thick, but I soon reached the Limestone bands of the Hellgate area.

The trajectory of my ski probably made a field goal through these towers. But since it hadn't turned up lower in the drainage, I headed up. The scrambling itself wasn't very technical, but the rock was VERY loose and unpredictable. After a few un-nerving minutes, I topped out on the bands, but had no sign of my ski, nor the desire to downclimb the choss-pile.

So I blitzed the remainder of the way up to the ridge and was greeted with these views. I guess it's ok I didn't find my ski.....especially with a sunset like this.