Day Zero

At least I guess it's day zero. I was going to put -1 but as tomorrow would be day 1 then I would go straight from -1 to +1 without passing through zero which doesn't feel right. I am sure there is some math genius out there who will put me straight.

The weather forecasters got it wrong - and I'm willing to bet the farm that it will not be the last time this season I have to type those words. The forecast had been for the rain turning to snow over night with today being a rain snow mix. In the event it rained all night with temps getting down to +1 and has continued to rain off and on all day with temps of about +3 and a little warmer at the hill.

With not much to do other than an audit of the ski gear to remind ourselves of exactly what we have and what combinations (and they sometimes are combinations) are needed in the various conditions, I met up with Rob and we took his truck up to the hill for a first hand look. The top was socked in but we could see 80% of the way up and there was no snow line visible which was very discouraging.

As we were standing there the ski patrol came off the hill and we chatted to some of our buddies. It was raining pretty well all the way to the top and the whole area was very sketchy with sking possible only on certain tracks within the Old Side. No word from the New Side but it looked as if you would have to download on Timber if you wanted to get down. I guess Whitepass would be ok but the word is that it will be an Old Side only opening this weekend and even that very restricted. Everyone was soaked to the skin and not having very much fun. I did get my view confirmed that there has been a lot of ground work done on the Big Three and Siberia Ridge so when the snow comes we will be able to ski them without having to take a chain saw with us to deal with the alders.

We went up to the newly decorated Griz Bar and met the usual crew up there getting ready to cater to our daily beer needs. The decoration has got rid of some of my favourite old features and pictures but on the whole was not as bad as many of the "improvements" I have seen to my various dinking holes over the years.

The forecast remains for a cooling trend with precip at some stage turning to snow. Given the track record of the forecasters so far I am not holding my breath. The snow report claims a 70 cm base which it may be at the snow plot but as we don't ski on the snow plot I would guess we will be skiing on less than half that base.

So, looking forward to opening day tomorrow but if it rains as looks likely it could be one of the poorest openings on record. Not to worry as things are usually sketchy early season and sliding around on snow (no matter how wet or heavy) before Christmas has to be better than not. My worst day on the hill still beats the crap out of my best day in the office.