Wet and Wild

Why Ski in the Rain?

Lying in bed with one eye open in the middle of the night I listened to high winds racing down the valley until they crashed into my house. This was followed, or accompanied, by rain slamming against the windows. Prior to the rain, snow had fallen, perhaps mounting to a total of 6 inches or less at my house. I believe the mountain reported 8 inches of snow overnight. The snow that fell was wet and slushy. Did I mention the snow was wet and slushy?

Waking up with both eyes opening sometime between 5am and 6am the sound of rain had not stopped. My first thought was that I have skied almost everyday since Alpine opened for the season. I scratched my head wondering if there really was any sane reason for me to get out of a warm bed to ski in the rain and wind. I would certainly end up soaking wet and cold. Of course, I did not want to be called silly names for not showing up first thing in the morning to meet my insane friends that would certainly be in the locker room dressing for the 9am opening.

I knew I would only be able to ski for a short time as I had an afternoon doctors appointment, but a couple of morning hours was possible. Just as I was getting my head together to prepare for the wet conditions, my doctor called and pleaded with me to change my afternoon appointment to a morning appointment. Perhaps that was a blessing in disguise.
The long and the short of all of this nonsense was that I ended up waiting until late morning to head to the slope.

What I found was that the rain had become a drizzle that fizzled shortly after my arrival. My goggles still attracted drops of water, and the sky was still gray, but I did not get as wet as I thought I might when I was lying in bed earlier in the morning. Visibility was reasonable, but the cloudy sky made it difficult to obtain clear photos. I wanted to photo some of the snow slides that ski patrol had triggered prior to opening. Sympathy Face and Peter’s Peril were obvious places good sized slides had occurred. It was obvious to me that the avalanche conditions were very hazardous.

Hey Andy, how as the skiing? My buddy, Bobble, who was exiting the locker room when I arrived, looked like he just climbed out of a swimming pool fully clothed. Bobble indicated that there had been a long line on TLC first thing in the morning because not much else was open. He seemed to have enjoyed the early groomed runs and some off-piste, but he indicated that the off-piste was getting slushy and sticky. He indicated that the ungroomed slopes were okay as they got more skied out. I headed out with all that in mind.

Roundhouse and Yellow chairs were open and TLC was operating to the mid-station. A side note: Looking at the Lift Operating Schedule this morning made me chuckle. I noted Subway and Meadows were on Anticipated Weather Hold. I cannot remember these lifts being on weather hold, but it was supposed to be extremely windy today, so perhaps they were possible closures. I found no line on Roundhouse, at least not in the singles line. I think I took at least 8 or 9 runs on Roundhouse in a relatively short time period as I just skied up and got on the lift.

I found Dance Floor and Charity somewhat choppy as the lovely soft and smooth grooming job available to early skiers had been skied out, and the slushy snow pushed around and piled up haphazardly. However, it skied well, although somewhat bumpy. I did not find it sticky. Off-piste areas such as the area around Sympathy Face, skied well. This is because it had been well skied out by the time I made my turns.

I was pleasantly surprised skiing from Rock Garden to Upper Weasel One Road passing the base of Alpine Bowl Chair. This short, lower angle slope, is often untouched. Today was no different. I skied through my favorite trees making slow purposeful turns in the soft, wet, fresh untracked snow. This was not powder skiing, but I like skiing away from the speeding crowd. Other areas that were not heavily skied were not as inviting. I tried Rolls and Knolls and Gunners Knob where I found really wet, slushy, sticky snow that is the kind that waits to tweak a skiers knees. God’s Knob skied reasonably well as did Ladies Slalom. I guess that Chicken Leg and Yellow might have skied well earlier in the day.

People I spoke riding the chair all seemed to be having fun. No one was bitching about the weather. They were not happy about it, but they were all enjoying themselves.

I forgot to mention the real reason I decided to head to the hill late this morning. It was my parking reservation. I did not cancel it before 9 assuming I was going to use it first thing in the morning. After 9am I had no choice. Show up and park, or pay the fine. The lot, by the way, was not near full when I arrived as I found plenty of spaces near the spot I normally park when reservations are not required.

The other day I mentioned that oil drips from lift towers on wet days. Today did not seem to be unusual for this phenomenon to occur. Below is a photo of the brown snow that I believe is oil that has dropped from the lift towers.

To prove that every day has a silver lining, no matter the conditions, I shot a photo of a rainbow that painted the sky as I was skiing toward Sandy’s Corner. Now you know why I ski in the rain.

Now we wait for tomorrow.

Enjoy your day,
Andy