I'm sorry but today was not about the hill and what it was like but was about me and what I skied, if that causes anyone a problem then now is the time to exit the site. In summary today was 8 Polar Peaks through the chutes, 2 Currie Head Walls through different chutes and 3 High Saddles. Any one of these in the past would have justified the title "a big day" but when you put them together I am sure they justify the title of the biggest days skiing I have ever had. Let us try and put all of this in context.
It was cold again overnight with deck temps this morning of -12 and still -10 when we got to the hill. It was the first pure bluebird day we have had for sometime (although the forecasters say not the last) so temps rose steadily all day in the warm sunny conditions. By late morning it was +4 at the base, zero at the White Pass load and -5 at the Polar Peak load. By early afternoon the temps were +7, +2 and zero respectively and after that I just gave up counting. The result was that anything south facing got soft fast if it was low down and even high up it was getting a bit mellow by late afternoon. North facing remained crisp and taking a nice edge all day.
We had decided on a New Side day just because we had and went up to White Pass feeling rather lethargic for reasons I don't fully understand. We had quick trip back down through the Gun Bowl and Highline Trees which seemed to get things in place and headed for Polar Peak. The view from the top was just stunning in the bluebird conditions and we looped Barely Legal and Pappa Bear which were both firm bumps taking and edge before going out to try High Saddle. I think the sign in the top of High Saddle warning of marginal conditions and saying that the skiing wasn't recommended was a great help - it kept poeple out and preserved the chute in very good soft snow conditions. Route to base under the saddle was soft if chunky powder and Easter bowl was getting to be soft bumps but very mellow.
Next loop was just Mamma Bear off Polar and then Stag Leap which was skiing remarkably soft although with some hard underlying bumps. Next Polar expedition was a return trip through Grand Pappa Bear to the load which was as everywhere hard and chunky bumps and then Baby Bear which was much the same followed by the usual drop through High Saddle and Easter which were much as before but with some sign of boards having side slipped the Saddled - a hanging offence in my view.
Before lunch we just had time for a quick loop through Easter which was still firm but taking and edge. I cut right into Spinal Tap which was tracked up through the higher chute but ok - lower down it was all a bit scratchy in the creek bed and actually pretty hard work. Lunch.
After lunch it was back up Polar Peak for some practice on Barely Legal which was still skiing ok on a hard base. Next time up I worked my way over to the Clown Chutes to get a good look at the Head Wall. Luckily (?) my buddy Rob appeared along with my other buddy Randy and they had both just skied the Head Wall. We hiked up to the Wimp Chutes and dropped in. It was super steep in the top and a bit icey (you really have to see it to understand just how steep it is) but then nice ordinary steep skiing through the rest of the chute.
Next time to the Head Wall we hiked on to Up Right chute on the grounds that Randy said is was more mellow than Wimp Chutes. I can only wish I had a bottle of what Randy was on as it was a tight slide over a cliff drop before having two tight icey turns in a very gnarly chute just to get started. After that it opened up into some nice deep powder skiing for the rest of the way.
After that I went up Polar and had a Pappa Bear/High Saddle/Easter drop which actually seemed like a bunny run after the Head Wall and was just as good as it had been in the morning. I just had time for a quick White Pass loop through the Gun Bowl and Highline Trees (still seeming so easy) before heading out to Skydive for the last run. Skydive was bumpy in the top and quite hard but softened in the mid section before becoming a little scratchy at the end. I skied it in one although my legs were pretty shot from the Head Wall ridge hiking but it was a bit slower than usual.
After a day like today it was a huge beer evening on the locals deck as the sun went down - a perfect day. Just a reminder of the Patrol and Groomer appreciation evening on Thursday at the Corner Pocket at 6. It should be great evening (it usually is) and it is also a good way of showing appreciation to the staff that make our skiing safe or even possible - go if you can, no excuses.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Day 106 sounds boring but yet another good day
It isn't my fault that nothing much is happening with conditions on the hill and what we are seeing is a slow work through of the results of a big storm cycle. The days are mostly bluebird but with some cloud cover that protects the snow at vital times and as a result things don't change a huge amount from day to day. Lucky for us the underlying conditions that are being preserved are rather good, not awesome, not fantastic or any of the other superlatives but rather good for Fernie which may be regarded in higher terms in other places where the bar is set lower.
Overnight temps again dropped to -12 which dried out the snow and left us with firm but responsive snow in most places but of course ugly crust where we had seen sun affect melting taking place - mostly on very south facing slopes such a Knot Chutes, Concussion, Snake Ridge and to some extent Steep and Deep. The weather was bluebird for a time when we had some quite long periods of clear sky snow. This occurs when moist warm air crashes into a cold air mass so fast that the moisture doesn't have time to form visible moisture (clouds) but just falls as snow. The effect is for snow to fall out of a clear blue ski in sunshine which is so cool - it only happens in fairly cold temps.
Around the middle of the day the clouds socked in particularly on the New Side around Polar Peak so that the temps stayed down and the snow was not sun affected at the warmest part of the day. In the afternoon things cleared and it warmed up all over the hill but I guess it was only just above plus temps at the base and well below from mid mountain and above.
We went to the Old Side and concluded that it wasn't worth hitting out all the way across Cedar Bowl towards Redtree on the grounds that it would be hard work and the skiing wouldn't be any better than the nearer stuff off Cedar Ridge. Later there proved to be a further bonus to this decision as we heard that a moose was loose on Redtree road trapping skiers and being a bit of a problem. Moosey would do well to remember what happened last year to the moose that attacked people out there - the environmental officer was called in to deal with it and it was delicious.
