There was high overcast all day long over the area, creating a flat light situation on the hill.  Fairly mild temps. were holding on ahead of the next system that is slated to begin sometime tomorrow, and continue into Monday.  Another installment will be a welcome addition to the last few inches, which significantly improved conditions, and any additional product will be icing on the cake.  Tomorrow, look for the Groomers to be good to go in the AM, until you can get a sense of the off trail, which, when I left yesterday, was feeling good, but still had the firmness of the old layer.  The interference patterns have been rising incrementally as the traffic works the hill , so I will be planning to go look at the peripheral shots to give my knees the best possible break. It has been a long and great season, but my knees are beginning to feel the fatigue.  I am playing the roundness card to avoid the lateral jarring that a more angular approach dishes out.  One point of caution; as I was getting into the Upper Cirque yesterday, I encountered the wind stripped reefage that is now exposed just short of the cornice.  It is very unforgiving , and has some very light coverage that does nothing to mask the hazard.  Be very aware of that as you approach, especially if it gets covered with fresh product overnight.  It is treacherous if you hit it with any speed at all, and if you catch it wrong, it could stall your ride and send you flying over the cornice into oblivion.  This very scenario nearly happened to me yesterday, but I managed to keep it tight, though I will be needing some base repair!!!   I will be there tomorrow for a more first hand account.  IBBY!!!

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 5th, 2011 at 4:37 pm and is filed under Snow Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.