First of all the usual apologies for a late report on Monday as I have been at the Rusty Edge taking advantage of their excellent 10 bucks for a beer and burger offer on Mondays, you really should try it. The apology is not only for the lateness of the report but also for any potential errors or typos which may occur as a result of the beers with the burger reacting with the beers I hoisted on board after skiing at the Griz - after the kind of day we had the need to rehydrate as quickly as possible was rather pressing.
It was raining on the way to the hill today and temps were +2 as we arrived at the base. Obviously they were calling some of this as new snow on top (about 7 cms from memory) but of course the rain at the base was just eroding the existing thin coverage. Just as I started skiing (Lynda said to hell with this) the snow started coming down white at the base although it didn't settle in the warm temps. Up the mountain it was snowing quite hard all morning with the snow getting quite wintery above the White Pass load. Shortly after lunch the snow stopped and the cloud which had been socking in Polar Peak descended down the slope so that by late afternoon we had very white conditions all the way down to the White pass load. Temps up the mountain fluctuated so that in the morning they were up to + 4, falling to +1 early afternoon and rising again to +4 later in the day. By the very end we were back to icy snow on top and rain below so we pretty well had something for everyone today.
As you will have detected from the above saga I went to the New Side and stayed there all day on the basis that snow was wet and getting better the higher you got and the New Side is as high as we can get without assistance from illegal substances. Lift line showed that we had had 5-8 cms of fresh snow but the base was hard and chunky although it did soften with each run during the day. I looped White Pass a couple of times in some very socked in conditions where I found Gun Bowl, Quite Right and I bowl all good new snow but on a chunky hard base,
Next time up I noticed that against all expectations in the current conditions Polar Peak was open. It may well have been open all along but I was so certain that it wouldn't have been that I simply didn't look. It was very socked in on Polar Peak and the only run off was the ridge to the Coaster. After that I traversed out to the Lift Line through some very dodgy cat debris that I could not see. The final pitch was ok soft snow on a hard bumpy base. I was told that I was the only one (stupid enough ?) to have ridden the lift more than once - I did 5 loops before heading out along the Reverse Traverse.
When I got to the top of the Big 3 I had a nice surprise to find Decline open and had an awesome first track run down. Next loop up things seemed to be getting softer in Lift Line, all over Polar Peak and even on the Reverse Traverse. This time I hit Skydive down to the Megasaurus Trail where it was closed. The run was rather tracked up and as I discovered later from my buddy Andy it was because he took his Non Stop group in there. To their credit they showed respect for the hill and for other skiers by trashing the minimum amount of slope needed on the left hand side of Skydive (others could learn from this) leaving the right completely untracked for me to have an awesome rip just by the trees all the way down.
After lunch it stopped precipitating but by that time many skiers and riders were soaked to the skin and were heading for home. As I have said so many times it's just about having the right equipment and my rubber gloves and pants and a big plastic garbage sack came up trumps yet again to keep me warm and dry. I met up with Dan and we looped White Pass with a particularly good run through Surprise Trees which was soft and hardly tracked. By this time everything above White Pass load was super socked in but that didn't prevent us giving Polar Peak (amazingly still open) a go and groping out way down to the Reverse Traverse.
We applied some logic and worked out that If Skydive top and Decline were open the top pitch of the Brain also had to be open. We had a spectacular untracked run through the trees in the top section of the Brain with huge wet snow sloughs trying to take you out, particularly as you aired it out of the choke just above the trail out. Decline was similarly rather wet and full of sloughs lower down.
The final loops through White Pass were quick double back through the core then a white stick job through the Gun Bowl so we could have run down Surprise Trees which was starting to set up and if anything was skiing a bit better than it had earlier in the day. Last run we had to be driven by tradition and had a great right side run down Skydive in lightly tracked snow but respecting the closure signs we exited via the Megasaurus Trail and ran to base.
Huge beers in respect of some great spring new snow skiing and the then out burger treat. Not sure what tomorrow will hold.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Day 108 limited terrain but good skiing on what there was
Before we get started it is perhaps worth reminding ourselves of what we should really be getting at this time of year. One year ago Lynda wrote in her journal (about as near to an official record as you are going to get) "skied Snake and Boom in deep powder after a fall of 30 cms, base 378 cms...." Today we had some new snow and the base was 170 cms, what a difference a year makes.
It was raining as we left the hill last night and continued to rain into the evening which given the temps of around +4 meant that we must have been getting snow at some point up the hill. Snow of this type at this time of year is a bit of a two edged sword. On one level we will be getting more snow on the upper mountain which goodness knows we need but at another level it means we will be getting rain over most of the lower mountain (in fact almost everywhere below the snow plot) reducing what little snow we have there. This is exactly what happened last night.
On the way to the hill it was +4 and slightly overcast although it cleared during the morning. Cloud rolled in again around the middle of the day which had the effect of preserving the skiing surfaces quite well. In the afternoon the sun was out again and temps got to +7 at the White Pass load and even +4 at the Polar load. Over all things softened pretty quickly but on the north facing slopes such as Easter even though things got soft they never got mushy.
The official snow fall figure was for 8 cms at the snow plot but from my observations on the New Side it looked as if the snow there had accumulated to little more than 5 cms if that. We went to the New Side as we decided what snow we had got would be best high up and the higher the better. Puff had some very icy grooming so we stayed on the ungroomed bumps which were covered in soft untracked snow and with the surface starting to soften in the warming temps.
