A Firm Morning

It was much colder this morning than it has been for the past week or so. Overnight, the thermometer dropped to 17 degrees at Ward Peak. At the opening, it was about 24 degrees, and this afternoon at 3:30, the temperature had only risen to 34 degrees. This compares to a temperature of 45 degrees atop Summit Chair at 3:30 on March 3rd. The colder temperatures created firm conditions this morning, especially off the groomed areas.

The Summit chair was on mechanical hold until 1 pm today. This put a damper on the use of the lovely-looking groomed slopes in Alpine and Wolverine bowls. Sunspot looked equally good from lower down on the mountain.

The Alpine Bowl Chair was put to work at 9:45, but we all know how slow a ride it takes from bottom to top. In addition, I heard there was a 10-minute stoppage at some point during the morning. A couple of friends mentioned sitting on the chair twiddling their thumbs (not easily done with mittens covering a person’s hands). The Alpine Bowl Chair provided access to the Alpine Bowl. If you wanted to hike in the East Wind for access to Sunspot or Wolverine Bowl, no one would have stopped you. The east wind was cool in the morning, but not so cold as to keep us off the hill.

After mastering the groomed slopes off Alpine Bowl Chair and Roundhouse, I decided to wander off the slowly deteriorating corduroy. I will have to ask my psychiatrist at our next meeting why I chose to leave perfectly smooth, groomed slopes for terrible off-piste frozen chunky mogul hillsides, but that is what I did soon after lapping the easier conditions. I swear I am only doing the hard stuff for practice. It is good to practice in difficult conditions just in case one finds oneself on a similar surface in the future. In theory, having accomplished the difficult conditions once will make it easier the second time.

Under the Alpine Bowl Chair and into Howard’s Hollow, very firm moguls with plenty of frozen chunks presented a challenge. I also mastered God’s Knob before it softened. Access to the slope is minimal. Later in the morning, Ladies Slalom was beginning to soften when I bounced down its slope.

Heading up Scott Chair and toward Lakeview was not such a good idea. Skiing in the area is also very firm between Bobby’s and Standard, just under the winter road.

Firm conditions, frozen traverse lines, and bushes proved to be an unreasonable choice. Lakeview had a mechanical stop for about ten minutes when I finally made it to the base of the chair. There were several mechanical issues with the lifts today.

On the way back, I made some turns on Mountain View that were pleasant enough.

It is always worth riding the Scott and Lakeview chairs for the view.

I did hear a rumor that Sherwood may be open this coming weekend, allowing skiers and riders to access terrain available by hiking the High Traverse. The back bowls have not been skied for a while. The slopes should be relatively flat and offer up some good corn snow.

Enjoy your day.

Andy