Day 28 big freeze up 1 weather forecasters 0

Yes, the weather forecasters said that today would be the end of the freeze up and temps would warm up a bit. They were wrong, it was -18 on the way to the hill and -17 on the way back. Around mid day it got up to -14 at the base and all day it was a few degrees colder up the hill so all in all the big freeze up continued. All day the cloud came and went so light was bit challenging and of course with no new snow things remained hard, bumpy, tracked up all over the hill.

I haven't mentioned the base for a few days which is currently standing at 147 cms - as I have said before except in the very general sense this has little to do with the actual ski conditions but by this time of year I would usually hope for one metre more which would make things all a bit easier on the hill. There is some snow in the forecast but given the forecasters track record at the moment I am not exactly holding my breath.

With the weather this cold we stuck to our policy of three sessions with a hot choccy break and a late lunch break, it's the only way we can ski a full day in these temps.

Session 1 - We went to the Old Side and just like yesterday warmed up with runs down Bear in the bumps to warm us up. After a couple of runs we dropped new lift line in Cedar which was hard and bumpy and then worked our way back through lower Kangaroo which just like yesterday was soft deep snow but twiggy. The rest of the time was spent in Cedar Ridge, Boomerang, Boom Ridge and similar places which were very varied but mostly hard and bumpy with some vegetation.

Session 2 - We went back to the Old Side and tried some of the places we hadn't been yet. Sunny Side shoulder, Cedar Ridge Right, Linda's run, King Fir etc. All great skiing but just like everywhere else it was tough hard snow and ice with some technical skiing. It was nice to get back into some of these places and know that they were at least skiable albeit with care.

Session 3 - The looping of the Old Side took quite some time so we had a very late lunch and Lynda headed for home. I went out to the New Side and hit Decline which was bumpy in the top and good free riding all the way down to the bottom. The Reverse Traverse out to the big three (please don't call them the fingers) was still very sketchy with ice and some big drops to keep you on your toes, suits me as it keeps the crowds away. On a whim I tried Siberia Ridge and just like before found it wind affected in the top, a bit technical in choke and really good soft terrain related free riding in the lower section. So it was 4 o'clock and time for Skydive which was a mix of icy bumps, soft freeriding and technical twigs.

So in summary it remains cold with hard bumpy technical skiing being the order of the day but still with some soft snow stashes. We must hope for some of the promised new snow.