11-28-2017, 05:18 AM
Voyager, you have rekindled some fond memories for me. I have skied Mauna Kea several times, all were fun, but mostly it's just a novelty....a quick run down the bowl that takes only a few seconds, or you can traverse back and forth and stretch it into a few minutes. But one time the snow level was at 7000' and there was 4' of the stuff at the top. We were able to ski off the back side and meet up with the road after about a 4-5 mile run. There were 6 of us, and we each took a turn driving the truck back down for pick up, so we all got 5 runs in. It was a spectacular day, but not without a price. That night I had the worst headache of my life, and my face was so sunburned that by mid-week I looked like Elephant Man and a few days later it peeled off basically in one big sheet. Still, it was well worth the experience of an epic day at Mauna Kea.