You never know unless you go! Last night I woke in the middle of the night to the sound of wind driven rain slamming against my bedroom windows. Early this morning I woke and it was too dark to see what was going on outside (I hate the time change). I peeked out the door and verified that it was raining. The forecast last night indicated that it might be raining in the morning or perhaps snowing very wet flakes. I sent Mark a text to let him know he should stay home as it was raining. He did not listen to me Instead he returned a text back that he was going out no matter what the weather might be at 9 O’clock. Just about that time my power went out so I rolled over and fell back asleep. It was not long before I woke again and rolled out of bed, looked out the window, and noticed it was snowing. Dressed in my warmest and most waterproof gear I headed to the locker room. I dilly dallied as long as I could before booting up and heading out with Ann and Mark.
It was snowing lightly. The upper mountain was in a fog, and chairs had a thin layer of very wet snow covering them. A thin, perhaps 3 to 4 inches of new snow, lay waiting on the slopes. There were not many people out this morning. There was not a rush to be first on the lift or to make the very first tracks. Those that did not show up were wrong. Coverage was thin and dense, but easy to ski. There was just deep enough depth to leave tracks behind and offer softness under foot. All the lower runs that had been groomed overnight were joyful. Off-piste, at low angle, was also very good. I stayed away from areas with moguls as visibility was flat and I did not want to be surprised with unseen dips.
We skied Chicken Leg, Yellow, Ladies Slalom, Charity, Red Ridge, Dance Floor and more from the top of Roundhouse before heading up Summit. Visibility at the top of Summit was poor enough to keep us from riding back up, but Sunspot did not disappoint. Scott Meadow was joyous as usual, and Standard Run had just enough snow on it to make it better than it has been lately. We skied until just before noon when the warm weather and lack of continued snow turned the surface into a Scotch Tape. Lower portions of the runs were getting more sticky by the minute. It became a struggle to traverse flat spots. I think I even had to pole may way down Tiegel.
The long and the short of today was that it was definitely worth going out in the wet weather. You never know unless you go!
Enjoy your day,
Andy
Today could only be described as a quintessential alpine meadows day. As the son of a former alpine meadows employee I had always heard of the mythical phenomenon of a powder day at alpine when the parking lots were empty. While today presented a variety of conditions it held true to the ethos of an alpine from yesterday.