More about bindings later. Another day just like the last few. Temps on the way to the hill were about -11 at the base and -4 on top. As the day wore on base temps rose to low plus figs before droppng away to -3 by tonight whilst upper mountain temps remained fairly constant. It remained overcast for most of the day with a few sun shafts breaking through. No new snow so the base is now down to 267 cms.
Unsurprisingly the conditions gave some very variable skiing surfaces. In fact this was yet another really tough day's skiing on the hill made worse by my cold which I now hope has reached it's peak and is in retreat. It is hard to describe just how much your energy levels reduce as a result of something as simple as a cold.
We went to The Old Side and after a couple of runs down the Sunny Side shoulder which was nice packed in bumps taking an edge we headed out towards the boundary fence. We had a 50:50 choice of Fish Bowl and Steep and Deep. As luck would have it we went for Steep and deep and it proved to be good luck. On the exit to Gorby bowl Lynda broke her heel binding and lost a ski. Had we gone to Fish bowl she would have faced a long walk out, as it was, getting out of lower Gorby through the avi debris on one ski was not exactly a walk in the park. Luckily two patrollers were close by to get a snow mobile to collect her from the cat track and get her back to base.
What is going on with ski bindings ? I have broken three heel bindings in the last year (Rossi) which you might expect with my weight and type of skiing but Lynda has now broken two (Sally) which given her soft style just shouldn't happen. It's about time binding manufacturers got their collective asses in gear and started making kit which is fit for purpose for the all mountain free riding user.
Getting Lynda sorted and on the snow mobile to the base to get her reserve skis took up some time. For the rest of the morning it was just loops off Boomerang, Linda's, Cedar Ridge (several ways) up until lunch. Just like yesterday the skiing varied from easy packed in powder where there had been skier traffic to chunky and tough where there hadn't. Also like yesterday the groomers had trashed much of the good skiing, particularly Boom Ridge. Four times through Kangaroo were tougher and icier than yesterday and as a result even more fun in my opinion.
In the afternoon we went to the New Side and took a look at Polar Peak. It was open but with my low energy levels I decided not to try it as it was going to be super tough skiing if the chutes below were anything to go by. We looped -
Concussion - Much more refrozen crud than yesterday when things had obviously been sun affected. Nice challenging skiing.
Anaconda Glades - Rather disappointing as the snow in the chutes was chunky rather than soft but well on the right side of ok.
Bootleg Glades - Really nice packed in skiing taking an edge.
1-2-3s - Ok skiing in all the chutes and surprisingly smooth.
Easter Bowl - Probably the best skiing on the hill with the surface staying soft on top and soft bumps lower down.
The runs back through Gun Bowl off White Pass ( the last time just a straight run back to fill in time) were much more refrozen crud than of late and again I suspect the sun effect from yesterday was responsible, no better than ok.
The final rip down Skydive was just like yesterday, great on top but a bit technical in the bottom section. Still no new snow in the immediate outlook but a precip cycle starting later this week.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Day 67 the devil makes work for idle hands
This was one of my granny's funny sayings, she had lots of them but eventually she went barmy and we had to have her locked up, but that's another story. This is so true as far as the groomers in Fernie go. When we have snow dumping it is all the groomers can do to keep some of the lower mountain clear. When we get a few days without snow as we have now then, with nothing to keep them busy, the groomers start grooming all sorts of places that have no business being groomed.
Today places in question were Boom Ridge, Puff, Freeway, to name but three. As a result of the grooming great untracked skiing was smashed into a flat ugly carpet. My view is well known in that skiing groomers isn't skiing at all as it lacks challenge and the essential interaction with the natural surfaces and features of the mountain. I can only repeat what I have said before, perhaps we should change the tag line of the hill to "Legendary Grooming".
The crowds had gone and on the way to the hill temps were -12. Once again there was a low fog/cloud base with sun above and a temperature inversion so that up high it was about -4. No new snow so the base had drifted down to 269 cms. Just like yesterday as the cloud burned off the temps at the base rose until they were -4 at the close and the upper mountain temps cooled to about -6.
The main results of these changing conditions was amazing angel dust just above the clouds with huge sun dogs and ice crystal rainbows, some of the must beautiful I have see. Also with Polar Peak clear many decided to make it the day for their one photo op up there choosing to come down the groomed face which I understand was icey and rocky rather that use the chutes which were fine but a bit bumped up and hard and just waiting fot someone to take a slide over the cliffs.
