Day 60 happy Groundhog Day

This may come as a surprise to those living outside of Canada or the USA but Groundhog Day isn't just the name of a movie it is a genuine event in which grondhogs are dragged out of their holes (or where ever they live) and if they see their shadow winter is going to last for at least another 6 weeks. Wiaton Willie was pulled out of his slumbers today and the little brute couldn't see his shadow so we are due an early spring although starting temps on the deck of -26 seemed to argue against this.

It was a blue bird day as the arctic high persisted and although afternoon temps did rise to almost -10 it was a pretty cold day with the snow well dried out after three days of arctic conditions. Forecast is for a steady warm up. It seems to me that this year we haven't really had many days of average temps and conditions. We have either had awesome powder, rain and elephant snot or brutally cold conditions giving boiler plate. You expect all of these conditions in BC in January but usually there are a few days of normal weather in between each extreme, this year things have just lurched from one extreme to another with nothing in between.

We went to the Old side and after a warm up down Bear and Sun up hit out towards Steep and Deep on the grounds that the traverse was very had work in the grippy snow so maybe it wouldn't be too tracked. Good idea as a couple of loops through Steep and Deep and one through Gorby ( the shimmy to avoid the cliff as mellow as I can remember) proved. Cedar ridge and King fir were also in pretty good shape with soft deep snow available as long as you were prepared to stay tight on the trees.

The runs back were always through Kangaroo (4 times some soft but mostly icey bumps and best way down onto the cat track now from skiers left) and then Boom/Bear chutes which similarly still had soft. Lunch.

After lunch we went to the New side and just looped -
Decline - Rather more skied over than I expected.
Cougar Glades - Really nice deep snow all the way down, hear that yesterday a guy was pulled out with both his legs bent the wrong way round a tree.
Secret Chutes/Spinal Tap - probably the best snow on the New side with the stuff that had falled into the stream bed in Spinal tap particularly deep and nice to fall line ski.
Stag Leap - nicest of the front runs with more soft and lightly tracked snow than any of the others.
Sky Dive - Final rip of the day in pretty ok soft snow. Bad news was that the leg I injured on Friday just gave out as I landed a jump (it has been geting a bit more problematic as the snow has hardened) I the ensuing wipe out I mangage to traumatise exactly the same part of my right calf as I did on Friday. Managed to ski down but it is now about twice the size it should be and painful - lets hope for an overnight recovery.

No snow in the forecast but a warming trend, perhaps it really will get like Groundhog day.