Soap Box Comp: Another day in Paradise

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The day began with a ride up silver king lift to access the white water back country.

Our group of three was happy to be above the inversion layer and enjoy the mid winter spring like conditions, knowing there was still the possibility for powder snow on north aspects.  We Ascended for 20 minutes and were rewarded with the view of five mile basin. Climbing further up the ridge we decided to skin through five mile to save on time with the destination to ski north Qua. Reaching the ridge below half dome we contoured east across a debris field in Katatal basin where we saw the aftermath of a large avalanche that released from the north face of Ymir peak.  Just a reminder of the potential hazards when ski touring.  We began hiking up the ridge of Qua until we came across an appealing entry point.  From here we ripped our skins off with the anticpation of our descent. The ski was a mixture of boiler plate, chalky snow and the occassional sheltered pocket where the snow was still preserved. The terrain varried from mellow slopes to steep pitches providing a long and enjoyable ski down.  The motivation of apres beers awaiting at white water turned our skis into summit 800's. The wolverine prints and the slide destruction was also a nice distraction on the skin out.