Day 53 happy Australia Day

Yup to day was Aussie day and the Aussies were celebrating in the traditional fashion by going to a pub and getting amazingly drunk - not sure exactly how this differs from the other 364 days of the year, but there you go.

Having put my visitors on the bus to the airport I was at the hill early. The weathermen had predicted a warm up to +4 with a rain snow mix and for a change the weathermen had got it dead right. It was + 3 when I got to the hill and raining at the base but this quickly turned to snow as I rode the Timber chair to the New side. It looked like it would be an old fashioned New side loop day when the base goes to rain.

On top there had been a surprising amount of new snow which kept coming all day as a mix of grappel and ice needles. The result was some good accumulation in the higher regions offering un tracked skiing and the only draw back was very poor viz and flat light - the worst we have had in White Pass so far this year.

I looped back down Cougar Glades and the Stag Leap which had started to become good untracked powder but rain affected in the lower sections. The final trip down was so wet that it convinced me that White Pass loops had to be my only choice.

The rest of the morning was spent looping the Gun bowl (excellent deep snow but no viz) and Surprise Trees - first four trips into the trees I set fresh tracks just beyond my previous loop so that it was 4x first tracks all along. As the morning moved along a few more tracks appeared so an Anaconda Glades /Bootleg Glades trees seems well worth while despite the rain low down and the snow was starting to get very deep and untracked in all the Glades.

The run off the hill for lunch was the Brain which had filled in a lot from yesterday and as alway provided great untracked tree skiing until only a little above the cat track.

In the afternoon I returned to the New side and looped Anaconda Glades, taking a chute further each time all of which were deep and fresh. When the push back along Trespass trail (the only trail up hill in both directions) got too much I took a short loop in Surprise Trees but always went far enough to get the good stuff out in the boonies.

Last run was the traditional rip down Skydive which had filled in to a massive extent and was by general agreement the most "mellow" anyone had ever known. Last 10% went elephant snot on us but apart from that great.

Back home doing all the housework that you have to do when guests leave. Forcast calling for one more warm day then a cooling trend in flurries, who knows, could be quite good.