We went to the Old Side and after a nice warm up on the Sunny Side shoulder on hard packed tracked snow headed out to the near side of the Fish bowl which still had untracked powder in places. After that we just played around off Boomerang with several runs through Cedar Ridge, King Fir, Linda's, Boomerang, Buck Shot, Bear chutes etc. The conditions were very varied. Where there had hardly been any skier traffic the snow was soft and good powder, where there had been a bit more it was chopped up chunky and very tough and where there had been more still it was beaten in and skiing quite nicely taking an edge in bumps.
Four trips through Kangaroo showed it was back to it's icey tough self and as I said yesterday is an excellent practice ground for anyone wanting to ski the Polar Chutes. After lunch we went to the New Side.
The bluebird conditions proved too great a temptation for us to ignore Polar Peak so we went up for the truely spectacular view. We guessed the "easy" way down would be rocky and ugly ice (a buddy tells me it was) so we opted for the chutes which are now steep hard bumps where if you fall you are not going to stop any time soon. As we got there patrol were just expanding the entrance so we were able to drop in on a fresh snow berm and avoid all the rocks at the top. The run down was fine hard bump skiing but well worth taking some care over.
After that there didn't seem much point on going up again just to say we had done it so we looped the Currie side in Concussion, Easter bowl, Secret Chutes and Cougar Glades, all were ok with the best skiing on the North facing slopes like Easter.
At the end of the day we tracked into the Knot chutes and got a nasty surprise as these were hard refrozen crud and very tough skiing, not worth the effort although from the lift they looked quite nice. Surprise trees were better where they were shaded and so it was to Skydive for the final rip. Skydive is skiing ok on the upper sections but still pretty sketchy down below. I was feeling it a bit as I started a cold last night and my energy levels were way down but I managed to rip down in half way decent style for the end of the day.
The stable air mass seems to be with us for a while so probably more of the same tomorrow.
Today places in question were Boom Ridge, Puff, Freeway, to name but three. As a result of the grooming great untracked skiing was smashed into a flat ugly carpet. My view is well known in that skiing groomers isn't skiing at all as it lacks challenge and the essential interaction with the natural surfaces and features of the mountain. I can only repeat what I have said before, perhaps we should change the tag line of the hill to "Legendary Grooming".
The crowds had gone and on the way to the hill temps were -12. Once again there was a low fog/cloud base with sun above and a temperature inversion so that up high it was about -4. No new snow so the base had drifted down to 269 cms. Just like yesterday as the cloud burned off the temps at the base rose until they were -4 at the close and the upper mountain temps cooled to about -6.
The main results of these changing conditions was amazing angel dust just above the clouds with huge sun dogs and ice crystal rainbows, some of the must beautiful I have see. Also with Polar Peak clear many decided to make it the day for their one photo op up there choosing to come down the groomed face which I understand was icey and rocky rather that use the chutes which were fine but a bit bumped up and hard and just waiting fot someone to take a slide over the cliffs.
We went to the Old Side and after a nice warm up on the Sunny Side shoulder on hard packed tracked snow headed out to the near side of the Fish bowl which still had untracked powder in places. After that we just played around off Boomerang with several runs through Cedar Ridge, King Fir, Linda's, Boomerang, Buck Shot, Bear chutes etc. The conditions were very varied. Where there had hardly been any skier traffic the snow was soft and good powder, where there had been a bit more it was chopped up chunky and very tough and where there had been more still it was beaten in and skiing quite nicely taking an edge in bumps.
Four trips through Kangaroo showed it was back to it's icey tough self and as I said yesterday is an excellent practice ground for anyone wanting to ski the Polar Chutes. After lunch we went to the New Side.
The bluebird conditions proved too great a temptation for us to ignore Polar Peak so we went up for the truely spectacular view. We guessed the "easy" way down would be rocky and ugly ice (a buddy tells me it was) so we opted for the chutes which are now steep hard bumps where if you fall you are not going to stop any time soon. As we got there patrol were just expanding the entrance so we were able to drop in on a fresh snow berm and avoid all the rocks at the top. The run down was fine hard bump skiing but well worth taking some care over.
After that there didn't seem much point on going up again just to say we had done it so we looped the Currie side in Concussion, Easter bowl, Secret Chutes and Cougar Glades, all were ok with the best skiing on the North facing slopes like Easter.
At the end of the day we tracked into the Knot chutes and got a nasty surprise as these were hard refrozen crud and very tough skiing, not worth the effort although from the lift they looked quite nice. Surprise trees were better where they were shaded and so it was to Skydive for the final rip. Skydive is skiing ok on the upper sections but still pretty sketchy down below. I was feeling it a bit as I started a cold last night and my energy levels were way down but I managed to rip down in half way decent style for the end of the day.
The stable air mass seems to be with us for a while so probably more of the same tomorrow.
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