Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Day 117 a lazy day with a bit of peak performance

Today had the makings of a lazy dogday of the season. No new snow over night, a mid week day, about two dozen cars in the parking lot, forecast highs of +12 and blue bird conditions, just the kind of day for a lazy cruise round the hill but it the event it didn't quite work out that way.

It was a bluebird day as we arrived but clear overnight skies gave a starting temp of -3. Things warmed up during the day so that at the base mid day it must have been +10 and more in the direct sunlight with the mercury in the shade at Polar Peak base about +4. It started bluebird but became overcast in the middle of the day before clearing again late afternoon. The result was a melt to start with things setting up early afternoon before softening once again.

We went to mooch around the Old Side and found ourselves pretty much on our own. When we first dropped in to Cedar bowl from the top in untracked powder it seemed so strange that we had to check that we hadn't accidentally crashed a sign line (we hadn't) because that is what it felt like. Good soft powder skiing to right along side the class 4 avi in Cedar. The debris must have been a good 15 ft above my head and the death cookies were about the size of my truck. Pity the poachers who were in Cedar last week couldn't have seen this although poachers are so stupid it probably wouldn't have done any good.

After that we just poked around the Old Side in all the usual places, some more than once - Cedar Ridge (nice and soft powder on top and bit chunky low down), Boom Ridge (ok broken surface due to skier traffic), Linda's Run (difficult to tell the death cookies from the soft snow balls so a bit challenging), Boom Bowl ( ok softening snow all morning) Sunny Side Shoulder (hard at first but getting better as the sun got to it) and of course Kangaroo which was it's ugly icey self only softening late morning.

Around 11:30 while riding the Bear Chair we noticed what looked like people on Polar Peak and went to the New Side to investigate. We struck lucky and they opened the Polar Peak chair in bluebird conditions just as we arrived. The skiing surface wasn't great as it was powder in places and crust in others but overall good untracked skiing. We looped Papa Bear, Grandpa Bear and Barely Legal twice before taking Spirit Bear to go down to lunch (7 chutes in all). The way off the hill was through High Saddle which was still pretty mellow but a bit harder work than yesterday and the snow underneath was the best on the hill being only lightly tracked deep powder.

In the afternoon I was back up Polar Peak (Lynda having gone to the gym) for a couple of drops of Papa Bear which were now starting to set up in the overcast conditions and get rather chunky. The run down was through Corner Pocket which had developed bumps but still no tires showing. If anything the snow under CP was even better tha that under High Saddle - actually quite a lot of it is the same pitch.

I then returned to Polar Peak having three more loops - Grandpa Bear, Barely Legal and Papa Bear. This brought the daily total for Polar Peak to 12 and the year to date total 119. As I caught the last (3:30) chair up I tried something I hadn't done before. I ripped down the chute then hit Currie Powder before exiting Currie Bowl via Trespass trail back the White Pass. I wanted to see how the time worked out and I am pleased to say I had plenty in hand for a last run down Skydive which was nicely soft in the top and heavy ugly slush in the last pitch.

So despite planning a lazy day we actully put in the most loops ever on Polar Peak in a single day - ah well I guess that's how it goes.

Tomorrow is Hotdog day so the report may be late or missing altogether. No worries as I can make the report now.

In celebration of the 1980's movie Hotdog (a dreadful mix of skiing and soft porn) we celebrate once a year by dressing up in retro gear, going to the hill and getting unbelievably drunk, pulling some stupid stunts on the only day of the year we aren't wearing helmets, go to the Griz Bar and get even more drunk and then go to the Pub and get more drunk still while trying to watch the awful movie. There you have it, just in case I don't make it please cut and paste this as tomorrows report. Of course the Weather Channel is calling for 15 cms of fresh and that could change everything.

2 comments:

  1. Love the sound of excessive laps of Polar Peak - and of Hotdog day. Please post photos of cool-dude outfits!

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  2. You know me, never waste time taking picture when I could be skiing. Check out all the other (thousand or so) sites with pics of Hotdog day. Stay tuned for more reports of awesome spring skiing.

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