Two More Days of Spring, Then ??

It was another great day of spring skiing, but our days are numbered. I arrived this morning with a spring in my step after my second COVID vaccination yesterday. Fears of potentially missing a day were erased.

The ski conditions were slightly cooler this morning, meaning we got three runs out of Sunspot instead of two before it turned to mush. Everything else was just about the same as the rest of the week. Randy did take a hike up to Beaver Bowl this morning and verified that it is still skiing well.

Again, I tended to prefer the lower mountain runs off of Roundhouse as they offered a bit more firmness and less mush. The exception there was Howard’s Hollow 1 and 2 off of Terry’s Return, where there was perfect corduroy for carving.

There’s a couple of pieces of news that remind us the the end is nigh.

• Scott chair is done for the season after today. As I was taking my first lap there and noting new rocks and shrubs appearing, I thought to myself “This won’t make it until the weekend.” On the next ride up, we noted Brian and other patrollers clearing out the patrol shack. Yeah, it’s really done.

• Melanie announced that Treats is done as of Sunday the 25th.

As for the rest of the mountain…we keep hearing that it will be Summit only after the 25th. The signals are pretty unclear as to whether there are midweek operations for next week or not. Based on the super low attendance this week, my guess is we might just get a bonus weekend after the 25th. It’s probably worth pointing out that the dirt patches and rocks next to the runouts are growing rapidly…and that growth gets exponential as the ground warms.

The weekend is going to get weird though. The models are all in agreement that we can expect rain and snow from Sunday into Monday. The GFS also wants to bring in some rainshowers Saturday afternoon. All of the models are also seeing a lot of wind with the event, as it’s more of a classic winter low. Snow levels should remain below base level Sunday and into Monday.

The winds could get high enough Sunday that we could see Summit on windhold and possibly Roundhouse too. It’s worth keeping your eyes on the forecast. The strange thing is, we have not had a full storm closure day yet this season…hopefully Sunday won’t be the first! There are no guarantees to what happens after the 25th.