Rain, Mauna Kea, Skiing, and Altitude Sickness

[1voyager1]

Road is not open yet, probably won't be before tomorrow, and possibly not 'til Sunday.
Winds look to be best on Sunday.

I spent most of yesterday pulling gear out, cleaning it up and tuning edges and bases.
Had a moment of panic when I couldn't find my ski vises, and found that my skin glue had dried out.
All came out well when I finally located the vises after a frantic search.
Then, in a rare moment of well planed forethought, I had re-glued the skins before putting them away after their last use.
Bibs and longjohns were a bit musty, so I washed them.
Boots and liners needed a heavy dusting of anti fungal talc.
They smell much better now.

@ GoingFeral

I have to agree with HoTPE and Rob.
Your plan sounds a bit "all balls, no brains" to me.
Plus, what is your plan to get back to the top, or off the mountain?
Are you thinking of making the climb back to the top after a long descent?
My assumption from your hint as to your gear is that your using heavy AT gear, or maybe you've been pretty much of a resort skier.
Not my idea of a good time at that altitude without O2.

I have driven the upper road, not much inviting terrain with all the broken rocks, boulders and A'a along the north face.
There are undoubtedly routes that can make it doable.
Do you know where they're at?

If I remember right, winds were mostly out of the N for most of the snow fall period.
The snow may be scoured pretty thin in some areas.
I'd want a very good base under the fresh snow.
That's not likely to happen here, especially not this early in the season.

My plan is much more conservative, several short drops of several hundred feet with frequent stops to catch my breath in an area that looks as if it has few large rocks or boulders and was probably sheltered from the winds to allow the snow to accumulate.
Of course, my assessment has been from, topos, photos and web cams.
Eyeballing it may change everything.

I do not see long drops with many linked turns as being compatible with the altitude and my present conditioning.
Unless you've been in training getting ready for this, I doubt if your up to it either, even if you may have as much as 50 years on me.

But, in the end do what you gotta do, reap the rewards, and be ready to pay the price if you screw up.

Edit;
One of my cardinal rules:
Climb from the car and ski back to it.
Never, ski from the car, then climb back to it, except in rare circumstances.