I set up a tour to Brokentop when the forecast called for sun.  The limit of 8 people was reached within hours of posting the tour.  Then, the day before the tour, I got a call that conditions up to Good View (header photo) were very icy in the morning and very slushy in the afternoon.  I sent out this report to the participants, and everyone dropped out except three of us; Mark, John B., and myself.  Fortunately for us, conditions were very good.  Higher temperatures overnight had left the crust skiable, with only an inch or two giving way under our skis.

The route I wanted to set was to ski to Good View, then up to Crater Ditch, staying as much as we could in the wilderness and out of sight and sound of snowmobiles.  It turned out quite nicely, and we had great views all the way past Good View, with little elevation drop.  We skied up Crater Ditch until we saw our objective; the last ridge coming off Brokentop to the east.  There was a rather small, gentle open slope near the base of the ridge that we headed for.  Mark and I made a couple of runs, as John stayed to the side and protected his sore knee.  We were all a bit tired, so started down about 12:40.  Using Sue's three cutoffs to chart a direct route from Big Meadow to the Common Corridor, we made it back to the Nordic Center before 3:00.  Total was 10.5 miles and 5 1/2 hours of skiing.  Such an effort required that we sit at the Nordic Center deck in the sun and enjoy a beverage.