Getting in shape on 14 inches of new snow in Little Belts

Gordon Whirry deals with his errant ski that took a solo trip down a Showdown run

Gorgeous, unbroken snow at the Trail 747 starting point

The Porphyry Peak backcountry

This shows how deep the new snowfall was on the groomed snowmobile trail

Last weekend's Little Belts snowstorm dumped about 14 inches of powder in the Kings Hill area.
Our Wayne's Wednesday Walks group (three of us) tackled the deep snow, doing the Trail 747 loop that climbs from the pass to the top of the ski hill, back around Porphyry Peak and then back to the pass via the O'Brien Creek Trail.
It's about a 4.5 miles run, but we made it longer when one of us set a ski down at the top of the Golden Goose ski run at Showdown and it took off, with us in pursuit.
It traveled about 200 feet down hill before settling in the power.  Wayne Phillips' sharp eyes picked out the tips of the ski that had veered off the run into the forest, where he had been skiing the edge between the run and the trees.
What luck!
Wayne was the only of the three of us wearing leashes on our skis, and we got a scolding for being so careless.
Let that be a lesson!
This was my second time down this quick loop, and originally I had opposed it.  But, the snow was so exceptionally good on the back side of Porphyry that it kind of made up for the boredom of repetition.  I don't mind this loop when the road at the end of the established trail is not groomed.  It is a major snowmobile route.  We often shoot down this more quickly than I like when it is groomed.  It was groomed this day, sort of ruining the backcountry experience.
Now that we've done several ski trips repetitively and have gotten in shape, it's time to move on to the more challenging trips.
Bring them on!