Mixed Conditions Today

We are expecting snow to fall late this afternoon and overnight. Perhaps as much as a foot may fall continuing into tomorrow morning. Thus far, we have not had very much dropping form the sky other than showers of snow that have not amounted to much. It has done no more than make the street look wet along Hwy. 89.

I skied for a couple of hours mid-morning completing an around the world tour of the mountain. To be honest, I was not very excited with the conditions. They were not terrible, but they were not great. I felt the groomed areas were generally better than slopes apart from machine raked trails. However, I did find some softer conditions at Sherwood, and some remaining winter pack on shaded north facing slopes. Winds and visibility were not the best atop Summit Chair. Snow was blowing around that included ice pellets finding there way onto my face as I was existing the lift. Winds were whipping snow into the air making for a pretty picture from down the hill looking up, but not so great standing amid them.

Winds and clouds inching over the mountain atop Alpine Bowl

It was a strange day while I was on the hill. One minute it appeared as if the sky was going to turn very gray and nasty, and the next minute rays of sunshine lit up parts of the mountain.

A little blue on the ridge above Wolverine Bowl, but clouds were building.

Groomed runs such as Outer Limits and Mountain View, accessed from the top of Lakeview Chair, offered a combination of very firm, hard to hold an edge snow, to acceptable corduroy. I found Riley’s Run offering winter corduroy, and parts of the main Sherwood Run to be a combination of softening spring snow mixed with patches of ice waiting to send my skis shooting off in a direction I was not heading. I did spot some people skiing South Face, but I was unable to see if they were enjoying the slope, or just glad arrive at the bottom in one piece. Gentian Gully was not really the best choice today, but the snow was generally hard pack winter snow, with the exception of pretty good size moguls at the upper area, and frozen ruts at the lowest run out portion of the trail.

I made turns on the groomed areas of Sunspot, Alpine Bowl, Terry’s Return, Red Ridge, and in Wolverine as well as Werner’s Schuss. I found them to be acceptable, but not exciting. The darker the sky turned, the less visibility available, and the better reason to stay on groomed areas rather than pick a path through mogul fields with there peaks and valleys that all look flat in poor light.

Let’s hope for a nice refresh of the surface areas overnight.

Enjoy your day,
Andy