We looped White Pass several times, always finding new lines back through the Gun Bowl or Knot chutes which were soft snow on a softening base and very mellow skiing. Runs down were Quite Right and Highline which again skied well away from the groomed areas. We then saw that Polar Peak was open and that was it for the rest of the morning.
Polar was open on the Coaster side including Shale Slope and it was Shale Slope that we skied repeatedly in the soft mellow gentle bumps with no sign of rocks - great easy skiing. Below Shale we cut across under the chair and either dropped the chair line or cut across to the left hand fence and had great soft skiing before cutting back to the chair. After a while the Clown Chutes opened and we had a good run down Crusty Chute with a very interesting entrance which involved you hanging the back of your skis out over a cliff - great fun. They then opened the traverse into lower Grand Papa Bear which was soft and smooth and very good skiing.
After numerous laps of all of the above it was time for a late lunch so we traversed out into lower Mamma Bear (only just opened) and had a great untracked run down to the Reverse Traverse. Obviously we were going to ski off through Easter (as I have said before, I may be getting on but I am not so decrepit that I have to download - at least not yet) Easter was a bit crisp in the top and bit mushy low down but over all skied ok and although hard work, it was a good way to go to lunch.
After lunch it was back up the New Side for more of the same. A couple of White Pass laps showed that things had set up a little in the middle of the day overcast conditions but everywhere was skiing rather better for that. Polar Peak was much as before but with surfaces starting to get a little unstable in the afternoon sunshine. Shale Slope (still mellow with soft bumps) Grand Papa Bear (favourite run with some great soft steep skiing) Crusty Chute ( entrance more testing every time but soft and easy in the chute) Lift Line soft and good for really fast GS turns, many other ways down back to the chair through the trees etc.
Finally it was last run off Polar so we had another rip through lower Mama Bear and then and even faster rip through Currie Powder which was soft and then a rather slower return to White Pass through Trespass Trail which was slow and sticky. One last run down off White Pass top was through Easter Bowl where things had set up so it was skiing soft snow on a firm base and made me rather wish I had looped it a bit more during the afternoon.
A nice Sunday night in the Griz with all the usual suspects. Temps were +8 as we drove away from the hill but they are calling for snow over the next few days, hard to believe but lets hope they are right.
It was raining as we left the hill last night and continued to rain into the evening which given the temps of around +4 meant that we must have been getting snow at some point up the hill. Snow of this type at this time of year is a bit of a two edged sword. On one level we will be getting more snow on the upper mountain which goodness knows we need but at another level it means we will be getting rain over most of the lower mountain (in fact almost everywhere below the snow plot) reducing what little snow we have there. This is exactly what happened last night.
On the way to the hill it was +4 and slightly overcast although it cleared during the morning. Cloud rolled in again around the middle of the day which had the effect of preserving the skiing surfaces quite well. In the afternoon the sun was out again and temps got to +7 at the White Pass load and even +4 at the Polar load. Over all things softened pretty quickly but on the north facing slopes such as Easter even though things got soft they never got mushy.
The official snow fall figure was for 8 cms at the snow plot but from my observations on the New Side it looked as if the snow there had accumulated to little more than 5 cms if that. We went to the New Side as we decided what snow we had got would be best high up and the higher the better. Puff had some very icy grooming so we stayed on the ungroomed bumps which were covered in soft untracked snow and with the surface starting to soften in the warming temps.
We looped White Pass several times, always finding new lines back through the Gun Bowl or Knot chutes which were soft snow on a softening base and very mellow skiing. Runs down were Quite Right and Highline which again skied well away from the groomed areas. We then saw that Polar Peak was open and that was it for the rest of the morning.
Polar was open on the Coaster side including Shale Slope and it was Shale Slope that we skied repeatedly in the soft mellow gentle bumps with no sign of rocks - great easy skiing. Below Shale we cut across under the chair and either dropped the chair line or cut across to the left hand fence and had great soft skiing before cutting back to the chair. After a while the Clown Chutes opened and we had a good run down Crusty Chute with a very interesting entrance which involved you hanging the back of your skis out over a cliff - great fun. They then opened the traverse into lower Grand Papa Bear which was soft and smooth and very good skiing.
After numerous laps of all of the above it was time for a late lunch so we traversed out into lower Mamma Bear (only just opened) and had a great untracked run down to the Reverse Traverse. Obviously we were going to ski off through Easter (as I have said before, I may be getting on but I am not so decrepit that I have to download - at least not yet) Easter was a bit crisp in the top and bit mushy low down but over all skied ok and although hard work, it was a good way to go to lunch.
After lunch it was back up the New Side for more of the same. A couple of White Pass laps showed that things had set up a little in the middle of the day overcast conditions but everywhere was skiing rather better for that. Polar Peak was much as before but with surfaces starting to get a little unstable in the afternoon sunshine. Shale Slope (still mellow with soft bumps) Grand Papa Bear (favourite run with some great soft steep skiing) Crusty Chute ( entrance more testing every time but soft and easy in the chute) Lift Line soft and good for really fast GS turns, many other ways down back to the chair through the trees etc.
Finally it was last run off Polar so we had another rip through lower Mama Bear and then and even faster rip through Currie Powder which was soft and then a rather slower return to White Pass through Trespass Trail which was slow and sticky. One last run down off White Pass top was through Easter Bowl where things had set up so it was skiing soft snow on a firm base and made me rather wish I had looped it a bit more during the afternoon.
A nice Sunday night in the Griz with all the usual suspects. Temps were +8 as we drove away from the hill but they are calling for snow over the next few days, hard to believe but lets hope they are right.
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