The morning air was colder than I predicted it would be when I dressed for skiing this morning. I was slightly underdressed for the rather cold wind that was blowing more strongly than I expected. Above my head it was gray and rather uninviting. We took Roundhouse at the opening because the base is closer than the base of Summit Chair. I guess we were lazy, and expectations were on the low side. This is especially true after the beautiful day everyone enjoyed yesterday.
At the top of Roundhouse our group stopped in their tracks and stared at a very cold and gray looking Lake Tahoe. A couple of them pulled out cameras to photo the scene. I could not help taking a photo of the group rather than squeezing through for a shot of Tahoe. The scene just seemed funny to me.
On our first few runs we toured various groomed trails off Roundhouse and Summit Chairs finding them pleasant enough. A little firm in places, but generally decent corduroy. It was not long before I tip-toed away from the corduroy trying Tower 19, D7, and Palisades. Tower 19 and Palisades skied well. The snow was still soft and moguls were reasonably small. There were slick, icy spots in the troughs between moguls, but I was able to avoid them. On the other hand, I found D7 to contain larger moguls and more icy areas creating noise and unpleasantness. The groomed area of Wolverine skied well.
I did find short stretches of untracked powder here and there that made me smile. These were good for a few turns with softness under foot. I also found the lower section of High Yellow Gully to be friendly enough. Reasonable size moguls that were topped with softness followed by firmness in there troughs.
It was a morning for testing slopes to determine if the base was rough and icy or soft enough for relaxed skiing. After a few runs off Summit we headed over to Sherwood. Once again our expectations were on the low side. Wind was still blowing somewhat strongly and the color gray persisted overhead for much of the morning. I was pleasantly surprised to find the main run at Sherwood almost devoid of ice. The surface was just turning into corn. I do not think South Face or Sherwood Face would have been soft, but they may have been excellent later in the day.
A light shower of sleet fell close to the 11am hour, but it stopped soon after and sunshine filled the sky. I headed off the mountain around noon after making a solo run through Gentian Gully. The snow was winter pack for most of the run with some firm ice near the base. As usual, it made me happy to have the slope peaceful and to myself.
I do believe we may receive a few inches of snow tomorrow and a little more tomorrow night.
Enjoy your day,
Andy