Day 7 let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

And boy did it snow. We had 32 cms of fresh in the 24 hours up to this morning (base 140 cms) and during the day it continued to snow hard. I don't have figures on today's accumulation but I wouldn't think it could be less than 15 cms. They are calling for another 10 cms overnight (which judging by the snow falling as were in the hot tub seems a likely figure) and a further 10 cms during the day tomorrow. The season has gone from zero to hero in 48 hours.

As we drove to the hill valley temps were -2 and didn't change much all day. The same could be said for the upper mountain temps which hung around at about -5 without moving much. The result was that the snow that fell pretty well all day remained light and dry powder. It was one of those days when by the afternoon the tracks from the morning were mostly filled in so that we were getting powder right up to last bell.

Of course there were more people but after a small line up at Elk at first bell things were pretty clear for the rest of the day. Lizard was open all the way across to Dancer but we didn't go there tending to stick to the steeper pitches around Boomerang and Cedar which are more fun in the deeper powder. Cedar was open as far as Cruiser and most of the stuff between Boom and Cedar was open if a bit twiggy.

We started by dropping the chutes at the top of Bear down to Alpine Way and then further down in the trees towards the Gully. There was only one track in front of us and as there was plenty of room we all got deep untracked powder all the way down. After that we took many runs in the Cedar/ Boomerang area which in no particular order were -
Boomerang - still a few alders and a crunchy base low down from the old rain crust. Sometimes it was an exit along the Goat Trail and then a drop down Kodiak (now really nice and deep) back to Boom chair. Other times it was a case of holding left onto the face along side Boom Ridge and dropping straight to the chair from there. Snow just got deeper and more powdery as the day went on.
Boom Ridge - hardly touched so great deep powder all the way down. A bit twiggy on the exit but great skiing every time.
Linda's - open for the first time in several days so super deep. The only place all day where I got consistent face shots over the head and had difficulty breathing by the wave of powder in the mouth. Several great runs. Watch out for the fallen tree half way down.
Cedar Ridge - very twiggy but good stuff in short bursts in between the bushes. A crunchy base lower down from the old rain crust.
Alpine Way and below - many drop offs from Alpine Way with various routes down to the trail around Cedar Centre. All great powder skiing and nice undulating terrain allowing for quite a lot of air time.

Rode the Boom Chair up with 1 minute to go to closing and had a final rip down Boomerang where the snow was really starting to pile up. Beers in the Griz and the snow fall observations from the hot tub on our back deck.

I guess tomorrow will be a bit of a zoo with all the weekend worriors turning out having had reports of powder and a promised opening of the New Side - heigh ho, it's just a price we have to pay for having the hill to ourselves midweek on days like today.