Last nights storm blew itself out and the arctic high moved back in so that by the morning we had clear blue skies and a temp of -14 as we drove to the hill. The good news was that before it left us the storm deposited 15 cms of fresh snow to go on top of the 16 that had fallen in the previous 24 hours. During the day the temps warmed up so that by late morning the snow surface out on Concussion was getting slightly sun affected. Around lunch time it clouded over and temps rose steadily so that by the time we drove back into town this evening it was -3.
We had no real new snow to speak of but the hill (or at least the parts of it we skied) were pretty well fully repaired and we were skiing soft untracked powder in most places but still with the odd scrape to an icy base from time to time. This latest snow was much lighter but it sat well on yesterday's heavier base and the skiing was very good indeed.
We went to the New Side hoping for a Polar Peak opening but were disappointed. There had been a natural 2.5 avi in the Polar Chutes and this had given everyone pause for thought. I understand the plan is to give us the Circus tomorrow or the next day but the chutes may be a bit more problematic. Yesterday quite a few morons were ducking the closed signs to cross Concussion high up presumably because they were too lazy or unfit to work their way out legally like the rest of us. Those idiots should be made to look at where the avi debris ended up out of Polar which was right across the area that they had been poaching, ski patrol put these avi signs in certain places for a reason - on the other hand if you are that stupid you probably would learn from that either.
We decided to spend our day looping out on the Low Polar Sink traverse which if you hit it right could be held out to the Skydive Traverse without any climbing. The runs were -
Stag Leap - great untracked powder all the way down and better on the skiers left. The trees at the top have been thinned so that it is now a very mellow drop from the top of Skydive into the run.
Cougar Glades - only one track in front of us which soon disappeared and we had untracked lines in the left trees. The left exit was also untracked and apart from slough management issues was great skiing.
The Brain - great deep powder skiing all the way down with very few tracks so it was easy to find untracked lines to the right of the creek bed.
Concussion - getting a bit tracked up but good deep snow.
Touque Chutes/Spinal Tap - after a few tracks in the top it was untracked skiing in the trees. Spinal Tap was very deep and after ducking the fallen tree low down you could hold the creek bed all the way to the cat track.
Decline/Window Chutes - Decline was great skiing down to the Megasauraus with untracked snow on each side. The drop into the Window Chutes was very deep and untracked and the chute itself had soft chopped up snow in it but was very scratchy in the final choke.
After lunch we dropped the Tight Knot which was full of soft snow taking and edge then Anaconda. Lynda hit 0.5 which was soft all the way down and I tried 2 which was very technical with the soft snow having slid out of the trees although lower down it was soft. The trees to the right of Bootleg (known to us as Don't Lose Me Trees) skied well after the initial cat debris and was untracked down to the drop into Gilmar Trail. Back to loops -
Nameless Trees - These are the trees to the skiers right of Skydive which everyone tells me have no name. They were a little scratchy in places but overall soft and deep and untracked in the bits we were skiing.
Easter Bowl - We had a great drop after side stepping up hugging the right side trees and then going into the trees for the final part down to Freeway. Great soft skiing with many untracked areas.
We just had time for a quick White Pass loop which was Tight Knot (just as good as before) and Surprise Trees. I guess because everything else was open Surprise was mostly untouched with some very soft deep snow. Final rip was of course Skydive which we hit at warp speed to complete a great day's skiing.
I don't usually report what I haven't skied but trusted friends tell me that The Saddles and Lone Fir were open with a lot of climbing and were awesome. I don't doubt this but with so much good skiing to be had with no climbing I couldn't bring myself to make the effort. From the same source (thanks Steve and Brad) I heard that Snake Ride was pretty awesome but scratchy underneath. Steep and Deep was apparently sheet ice although things improved as you got over to Redtree.
So a great day but with no snow forecast overnight. The Friday/Saturday storm is now being talked up but personally I have learned to believe it when I see it.
Thursday, February 15, 2018
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