The crowd was light this morning. Lines were reasonable, although I did not get to Sherwood to check out the lift lines on the side of the mountain. There was an Easter egg hunt and the annual treasure hunt to find the golden egg. I did not spend much time focusing on either of these events; thus, I found no Easter eggs or the Golden Egg, but plenty of other people participated in the events. I did have a good time listening to Jive Machine, from Santa Cruz, playing original progressive funk and rock on the deck yesterday afternoon.
I tried not to overdress this morning, but I failed. I was too hot, even before the clock struck noon. This morning we skied Sunspot, Alpine Bowl, Terry’s Return, Wolverine, and most of the other groomed runs available. I thought Sunspot was delightful but already softening on my first run. The groomed surface was softer than I hoped for at 9:15. Wolverine, with its slightly different sun exposure, did meet my morning expectations, as did the south side of Alpine Bowl. I thought God’s Knob, Red Ridge, Yellow Trail, and Ladies Slalom delivered precious corn surfaces during the morning hours.
The High Traverse, High Beaver, and Estelle closed at 11. I did not make it to either of these areas today, but I heard they were exceptional earlier in the morning. There were a number of awesome skiers on the mountain today. They were taking on huge moguls that are still growing taller, especially on The Face, Expert Shortcut, and Scott Chute today. It was enlightening to watch them twist and turn with speed as they took on each slope.
West Palisades, also filled with moguls, offered enjoyable corn snow to those that skied it in the eleventh hour. I skied D7 just a little earlier and found it still somewhat firm. Another half hour and it would have been in prime condition. Scott Chair opened just after noon this morning. I took a few quick runs on Bobby’s and Ridge. Each of these had been groomed overnight. Their surface was made of smooth, groomed corn when we made runs. There is really nothing much better unless you are off-piste on smooth corn slopes. I ran out of time, and was not able to try Gentian Gully or Promised Land, but it looked exciting from the parking lot.
I hope you had a wonderful holiday.
Andy
I know mark usually does an annual breakdown of the hints for the egg hunt; would love to hear what he has for this year
Posted on an Instagram story this year… in case they disappear:
1. X almost marked the spot
2. 550 feet?
3. CTC
4. Still laying there waiting
5. 4 holes were in
I am very happy I discovered your blog site. Thank you for your intelligent commentary. We had but two tickets to use up north from the southern end and wanted to use them wisely. So I read daily hoping to snag some great corn skiing. Well Good Friday was chosen and later I heard that night time temps reached 24 degrees? Well, had I known I would have chosen another day but not Saturday. Rock hard, some groomers and “Death Wish” off piste as someone else called it was not what I was hoping for. Dang it can be difficult to get it right. That winter storm really hurt the corn crop but was plenty fun anyway. I learned from you guys and will be checking in next year.
Thanks again, RIP Pope.