Day 108 spring has sprung

After yesterday's adventure we decided to have a rather more mellow day today, at least as far as the skiing goes. This didn't stop us having a pretty good deck party after skiing finished today on the locals deck and another party tonight down at the Northern where they were doing their awesome offer of a burger and a beer for 10 bucks.

With all that partying this report is late and it could end up quite short. It was -9 on the deck this morning and it was another bluebird day all day so that temps got up as the day went on. By the end of the day everything south facing had turned to mush and even up in the Polar Chutes we were starting to see some softening for the first time this year.

We went to the Old Side and did four loops along Cedar Ridge starting at the Bear Top and ending at King Fir. All along it was firm north facing skiing on compacted snow. Two of the loops were completed through Spice Trees which still had some soft untracked snow against all odds and all four were through Kangaroo which skied ok on hard icey bumps with some soft on top. We also had one drop through Boom Ridge which was also firm but taking an edge.

We went to the New Side only to find that the Timber Chair was down so we had an early lunch just to kill time. After lunch Timber Chair was running again so we went to the New Side for the afteroon.

Polar Peak was in good shape with a great 360 degree view from the top and as clear as I can ever remember seeing it. We dropped Barely Legal and Pappa Bear which were both firm bumps taking an edge before trying High Saddle (still in good condition particularly the fields below) and Easter Bowl - firm but easy bumps.

Back up Polar and we took Grand Pappa Bear and Mamma Bear which were showing signs of softening on the far (south facing) sides for the first time this season in the spring sunlight. We ran to base through Skydive which was ok bumps in the top and soft snow in the warm conditions from the mid point down.

Next Polar loop was Baby Bear  (getting soft) and Decline (ok skiing as it faces away fom the sun) before a final loop of Spirit Bear which was interesting because where the snow was dark from blasting it was about 10 times softer than where it was unaffected - interesting. The run to base was through Stag Leap which was in good condition on the right where it had remained in the shade but was getting crunchy and setup on the left where it had melted and was now refreezing.

We had time for a couple of speed runs through White Pass at the end of the day to kill time which confirmed that things were beginning to set up. Last run was Skydive which was bumps in the top as before but getting very crunchy and scratchy lower down as the surface set up towards the end of day - we still ripped it in one.

Loads of booze on the deck and at the Northern and some trepidation as to what tomorrow might hold on any even slightly south facing surfaces until they warm up and begin to soften again - real spring skiing in way.