I Like It!

Yes, we are out of sync here. Andy and I traded a day, as it just worked for our schedules. In this report…ski conditions, snow next week and a survey on new stickers…

The skiing and riding was once again quite nice today, especially since we are still chugging along with a minimal snowpack for likely the next 5 or 6 days. There is not much new to add about current conditions. Apparently it is Groundhog Week! At least things are not getting all that much worse.

I spun just a few laps off of Summit this morning and they were good but loud. It was a smidgeon firmer than I care for myself. Also, it’s no mystery that my favored run is Sunspot. Currently it remains ungroomed, and sketchy in the morning hours, probably due to the rocks that have been exposed near the top on the right. Nobody on my Summit chair was surprised when we headed up for the fourth time and I announced I was headed for the peace and quiet of Sherwood.

The Sherwood Run groomer is best compared to chocolate chip ice cream with some small ribbons of fudge. It’s creamy good, but there’s scattered chocolate chips all over the place, as well as some dark mud streaks. Still we did a cursory lap to judge how soft things were. At 10am it was just right.

As usual, I didn’t come to Sherwood to ski the groomed run. I was looking for more adventure. As it turned out, there’s evidently a lot of people reading my positive reports, as Sherwood Face and areas of South Face were all much more popular than usual for a weekday. It’s not like this is secret terrain, people can see you skiing from the lift. I am happy to share.

I convinced a friend to go check out Powerline today. Honestly, I haven’t been there once this season, so I was curious.

It turns out it was pretty well covered and creamy smooth. It’s not much of a pitch, but you can link a few nice arcs. I did like the composition of this photo with the power lines and the windblown contrail. Feel free to comment with your Pluribus reference. There were some signs of snow farming nearby, and I suspect more may be taken soon. The ungroomed Ray’s Rut out of Powerline is “interesting.”

I also did the triumphant return to Chute Zero, which still goes, and it is great. There’s all sorts of fun sneaker lines around Sherwood for the adventurous. I am hoping to maximize my Sherwood fun over the next few days. Otherwise, we took laps on Outer Limits, Mountain View and Bobbys – all of which are good but busy, even for a week day.

The Forecast Is Looking Good For Those With Patience

If you’re looking for a powder day this weekend, you will be disappointed. Expect more spring conditions. The first sign of snow is currently around Sunday night, sort of a dust on crust appetizer. As of today, the ridge slowly moves farther east, allowing stronger storms. Over next week, it could add up to a foot or so. By the second week, we could see as much as 3 to 4 feet of cumulative snowfall. As of now, none of this looks like a huge dump. It looks more like a gradual buildup of smaller storms. This is a good thing. We don’t want a huge dump to fall on ice. That would lead to severe avalanche hazards.

Again, a lot of this snow is out in Fantasyland, so certainty is getting better but no where near 100%….probably more like 40-50%. The GIF below shows snowfall over 24 hour periods over the next two weeks. You can see that currently there is not more than 8-12 inches at a time.

Old Stickers Just About Gone, Time To Order New Ones

Again, the sell out of old stickers has happened way faster than expected. Thank you. We temporarily ran out until I checked my stashes and recounted. We have about 20 of each version left. So today I got on to thinking about what comes next. Over the past ten years, we have had boring white squares (cheap) and metallic die cuts that were flashy (but expensive). My goal for the next round is to land somewhere in-between. Attention getting but also more affordable. Stickers (and word of mouth) are our biggest marketing tool as I won’t give Zuck any more money.

So here’s 4 quick mock ups to vote on in our poll:

Wow, it’s been years since we have done a poll. You do not have to give an email or anything to vote. Each device only gets one vote though, unless you cheat and delete your cookies. Yes, I know about the white dot in the A. These are just quick mock ups!

Voting will be open about one week.

See you out there…most likely to find me at Sherwood.