Conditions were quite variable today, and there is more of that to come in the next week. Just keep in mind that all of the variation is in temperatures. There’s still no snow in the forecast over the next 10 days.
Things started off promising this morning with warmer temperatures at the base. That was deceiving, because a cold northeast wind was blowing up top, keeping the Summit chair on wind hold for the first hour of the day. Our group stuck to Roundhouse for some super fun high speed arcs on perfect corduroy. A few people did choose to go up ABC and make a short hike or long traverse to Sunspot, D8 and Wolverine. It was hard to go wrong this morning.
We took a few runs on Summit after 10am before deciding it was time to head to Sherwood. I use Upper Weasel 1 as a test run on these sorts of days. If it’s soft, Sherwood is probably soft as well. The corn on Sherwood is getting close to ripe, with just minimal clumping. The Sherwood groomer was ripping, while Sherwood Face and the ridge just skier’s right of the Face offered small soft moguls. I even found some small remaining patches of hot pow on the way back toward the lift.
As I headed back to the frontside, we took a quick lap down Bobby’s and found almost ripe corn and smooth sailing. One more freeze thaw and we should get rid of the last of the clumpiness.
Unfortunately, the temperatures kept rising, exceeding the forecast. At mid-mountain, it was 48° in the afternoon. The base area reached 50°. That led to some major stickiness in some areas of the mountain. The Trail of Tears, and the East and West Runouts became a bit of a chore. Combine that with being over dressed and having goggles with a facemask and it sucked some of the fun out of the afternoon.
Looking ahead, the temperatures will continue to be pretty warm tomorrow. Then we get a cool down with a dry cold front moving through. Thursday and Friday we see warming conditions again. Then another dry cold front for Saturday. All of this is good for corn formation, but it does mean that conditions will be quite variable through the week.
We’re skiing, and it is Day 91 of the season. Many predicted that we would never make it this far. I’ll continue to keep showing up every day. Just some days will be longer than other days. Thanks to the grooming team that are making that magic happen each night!
Kudos to you and Andy in providing the daily updates. Always worth reading.