The Palisades App offers to track a skier or snowboarder all day long as we ride chairlifts and ski various trails. At the end of the day a record is saved of everything you have done so you can boast to your friends, and return another day to work harder in an effort to break you previous highest record. I suppose this is something many people appreciate. It occurred to me today that the app does not include the number of moguls a person maneuvers around in a day. I cannot even take a wild guess as to the number of moguls I have skied in one day, let along the number I have traversed in the last week. The mountain is filled with moguls of every size, shape, and snow surface. Maybe someone can work on creating an app to count moguls we have bounced over.
Today was an absolutely beautiful day. Bright sunshine blasting out of a clear blue sky with temperatures telling me it was spring. As of 3pm this afternoon, the temperature at the base of Alpine Meadows was recorded as 45 degrees and 47 degrees at the top of the Summit Lift.
As you might imagine these warm temperatures and clear sunny skies create spring-like conditions. There were definitely some very firm conditions this morning. Chunky frozen snow covered some of the moguls, especially those that had been covered by wet snowmaking a couple of nights ago. The groomed areas, Dance Floor, Rock Garden, and the strip up Alpine Bowl skied very nicely. Of course, the groomed area off TLC was just fine as well.
The real stories this week come from trails that cannot be groomed. These trails all have moguls of various sizes that are growing daily. The lack of snow covering trails at this point in time makes it difficult, if not impossible, to groom many runs for fear of just digging up rocks and underbrush. Thus, our thighs and backs are getting pounded on a daily basis. The warm weather and sunshine softened mogul fields in Wolverine Bowl below Idiot’s Delight, and in the Alpine Bowl Area, Tower 19, and Sunspot were skiing as if it was spring. Some spots felt as if we were skiing in cream cheese. Other areas where the sun softened the surface were just lovely. A number of people I spoke with today indicated they were having a wonderful day. Trails that were shaded varied from firm to just a little more firm than chalky. Trails under and around the top of Alpine Bowl Chair were quite nice as the snow is holding up well. Werner’s Schuss, Charity, and even Banana Chute are holding the snow well, as are D7 and D8 on the upper mountain. The conditions on these shaded slopes are more chalky than icy.
I rode the chair with a long time local who traveled over the hill from Palisades, after making a few turns on the other side. He indicated that the skiing on Palisades side was pretty good today adding that he was enjoying the Alpine side as well.
The best part of skiing on the mountain this day was the lack of people. Uncrowded slopes make for a less anxious ski day. When you do not have to look over your shoulder every time start a turn, the ski day becomes a much more relaxing experience. Today was one of those days.
Andy
don’t think there was much schussing going on Werners Schuss today