No new snow today and temps were around -10 on the way to the hill. During the day they must have risen to almost zero at the base but stayed about -5 on top, so much for the inversion the forecasters were promising. It was clear on top with high cloud but the ridge line winds were pretty brutal which prevented the opening of Polar Peak. A few high traverses up into the chutes off the Reverse Traverse showed it was quite hard pack in the Polar Chutes and no great powder so no great loss.
We went to the New Side to hang around and wait for Polar Peak and in the way of things we stayed there all day. In summary the soft windsift that we had seen yesterday had been packed in very firmly so that what had been soft yesterday was hard and only just taking an edge today. Lift line was a tough ski and remained so all day although once you got used to it you could rip it quite hard.
I looped out to Currie Creek and found a bit of blow in but still plenty of hard stuff to contend with. The next loop was further to Cougar Glades on the grounds that the trees would have protected the surface from the wind packing which was true but only to some extent. I cut out into Stag Leap and found the bottom section crunchy but no worse than it has been.
It's getting hard to remember exactly what happened and in what order as days are starting to merge into one so this may not be exactly the right sequence of events -
Lone Fir - I hoped the wind would have sifted in some soft powder, what a mistake. In the chute it was ugly slab which would probably have been ok for the later skiers after we had brokenn it up. The fan which is usually soft powder was hard ugly wind swept crust. We climbed to get this and juice certainly wasn't worth the squeeze in this case.
Decline/Window Chutes - actually the bumps at the top of Skydive/Decline had filled in quite well. The run itself was a little wind affected but in Window Chutes the snow was soft with the crunch line still in there starting at the choke.
Stag Leap - nice in the trees but wind affected in the run and scratchy in the lower section.
Easter bowl - I don't often do it but it was surprisingly good in the trees on the right, the short hike up to the top was well worth it.
Skydive - great as always in top and even the scratchy section at the bottom was starting to respond to the light skier traffic and was heading towards ok.
Secret Chutes/Spinal Tap - the tree protected snow in the chutes was very good. Spinal Tap was heavy but tracked snow with loads of dead fall and a crunch line in the lower section. I can't decide whether I love or hate this pitch but today for the first time I was able to drop into the creek bed and then jump up on to the right shoulder in the lower section in an almost competent fashion - perhaps it's love.
Cougar Glades/Stag Leap - by holding the trees very tight on the left I still managed to get some fresh lines but it was a pretty ballsey call to hold it that close. Stag Leap was still scratchy in the bottom.
Surprise Trees - slabby but ok.
And that brings us to Skydive as the last run which was just like earlier in the day - great bumps in the top, soft ripping skiing in the middle and a bit crunchy lower down.
Today proved tough because everything that was soft blow in yesterday had been packed really hard by the wind except in a few places where the sift was still good. Tomorrow may give us Polar Peak but at best my guess is that will be hard pack with some soft windsift on the lee sides of the rock bands - who knows.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Day 46 harsh conditions but good skiing
On the way to the hill today it was about -7 and slowly warmed at the base so by close it was -3 although it probably stayed around -10 on top. The ridge lines were socked in and the wind was so strong that we got reports that White Pass chair was not loading the public.
When we got up the effects of the wind were apparent with closures due to avi risk (Cedar High Traverse and the Saddles) closures due to wind and cold (Polar Peak) and a whole load of sifted wind which ranged from slabby to the most awesome soft wind grooming.
We skied around the Old Side dropping Cedar Ridge four different ways and finding soft snow every time. Boom ridge was nicely filled in but special mention must go to Boom Guts which was smooth wind grooming and could be ripped in high speed GS turns from top to bottom. Linda's, Bear Chutes and Buckshot all had nice blown in snow although a bit crunchy in the lower sections. King Fir was untracked and had some surprisingly deep windsift in among the trees.
Of course Kangaroo was the star and we dropped it 4 times. The windsift had no effect here and the top section was icey bumps with shrubs and alders waiting to catch you between the stumps and rocks. The lower section after a pretty sketchy drop onto the cat track had improved since the other day and the new snow now meant that the breakable rain crust didn't snap every time you landed on it. This is a really challenging pitch and as all the other routes from Haul Back top to Boom bottom are groomers I can't understand why everyone doesn't take this route.
