well I made it up and down and everything is still in working order! and boy am I pumped!
Now we need to work our way back through the fairways to the trail down out of the "high country"
So I cut a detour that looked promising...

It was promising alright, promised to ruin my good high!
But after coming down what I just did, this was a piece of cake!
One short sidehill and a drop off a bit of a cornice
and were back on our tracks out!

The sidehill on the downward slope worked just as I had planned....
But the drop proved to be a bit more than it looked from above and I ended up hitting pretty much nose down.
The hard snow on the north slope didn't give any and I was bucked right off on impact.
The sled I think was so used to the recent, long, fast, run straight down that it took off as quick as it could...
Smack into the Al-Qaeda trees.
The bumper deflected off the trunk but the terrorist tree took out the ski on the way by.
when I picked myself up and shook it off the poor sled looked a bit crow toed.

Even though I bent a shock, broomed my trailing arm, mangled my trailing arm mount, "U"d my steering arm, and twisted a ski, I felt very fortunate to be able to yank the ski back around, and drove her out. But the damage was significant and repairs were started right away.
I have company coming to ride this weekend and good weather that must not be wasted!

Conquered the mountain to die in the valley!

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body,
but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming,