Day 114 A day of two halves

The two halves we had today were the morning where we got sun and it looked like spring skiing and this afternoon where we had yet another day of full on winter conditions.

Overnight we had 23 cms of fresh snow so a very good powder day looked like it was on the cards. It was -5 as we drove to the hill confirming that the snow was good winter powder. The forecast was for a sun/cloud mix in the morning with snow showers in the afternoon. As it turned out the emphasis in the morning was very much on the sun but at lunch time it clouded over and we had heavy snow all afternoon. As we drove away from the hill tonight it was -1 which brought to an end a full on winters day.

Unsurprisingly the deep overnight powder was just awesome skiing. During the morning the sun started to have some effect on the south facing surfaces and we got worried that the fantastic overnight powder would be destroyed by lunch time. Luckily the lunch/afternoon snow not only stopped the deterioration but actually repaired the skiing surface so that by the end of the day things were pretty well back in the state that they were in the morning with maybe a few more tracks.

We went to the New Side in the knowledge that most areas were still on yellow and found that Currie Bowl was closed but all of the White Pass area was open, out to and including Surprise Trees. Polar Peak Chair was not running but that was due to yet another mechanical failure and nothing to do with current conditions. With nothing else to do we spent the morning looping the Knot Chutes all the way from Tight to Jim and then dropping Surprise Trees. These were all deep powder and great skiing.

Late morning Currie Bowl open with a good old Currie 500 start and I was in the first wave down Currie Powder to the low traverse and then Skydive. Lynda was in the first wave into Decline and when we compared notes we found that we had both had awesome untracked skiing. Next I tried Cougar Glades and had to cut very hard left into tight trees before I found untracked snow but it was worth it all the way down and I even grabbed first tracks into the old logging trail that spat me out in the base of Stag Leap.

With the sun starting to take effect we went to the north facing slopes and had Touque Chutes which as always were super deep and only lightly tracked and Spinal Tap which was much the same. Last run before a late lunch was Cobra Rock which was very deep in the right hand chutes and then Diamond Leg Trees which was tracked but deep.

We came out after lunch in a full on winter snow storm which continued to a greater or lesser extent all afternoon. We went out to Stag Leap where the snow was building on top of what was already there and had a great powder rip. After White Rabbit had been so good yesterday I went back and although there were a few more tracks the snow line on my jacket by the time I emerged was half way up my chest.

I decided to try the Brain and although there were a few tracks in there the huge number of lines to the right of the creek bed meant that I had untracked skiing most of the way down in awesome deep powder. We just had time for a quick loop of Tight Knot which was as good as the first run of the day and Surprise Trees where I skied untracked lines that I know I had already skied earlier in the day.

Last run was Skydive with just 4 of us today but it skied beautifully with soft bumps in the top and then powder all the way down. A great way to finish a great day and indeed a great winters weekend skiing. As Sunday is my drinking day we had beers in the bar with everyone pumped at such a good weekends skiing this late in the season. Looking forward to tomorrow.