I was not on the hill at 9 am this morning, so I cannot tell you if the surface was firm from a low overnight temperature of 41 degrees or if it was soft and mushy for the first few runs. It appeared that Alpine Bowl was groomed, but Wolverine and the rest of the upper mountain had been left ungroomed. There was a slight breeze at the top of the Summit Chair when I arrived at 10:15. The 26-mile-per-hour breeze felt good as the temperature was already 46 degrees and climbing quickly. Riding up the Summit Chair gave me an idea of the expanding bare areas.
Kangaroo Ridge looks just about cut off from the rest of the world. There was a narrow strip of snow crossing the drainage that allowed a skier to return to Sandy’s Corner and the base of the Summit Chair. If you miss this strip of snow or do not see it from the ridge line, then you have to remove your skis and walk down or hike back to a place where you can cross. I did see someone standing totally confused on the ridge, not knowing where to go, as dirt surrounded her.
The road between the base of Wolverine and Werner’s Schuss requires careful movement, as a couple of large bare spots appeared overnight.
Yellow Trail can still be skied, but a skier needs to keep to the right of the run to avoid finding themselves at a dead end. Ladies’ Slalom is done for the season.
Charity was not terribly bare, but rocks were hiding on the last drop down toward Sandy’s Corner and the intersection with Werner’s Schuss.
Weasel Trail appeared to be well covered, as did the entry to TLC. Alpine’s crew found snow to create a ramp for access to the lift. Two days ago, access was down to the bare minimum. Red Ridge and Dance Floor are still in pretty good condition. I thought Alpine Bowl, Wolverine, and D8 were in reasonable condition, given the warmth we are enduring. Where did I enjoy my time the most?
By the time I was on the mountain, conditions were in full spring mode. Runouts were sticky, but most of the rest of the sloped areas of the mountain were filled with wet spring corn and moguls. I thoroughly enjoy slushy spring moguls because you can maneuver over and around them very slowly. It is easy to control your speed in these conditions. Wolverine was delightful, as the moguls were not too large. Sunspot was also just about perfect when I skied it. However, you really need to keep your eyes open and ski the right side of the run. There are plenty of bare spots to avoid. The south side of Wolverine is peppered with large moguls, but the snow looked okay from the chair (not any large bare spots). The wiggle that existed on the south side of Wolverine is no longer skiable. D8 looked good, but I did not get to it today.
I did ski Pygmy Forest and High Yellow. I really enjoyed the soft moguls in these areas. They were in near-perfect spring condition at about 11:30. The only runs open at the time I skied were Wolverine Bowl, Wolverine Saddle, and Alpine Bowl. Lower Saddle and Keyhole have been open the past couple of days, but they were closed today. The same is true of Beaver and beyond. If we had a deeper base with the same warm conditions, I would be a happy camper.
Ending today’s report is the reserve parking requirement applied to weekends and holidays. The news is simple: no parking reservations are required for this weekend or the rest of the season.
Enjoy your day.
Andy
Edited for content: Kevin posted a link to an article that confirmed what we have been saying about closing dates. Generally we don’t post links.
I have been looking for the snowfall tracker that “the other side” published every year, which included snowfall stats for Alpine in recent years. Love being able to compare snowfall at different points in the season to past seasons. Do you know anything about this and whether it’s completely gone? If it’s gone, is there another site that gives good stats of the season’s snowfall, storm by storm, inch by inch or foot by foot?
I miss that feature too. Patrol does keep monthly totals and I often make light of of some of those details. I do not have permission to post it publicly.