Day 26 lost for words

And people who know me know that I am not often lost for words but after a day like today that is pretty well how I feel - after all what can you say about a day like today.

Last night we were promised 15 cms of snow overnight but in the event that turned into nearer 25 by the morning. It was snowing when we woke up and snowed all day sometimes quite hard. I don't have the figure but I imaging that we had at least  another 15 cms during the day. The snow is much lighter now but they are calling for at least another 12 cms overnight tonight and more during the day tomorrow. All in all we got totally hosed with snow and it's still coming, the 2 meter snow base could be broken any day now.

On the way to the hill temps were -5 and during the day I noticed they were about -7 at the White Pass load. On the way home the valley had warmed to -3 and it looks like we may enjoy a day or two of these warmer temps before we drop back in the freezer later this week. Conditions of course were overcast and viz poor at the very top of the hill but you didn't have to drop much before the viz improved to just about ok.

The crowds turned up as anticipated and we got to the hill before 8:30 to guarantee a space in parking lot 2. More importantly I wanted to avoid the gong show as a bunch of drivers in two wheel drive cars on all weather tires tried to get up Ski Hill Road and either crashed off the road or polished the surface with wheel spin to sheet ice. I understand today was remarkably incident free considering it was the busiest day of the year so far.

On the hill we went to the New Side and found a longish line up at Timber. That set the pattern for the morning although the crowds were there the line ups were never more than a few minutes and if you were prepared to ride solo they were even shorter. Polar Peak remained closed but other than that the whole of the New Side was open (excluding the Saddles) and it was super deep snow with many untracked lines that repaired as fast as you skied them. The Old Side apparently was only really open on the triangle from Cedar Center to Arrow but what was there was pretty good.

By lunch time the crowds had faded (vacation skiers don't have 7 hour legs) and we just got to enjoy and afternoon which was only a little busier than a usual Saturday. As usual on days like this I skied through without any kind of a break and with a nice symmetry both started and finished with spectacular rips down Skydive - totally awesome.

It's not really possible to describe how good the skiing was and there is no point in giving separate accounts of the runs as they were all totally awesome. Two runs deserve special mention - Lone Fir and Touque Chutes/Spinal Tap. Lone Fir was hardly tracked in the chute and the fan underneath was some of the best and deepest skiing I have ever had. Simlarly Touque Chutes were great in the trees and Spinal Tap had filled in the creek bed super deep and was real hero snow.

In summary today was up there as one of the best and the only place the crowds impacted on the skiing was on the Reverse Traverse where there were always bodies in the way and some folk struggling with the bumpy traverse. Tomorrow should be just as good and the overnight 12 cms should go a long way to repairing the hill. Special mention has to go to Patrol for getting Currie bowl open so quickly and keeping it open all day - great work. Bring on tomorrow.