At lunch we heard that the New Side was fully open (except Polar Peak) so off we went for the afternoon. I was amazed how much sifted in snow there was (it had to be sift as there has not been significant snowfall) and in places it was well over the top of your boots. The afternoon played as -
Lift Line - great soft snow renewed every lap with blow in off the ridge line.
Cougar Glades/Stag Leap - the windsift had filled in particularly on skiers left to give untracked lines. Lower Stag Leap was still scratchy but much improved.
The Brain - I couldn't believe how much new snow was in there although I was cuting the stream bed pretty tight to get new lines. The last few turns were a nighmare on crust and we were glad to cut out at the base of Skydive.
Window Chutes/Decline - Decline had hardly been tracked and the trees at the top of Window chutes were deep and untracked. As before the crunch line started just about at the choke but, hey, if it was easy everyone would be in there - the log drop is still big enough to be fun.
Secret Chutes/Spinal Tap - loads of untracked lines to start with and although there had been some traffic in Spinal Tap the snow was heavy enough to hold up well. The crunch line at the bottom as you tried to exit the creek bed was miles of fun.
At the end of the day I took a quick loop on White Pass under the chair and still found plenty of soft snow. Skydive for the last run is getting almost smooth (well less bumpy) in the top and was just soft rolling terrain down to the last pitch where the crunch began. As no one else turned up for the final rip I took it top to bottom without a break just to add a degree of challenge.
So, the wind (with moisture) and light gave for some pretty tough conditions today whilst the blow in windsift provided some very mellow skiing surfaces, a day of contrasts.
When we got up the effects of the wind were apparent with closures due to avi risk (Cedar High Traverse and the Saddles) closures due to wind and cold (Polar Peak) and a whole load of sifted wind which ranged from slabby to the most awesome soft wind grooming.
We skied around the Old Side dropping Cedar Ridge four different ways and finding soft snow every time. Boom ridge was nicely filled in but special mention must go to Boom Guts which was smooth wind grooming and could be ripped in high speed GS turns from top to bottom. Linda's, Bear Chutes and Buckshot all had nice blown in snow although a bit crunchy in the lower sections. King Fir was untracked and had some surprisingly deep windsift in among the trees.
Of course Kangaroo was the star and we dropped it 4 times. The windsift had no effect here and the top section was icey bumps with shrubs and alders waiting to catch you between the stumps and rocks. The lower section after a pretty sketchy drop onto the cat track had improved since the other day and the new snow now meant that the breakable rain crust didn't snap every time you landed on it. This is a really challenging pitch and as all the other routes from Haul Back top to Boom bottom are groomers I can't understand why everyone doesn't take this route.
At lunch we heard that the New Side was fully open (except Polar Peak) so off we went for the afternoon. I was amazed how much sifted in snow there was (it had to be sift as there has not been significant snowfall) and in places it was well over the top of your boots. The afternoon played as -
Lift Line - great soft snow renewed every lap with blow in off the ridge line.
Cougar Glades/Stag Leap - the windsift had filled in particularly on skiers left to give untracked lines. Lower Stag Leap was still scratchy but much improved.
The Brain - I couldn't believe how much new snow was in there although I was cuting the stream bed pretty tight to get new lines. The last few turns were a nighmare on crust and we were glad to cut out at the base of Skydive.
Window Chutes/Decline - Decline had hardly been tracked and the trees at the top of Window chutes were deep and untracked. As before the crunch line started just about at the choke but, hey, if it was easy everyone would be in there - the log drop is still big enough to be fun.
Secret Chutes/Spinal Tap - loads of untracked lines to start with and although there had been some traffic in Spinal Tap the snow was heavy enough to hold up well. The crunch line at the bottom as you tried to exit the creek bed was miles of fun.
At the end of the day I took a quick loop on White Pass under the chair and still found plenty of soft snow. Skydive for the last run is getting almost smooth (well less bumpy) in the top and was just soft rolling terrain down to the last pitch where the crunch began. As no one else turned up for the final rip I took it top to bottom without a break just to add a degree of challenge.
So, the wind (with moisture) and light gave for some pretty tough conditions today whilst the blow in windsift provided some very mellow skiing surfaces, a day of contrasts.
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