Yesterday, I was at the dentist having my teeth cleaned. Their office is in Reno. The office location makes it less attractive to ski because of the limited time available before having to hop in the car, speeding off to have someone stick their fingers in your mouth.
I thought of skiing. In fact, I actually went up to my locker before the area opened to retrieve a ski boot. I guess I missed the high winds that were howling yesterday, so the day I picked seemed to have worked out pretty well. I was hoping to have a new pair of skis mounted, but I never made it to the shop to drop them off. Instead, I left them in my car parked outside overnight.
Today was pretty enjoyable as far as I am concerned. Sunshine, but not too hot, low level winds on most of the mountain, and superb grooming. When I say superb grooming, I mean grooming that leaves no ridges between each pass of a grooming machine, and nothing but a smooth corduroy finish the width of each pass. This allows a person to make wide sweeping turns in Alpine Bowl, and other trails, without having each turn interrupted by bumps created when a ridge of snow is left between the passes. The grooming surface was relatively firm, but not a sheet of ice. Holding an edge while making quick, short turns, or long sweeping turns was not a problem.
A smooth corduroy surface is perfect for higher speed turns, but the difficulty required to make those turns is somewhat minimal. Turning on a smooth surface takes less energy, and thus a skier does not obtain as much exercise during a day of skiing on this type of snow verses’ a firm field of moguls.
Summit was on windhold until early afternoon. I missed riding Summit, but I found a few off-piste locations that allowed me to venture beyond the groomed areas. I took off on my own after losing my pack of friends in search of slopes to write about today. Up until 1pm this afternoon I had not found any slopes that were turning into spring snow. They were either very firm rutted slopes that held skier tracks left over from the past snow storms, or good sized mogul fields that were very firm, or somewhat firm with shaved off sides. The shaved off sides were made of slick ice that has been hiding under softer snow received during the previous storm.
These slopes, most of which, receive good sun exposure were not really pleasant. I would recommend avoiding them if you do not like a very rough ride. If the daytime temperatures increase just a few degrees, and winds die down, spring conditions may bring joy back to these slopes.
On the other hand, I did locate slopes that do not receive much direct sun this time of year. These slopes offered moguls as well. They are of varying sizes depending on the number of people who have skied them the past few days. Winter snow exists on these trails. The surface is not always soft and lovely, but it is not so hard that you lose your teeth. I enjoyed the areas under Alpine Bowl Chair, and the lower portion of High Yellow Face, as well as the lower portion of High Yellow Gully. Rolls and Knolls and Banana Chute were not perfect, but they were not a frozen tundra.
Sympathy Face offered some decent turns, but you need to look ahead to find the right spot to make your turn. This will avoid sliding out on the back side of a slick mogul. Another spot that was pretty good for more winter-like snow was Expert Shortcut. On this run you really need to look for the right place to jump into the trail to avoid the uneven tilted ice rink syndrome that waits to send one careening down a slope.
Most of the mountain was open, as far as named trails are concerned, but I think a good number of them should likely be avoided to skip the slide for life that can happen under these snow conditions. I was hoping to ski the High Traverse over to Sherwood today, but I do not think the Sun Bowl area softened enough to make it worthwhile. Perhaps tomorrow will be my first trip of the season over High T.
Enjoy your day,
Andy
We did a run up ABC in the morning and it was windy, but far less windy than yesterday. Several of us skipped the hike up to the Summit lift, instead taking a long traverse through the sastrugi over to Sunspot. That wind dried corduroy is fun stuff, plus a got a free facial dermabrasion.
After completing the Farthest Corners achievement we came back to Alpine Meadows and found Summit open. That required a few rounds of testing. Sunspot was not as nice in the morning, after being scraped somewhat. But Wolverine Bowl was absolutely fantastic. The D Chutes probably lost as much snow as they gained, so dreams of smooth buff remained unfound.
Today was a good day. Instead of just trying to do as many laps as possible. I took a moment to look around at the beautiful mountain we all love. From the top of Lakeview and the view to Sherwood, ABC and coming down Roundhouse just the sheer beauty that still takes my breath away. Yes we would all love more powder days but for now I will take what we have and be grateful for every moment on that hill. We are a lucky bunch.