The overnight figures gave us 14 cms of new snow and a base rising to 397 cms which is getting tantalisingly close to the 4 metre party but not quite - lets see what this week brings. On the way to the hill it was -3 and with mix of sun and cloud. There was a kind of cloud base at mid mountain and some kind of temperature inversion, but not much of one. By the end of the day the snow had softened in the direct sunlight but started to set up again as the sun went down. For the rest of the hill the snow stayed in ok shape but got a little heavier lower down. In summary the new snow got skied in and stayed ok with a few sun affected exceptions. It was +3 as we drove away from the hill.
We went to the New Side and had a good White Pass loop through the Gun Bowl and back under the lift in the new snow which was mostly untracked and gave face shots all the way down. We then looped Currie via Tom's run and again found soft new snow all untracked. Next time up, Polar Peak was opened so it was two Grand Papa Bears and a Barely Legal back to Polar Peak base which were all great skiing in viz that came and went and some nice wind sift as well as the new snow that had come down. We then hit out to Mamma Bear which just as soft and deep before taking a run to base,
We ran to base through Stag Leap which was full of soft tracked snow all the way through. The next Currie loop was a Papa Bear off Polar Peak which was still soft bumps and improving viz and then a straight rip down Skydive which was bumpy in the top but soft in the mid section and only scratchy in places low down.
Last loop before lunch was a couple of Polar Peaks with Grand Papa Bear and the Spirit Bear where the entrance seems to be a bit easier this year. I dropped to base through Decline/Window Chutes which skied ok in the top, deep through the trees and a bit scratchy on the ski out. We had lunch.
After Lunch I headed back up the New Side and found Currie Head Wall open. I passed on this as there seemed to be some very good free riders up there taking some amazing lines over the cliffs. I know my limitations and I know that I can ski the Wimp Chutes and Up Right off the head wall and everything else is to extreme for me - maybe I'll test myself to my personal limits tomorrow.
We did several loops off Polar in Grand Papa and Barely Legal before hitting Mama Bear and then looking for a route down. We elected to take Corner Pocket which was ok in the top but a bit icy from half way down but the face underneath was pretty nice lightly tracked snow. next time up was another couple of Polar Loops through Grand Papa and Spirit Bear ending in a drop via Secret Chutes and Spinal Tap. The snow in the chutes and ST was surprisingly good with pockets of untracked and quite deep powder, this face is always a good bet a couple of days after a big storm.
We found ourselves with time on our hands for the final White Pass loop so we hiked into Mitchy chutes and found loads of soft. It was then a case of a loop from White Pass top via the third Knot Chute which was also soft and deep and Surprise trees which were pretty crappy. The snow had been sun affected and was reforming as crust which was not a lot of fun but we just had to suck it up.
Last lap was Skydive which like before was big soft bumps in the top then ok tracked snow most of the way down with a few scratchy turns in the final section. This was good end to an ok day. Sundays are my favourite days in the Griz with the crowds gone and all the locals drinking beer and exchanging stories of the weekend. More snow in the long term outlook so fingers crossed.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
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