Once again it was a day of low expectations that turned out much better once our skis hit the snow. Upon arrival this morning, a good portion of the mountain was shrouded in clouds. We sat in our locker room for a good while before rallying to boot up and head for the slopes. Upon exiting the breezeway, everyone decided to head for Roundhouse instead of Summit. Summit was hidden from view, and no one in our group wanted to ski down Alpine Bowl or Sunspot blind. Winds were mild this morning, and temperatures were around freezing. It felt a little chilly to me as we rode up Roundhouse at 9am. Overnight approximately an inch, or perhaps two, fell from the sky. We dealt with off-and-on showers during the morning, but they did not amount to anything measurable.
My first runs were dedicated to groomed areas where I found just enough new snow to call the run enjoyable. If you hit the right spots, your skis turned on a soft surface. Off-piste was a little more difficult at the beginning of the day due to flat lighting and hidden ice. However, we left the groomed trails as often as possible, sneaking through trees and over smooth areas where moguls did not exist in our efforts to leave tracks in thin, soft snow. The issue was that rough ice existed on most trails that had been previously baked by the warm sun in prior days. Tops of small moguls and frozen ski tracks waited to jar us from toe to head. Later in the day, many slopes softened, but not all of them.
God’s Knob was a hunting event in the morning as most of the run was frozen solid bumps or deep frozen ski tracks. However, the successful hunter was able to turn in the thin new snow often found between two moguls.
After playing around on the Roundhouse Trails, we headed over to Sherwood, where we found nice, soft snow between trees located in the area between Maid Marion and Nottingham’s Notch.
I love skiing through these tightly spaced trees. Power Line blessed us with a soft surface, as did Scott Meadow. The word from others was the Sherwood Face was worth doing more than once as it had softened, but Chute Zero was not worth doing at all. Lower down, Chute Zero became pleasant as the slope leveled out. Bobby’s Run off Scott Chair was very nice as it had been groomed and was soft and quiet. However, Mountain View of Lakeview was miserable because it was frozen solid and snow was very smooth. Another friend mentioned that Tiegel Chutes were worth doing multiple times today. Before leaving for the day at about noon, I felt it was a requirement to ride Summit at least once. The top was still shrouded in low clouds with very flat lighting. I almost fell over upon stopping before heading to Wolverine Bowl. Once in Wolverine Bowl, the snow was just fine. A little lumpy from previous skiers turns, but soft enough to make it enjoyable even in the lower lighting situation.
There were no lift lines today, but tomorrow will most likely be more crowded as the sun is supposed to shine.
Snow showers have been dropping from the sky off and on all afternoon.
Enjoy your day,
Andy