Hard Snow

We all had such high hopes this morning, but it did not take long to diminish those hopes to a more realistic reality. Yesterday’s wild storm left a layer of new snow on a wind whipped mountain. Snow fell all morning and into the afternoon. However, at some point later in the day snow showers turned into rain showers. Once the rain stopped falling temperatures dropped to below the freezing mark. This unfortunate event froze slopes over the entire mountain. This created a deadly smooth layer of ice on every trail and slope with the exception of the trails that were groomed overnight. Alpine Bowl, Werner’s Schuss, Charity, and Dance Floor were groomed, as was Weasel Trail.

In many instances groomed slopes were covered with frozen death cookies (some larger than others). Death Cookies are frozen balls of ice that covered the slopes. This can make for a rather rough ride, especially first thing in the morning.

Speaking of early morning events, have you ever experienced riding on a solidly frozen chair lift seats. If not, you are the fortunate one. The first couple of trips up Summit Chair cooled down the rear end as we sat on icy chairs. An unpleasant way to begin a morning, but real skiers and snowboarders just suck-it-up.

The good news was that the sky was clear, winds were nil, and lift lines were really non-existent. TLC did not open early as some components iced over during the night. The ice had to melt or be removed in order for the lift to operate safely. Thus, Roundhouse and Summit were the only lifts turning during most of the morning hours.

This created a situation that clearly overcrowded the trails that had been groomed. Skiers and snowboarders were going to fast, in my opinion, especially with the overcrowding issue. I felt very uncomfortable skiing those trails with the overcrowding, but it was nearly impossible to consider moving off the groomed areas. Any fall on the early morning smooth icy surface might have ended in a very bad injury. If the fall was on a steep slope, it might have been even worse.

At about 11 in the morning the sun began to soften south facing slopes. I skied God’s Knob and Sunspot just after 11am.. The surface had softened and was actually delightful. Others were skiing under Idiot’s Delight on the far side of Wolverine Bowl. Shaded areas were still firm at noon.

I did see Scott Chair spinning while a number of people appeared to be getting ready to open. At some point in the near future we may have a fully operating ski area. The new snow that we received over the weekend makes the mountain look like winter has arrived as many slopes appear to be well covered.

It was very warm this afternoon, and I believe tomorrow is forecast to be even warmer. I was outside during the 2pm hour shoveling steps and plowing my parking space in a T-Shirt.

Enjoy your day,
Andy