Not So Pretty

After lighting a candle in the locker room atop a scrumptious muffin homemade for a friend’s birthday, we slipped into our ski boots and donned our ski clothing in hopes of making a few turns on whatever lifts were open.

There were flakes of snow being whipped into a frenzy by high winds causing most lifts to be placed on wind hold, or completely shut down for the day. At the opening hour this morning Subway, Big Carpet, Meadow, Kangaroo, and Treeline Cirque were scheduled for operation. They all opened around 9 am with extremely high winds swirling around in what felt like every direction. Temperatures were in the upper 30’s, so it did not feel very cold to me, but it was not pleasant. TLC was basically the only lift worth riding for someone wanting a reasonably long intermediate run. Of course, everyone else had the same idea making the line lengthy.

It was a day to make sure the bar was down when riding on the chair. We rode to the top of TLC, where winds attempted to send us flying off the firm surface. We may have landed at Sunnyside. Not many skiers were venturing off the softer surface of the return road that leads back to the front side. I, dumb as I often am, attempted to ski through the Sherwood Forest down to the lower portion of the return road. One turn convinced me to abandon the idea. The surface had a firm topping that gave way easily. This is a condition known as breakable crust. In most cases, it should be avoided at all costs. It is very difficult to complete smooth good looking turns in breakable crust.

East Creek and the main Weasel Runs were okay, but still somewhat firm. Perhaps as the day worn on the snow might have softened, but we really did not stick around that long. After completing, an Around the World tour (riding all open lifts at least once), most of the group returned to the warmth of the lodge.

A couple of us took an extra TLC tour before stopping at the Chalet for a beer and pretzel. Oh! I forgot to mention the Kangaroo ride. Holding on with both hands as the winds tried to strip me off the chair, we arrived at the top of the short lift. It turns out that the skiers left side of Kangaroo had been saved for ski team practice leaving a rather thin strip of firmly groomed snow for the public to share on the skiers right.

Those of us that ventured out today can say we braved the conditions and skied the GNAR, even if we were not on the hill all that long.

It has been an interesting day with the wind and wet snow showers that have fallen. This afternoon I have even see blue poking through a mostly dark cloudy sky, but it disappeared quickly. Today was not the best day of ski days, but I have seen worse.

Enjoy your day,
Andy