Day 86 a good throw down day with better to come

Even though they reported no new snow in the last 24 hours we still had what fell after we left the hill yesterday plus some blow in so there was rather more soft new snow than the official figures would have suggested which must have been something of a first for them to under report.

On the way to the hill it was -3 despite all the reports from local weather stations being about -10. It was overcast so that the junior free ski finals had to be held on Big Bang rather than on Polar Peak on account of the fact that the judges would not be able to see anything that was going on. During the day temps rose a little but all the flurries (and there were some quite heavy ones) came down white andit wouldn't surprise me if we didn't have a 5 cm accumulation as a result of those flurries. The base is back above 250 cms which is good news but still at least 50 cms below where we would expect it in a normal year.

The hill was skiing well on a combination of untracked snow from yesterday and blow in from today. We went to the Old Side on the grounds that Cedar High traverse had been closed yesterday for most of the day so fresh tracks were at least possible. The avi debris from the bombing in Cedar should have been proof enough to anyone who doubted the wisdom of closing it yesterday.

We did three loops out to Gorby/Steep and Deep (very soft deep snow on the shoulder and not bad in the right hand chute) Snake Ridge/Lower Gorby (just couldn't resist the untracked soft powder in upper Snake which lasted until the low traverse lines of yesterday cut in) and the ski out in Lower Gorby was ok but with pretty poor light. Steep and Deep/Redtree/Wallys Follies were a great final loop with some untracked and very deep snow on the steeper faces.

All exits were via Kangroo which was icey, bumpy and great fun and the Boomerang/Bear chutes which were all skiing ok. We went to the New Side to test it.

Polar Peak was open but was so socked it that it didn't seem worth it and coming from one of the biggest fans of Polar Peak (me) that means something. We went out to Lone Fir and found that after a bomb hole in the middle it was just the most awesome deep powder skiing all the way through the chute and the fan. We did of course have to cross Easter bowl to hit Spinal Tap which had been skied but was still pretty ok soft, heavy snow.

We did a final run down Skydive before a very late lunch to avoid the crowds (looks like this is the last day of crowds before we go back to normal Fernie mid week skiing from tomorrow) and then took our late break.

In the short afternoon we went to the Brain left and found loads more fresh snow all the way through to the cut out into Decline low down. Just remembered, before that we went out to Triple Trees and found that although there had been lines put down between them there were still some very good untracked lines to be had. In the final section I managed to get myself locked in between a couple of triangulated pieces of deadfall and amused everyone by stacking it as I attempted a major jump in order to exit.

After that we had a go at Cougar Glades which had been reported to us as having been trashed out by side slipping snow boards. We didn't find this but to be fair the lines we were taking in the trees to the left were so tight that a side slipping board couldn't have got through them.

So we came to Skydive and were humbled by a bunch of the kids who had been skiing in the junior free ski blasting past us at the top and jumping helicopters off the bumps that we think are quite tough. After they had gone we had what was for us a pretty hard rip down in one and then headed for the bar.

The forecast is for some snow over night but a maximum full on storm while we are on the hill tomorrow.I have only been out a couple of times in those conditions and always loved them so bring it on.