Jacob City / Ophir Canyon

I went out to see how the snow conditions were above Jacob City and the mountain to the South of Ophir.


Trails are mostly accessible, but coming down from the South into Ophir Canyon is still treacherous as there's easily 2' of soft snow covering the trails on the down hill side. I figured gravity was on my side, so I attempted it. By the time I made it out of the snow, I discovered that my left rear tire was about to come off the wheel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...;v=mfkd3Fpb4x8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mp6oqCkEIt8


http://www.xmission.com/~jamesk/5mile/JC4.JPG
http://www.xmission.com/~jamesk/5mile/JC5.JPG
http://www.xmission.com/~jamesk/5mile/JC6.JPG


The sun was brilliant yesterday and after seeing the mass of people and mountain bikes at 5Mile Pass, I was pleasantly surprised to see nobody was out in the Jacob City area.


Once you reach the summit above Jacob City, you can't cross the ridge to the South-end as the far side of that span has a deep layer of snow across it. Considering how narrow that section is, I didn't want to risk finding myself at the bottom of the canyon after sliding off the ridge line.


http://www.xmission.com/~jamesk/5mile/JC1.JPG
http://www.xmission.com/~jamesk/5mile/JC2.JPG
http://www.xmission.com/~jamesk/5mile/JC7.JPG
http://www.xmission.com/~jamesk/5mile/JC8.JPG


Just as I was departing the area, a flood of ambulances and life flight appeared inbound to the 5Mile Pass area. Anybody have any indication on what happened? Mountain bikes + ATV/SxS's are not a good combination and I hope it wasn't fatal.