Variable Conditions

Hello skiers,
Today the sun was shining lifting spirits that have been a little low given the number of snowy and rainy days we have had this season. It just felt good to have warmth on my back as I stood in line. Yesterday was also a wonderful sunny day.

Sometimes it is important to just stop and take in the scenery. Palisades and the Keyhole areas are just packed with snow.

My partner in crime, Mark, wanted me to let all of our readers know that conditions will be changing. The sun is going to be hiding again this weekend. Clouds are going to fill the sky above us over the weekend.
Conditions in the early morning have been firm. Many areas have been closed do to the firm (icy) conditions. This is especially true of any steeper slopes. This morning it was 10 am before south facing slopes began to soften (slowly) and closer to 11, or later, when they soften enough to say the skiing off-piste was pleasant. Thus, the warning for the weekend. If is cold overnight and cloudy during the day, the slopes may remain in very firm condition, longer, if not all day.

Art’s Knob frozen solid

Back to today’s conditions which were groomed runs only in the early morning off Roundhouse. Dance Floor was filled with cookies and not all that great. Werner’s was groomed smoother and okay. I enjoyed Yellow which was groomed well. Off-piste was not to be skied early. As the morning moved along we skied the lower portion of God’s Knob that had slowly softened. Summit finally open around 11 with Alpine Bowl the only option. One narrow groomed run in the middle of Alpine Bowl was being over used by too many skiers. Sunspot, Tower 19, and Solar Flare were just soft enough on the first couple of runs before they turned into good spring snow. Not long after these slopes softened Wolverine Bowl opened. Relatively soft snow under Idiot’s Delight followed by some turns on lower Three Sisters proved to be the best choices. I tiptoed over to Terry’s Return just after lunch and found untracked areas that were just soft enough to be considered less than ice. It fun to ski as I was the only one venturing into the area.

One narrow groomed run in Alpine Bowl

Shortly after noon I headed over to Sherwood where I found some nicely softened spring snow. Under the chair, the main Sherwood groomed run, and South Face were all fun spring skiing. The snow was slightly deeper and more wet than slopes on the Summit side of the mountain, but I did not find any ice as these slopes all receive good sun. I will say that none of the spring snow I skied today would be considered good corn snow.

Scott might have been okay after 1, but I did not really test it out.

Tomorrow the forecast is for warmer temperatures than today. Slopes may soften sooner and perhaps more of them will soften into good spring snow. Saturday it will be in the high 30’s with cloudy skies.

Enjoy your day,

Andy