We worked our way slowly along Cedar Ridge with four drops that started with the chutes right at the top of Bear and finishing at King Fir. The skiing on the north facing slopes was soft on top with some hoar frost covering taking an easy edge on the soft slightly bumped surface underneath. Each return was through Kangaroo which was icey bumps but skiing ok for icey bumps. Somewhere in there we took a quick trip down Boom Ridge which skied a lot softer than I expected even between the soft bumps. It was time for the New Side.
We went up Polar and found it was as white as I have ever seen it (or rather not seen it) in some very flat light. We had just one trip down Pappa Bear which was firm bumps with a little soft on top. Just like yesterday I took the route to base via High Saddle and Easter bowl and just like yesterday I found High Saddle skiing ok after the first icey turn and good soft snow underneath. Easter was some pretty ok soft bumps. Next time round the light had improved so I dropped Polar through Barely Legal which was firm but still full of snow and then ripped Stag Leap which was remarkably soft considering how long ago the fresh snow had come. Lunch.
After lunch I went back up Polar Peak and spent most of the afternoon playing in the chutes (Barely Legal, Grand Pappa, Pappa, the Clown chutes several times over) which were all tracked and firm and of course pretty steep. My main objective had been to find a buddy to take out to the Currie Headwall but no one wanted to play ball and I just don't feel happy about heading out there myself - this is my next objective - to get as comfortable with the headwall as I am with the things I used to be uncomfortable with eg the Saddles which I now think of as bunny runs.
I looped to base via High Saddle and Easter which as in the morning were great skiing in soft tracked snow. I just had time for a quick loop off White Pass and missed Polar Chair by about 30 seconds. I cut into 1-2-3s about half way up 2 for some good soft north facing skiing. The exit via Bootleg Glades and Gilmar Gully were nice mellow tracked skiing.
And so we came to Skydive for the final rip and it was bumpy in the top, mellow in the middle and bit scratchy low down, in fact exactly what you would expect on a day like this. The Griz bar was much quieter tonight and I don't know if it was in response to my comments last night but Kokanee was on offer at $4.75 a pint which is much better than the usual $6.25 to my mind.
Tomorrow is another day.
Overnight temps again dropped to -12 which dried out the snow and left us with firm but responsive snow in most places but of course ugly crust where we had seen sun affect melting taking place - mostly on very south facing slopes such a Knot Chutes, Concussion, Snake Ridge and to some extent Steep and Deep. The weather was bluebird for a time when we had some quite long periods of clear sky snow. This occurs when moist warm air crashes into a cold air mass so fast that the moisture doesn't have time to form visible moisture (clouds) but just falls as snow. The effect is for snow to fall out of a clear blue ski in sunshine which is so cool - it only happens in fairly cold temps.
Around the middle of the day the clouds socked in particularly on the New Side around Polar Peak so that the temps stayed down and the snow was not sun affected at the warmest part of the day. In the afternoon things cleared and it warmed up all over the hill but I guess it was only just above plus temps at the base and well below from mid mountain and above.
We went to the Old Side and concluded that it wasn't worth hitting out all the way across Cedar Bowl towards Redtree on the grounds that it would be hard work and the skiing wouldn't be any better than the nearer stuff off Cedar Ridge. Later there proved to be a further bonus to this decision as we heard that a moose was loose on Redtree road trapping skiers and being a bit of a problem. Moosey would do well to remember what happened last year to the moose that attacked people out there - the environmental officer was called in to deal with it and it was delicious.
We worked our way slowly along Cedar Ridge with four drops that started with the chutes right at the top of Bear and finishing at King Fir. The skiing on the north facing slopes was soft on top with some hoar frost covering taking an easy edge on the soft slightly bumped surface underneath. Each return was through Kangaroo which was icey bumps but skiing ok for icey bumps. Somewhere in there we took a quick trip down Boom Ridge which skied a lot softer than I expected even between the soft bumps. It was time for the New Side.
We went up Polar and found it was as white as I have ever seen it (or rather not seen it) in some very flat light. We had just one trip down Pappa Bear which was firm bumps with a little soft on top. Just like yesterday I took the route to base via High Saddle and Easter bowl and just like yesterday I found High Saddle skiing ok after the first icey turn and good soft snow underneath. Easter was some pretty ok soft bumps. Next time round the light had improved so I dropped Polar through Barely Legal which was firm but still full of snow and then ripped Stag Leap which was remarkably soft considering how long ago the fresh snow had come. Lunch.
After lunch I went back up Polar Peak and spent most of the afternoon playing in the chutes (Barely Legal, Grand Pappa, Pappa, the Clown chutes several times over) which were all tracked and firm and of course pretty steep. My main objective had been to find a buddy to take out to the Currie Headwall but no one wanted to play ball and I just don't feel happy about heading out there myself - this is my next objective - to get as comfortable with the headwall as I am with the things I used to be uncomfortable with eg the Saddles which I now think of as bunny runs.
I looped to base via High Saddle and Easter which as in the morning were great skiing in soft tracked snow. I just had time for a quick loop off White Pass and missed Polar Chair by about 30 seconds. I cut into 1-2-3s about half way up 2 for some good soft north facing skiing. The exit via Bootleg Glades and Gilmar Gully were nice mellow tracked skiing.
And so we came to Skydive for the final rip and it was bumpy in the top, mellow in the middle and bit scratchy low down, in fact exactly what you would expect on a day like this. The Griz bar was much quieter tonight and I don't know if it was in response to my comments last night but Kokanee was on offer at $4.75 a pint which is much better than the usual $6.25 to my mind.
Tomorrow is another day.
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