Rain and wind pounded my house during many of the dark hours last night. At some point early in the morning hours it turned to snow. Large white wet flakes floated to the ground slowly covering my steps with a thin slushy coating. The forecast seem to indicate a clearing trend later in the morning so I decided to wait awhile.
According to friends the first tracks they made in the thin wet snow were actually quite pleasant. However, once the virgin slopes were marked up with ski and board tracks turning became more difficult. Snow gathered in wet heavy clumps which often are not the most enjoyable. I watched it turn from snow to rain at along the Truckee River until late morning when it seemed to be letting up.
At noon when I left the locker room less moisture was falling from the sky. The upper mountain remained stuck in a cloud, but other areas brighten with some sun even peaking through the gray sky. I took a mountain tour finding variable conditions, but nothing unfriendly. I even found some untracked to cut up on my own. Off piste under Sherwood Chair was spring-like, Hidden Knolls ski well, Gentian was a mixture of partially tracked snow and slushy skier packed. It took more effort to make turns. The good news is that there was not ice on the mountain, at least none that I found. When I arrived at the locker room skiers were coming in looking like they just got out of the shower. When I left the ski area we were looking reasonably dry. A warm week is ahead.
Enjoy your day,
Andy
There was more than a thin coat. On lap one, the coverage was closer to 6 inches at the top of Roundhouse, with closer to 8 inches within the first hour. That said, it was wet snow, so only first tracks were fun. But we made a lot of first tracks before we felt the snow getting heavier as the snow turned back to rain. As we returned to the locker around 11am, there were moguls on the steeper pitches of Weasel, thanks to that instal-mogul snow.
