Heavy and Wet

Overnight, the winds were howling and snow was falling. This morning a heavy new layer of snow covered decks, roofs, and roadways. I could hear Gazex units being fired off very early in the morning in attempts to move snow downhill or determine if the pack was stable. Alpine Meadows Road was closed for awhile this morning while they shot the steep slopes above the road. We were warned that this was going to take place around 7:30. A few people left home early and spend an unusual amount of time wandering around the locker room happy that they had arrived before the road was closed.

Moving snow from my front steps, and shoveling a small berm in from of the garage, tipped me off to the fact that the snow was heavy and wet. It appeared that I received about six inches of snow at my house, and the ski area app seemed to indicated that eight to ten inches of snow had fallen overnight at the resort. Heavy wet snow that was whipped around by strong winds gusting as high as 120 miles per hour helped bury some moguls and cover some smaller obstacles. We did not sink very far into the surface, although we left tracks behind us when turning in untouched snow.

The opening of various lifts was somewhat slow this morning, but Roundhouse, TLC, and Sherwood opened on time or soon thereafter. Scott and Lakeview opened later, while Summit accepted patrons not too long after 9. We did not really stand in any line all day, however we were not waiting at Scott for the opening of that lift where a good size line formed.

I never ventured up to the top of Summit because the top was engulfed in a cloud, and I just did not need another day of skiing in flat light. Although the sky was gray, visibility was not all that bad on the rest of the mountain.

We headed to Sherwood after a couple of runs on Roundhouse and never really left. There were plenty of places in the trees, and on less steep slopes, to enjoy the new snow. I will say that the Sherwood Face, and other exposed areas where the winds were howling overnight, were not the best. The tops of icy moguls reached above the level of the new snow. Troughs were filled in, but icy tops remained exposed. We found open areas within treed slopes to enjoy making fresh tracks, but keeping an eye open for wind drifts was mandated.

After stopping for lunch we headed to Lakeview where most areas had not been groomed. This left us with a good smattering of fresh snow to help us continue etching tracks in relatively unused snow. Scott Meadow called us a number of times in hopes that we would trash it, and we did.

Today was not the day that powder blows up into a skiers face, but it sure felt good to be skiing on a clean surface. The featured image was provided to me by my friend Rhonda.

Enjoy your day,
Andy