There were visibility issues all day today as the peak was heavily shrouded in clouds with the arrival of the First Tram.  I worked the front of the hill for the morning session, staying close to the trees for the best reference and reflected light.  The Groomers offered that smooth consistency that is all you have to count on when you are flying on instruments only.  It is a treat to be able to trust the dance floor when you can only feel the corduroy.  Lower on the mountain the visibility improved, and with the great dry chalky feel of the snow, it enabled a much more aggressive approach to the fall line.  After the morning visit to the Forklift Chair,  I made the drop into the abyss of Mineral Basin, which was very challenging to get any sense of detail.  The Groomers were, once again, very consistent and one had to use the memory of the transitions to determine just where you were on the descent.  The last 500′ offered much better vis., but I was all about getting back to the front to some semblance of reference.  In one respect, it was a great training day to make you feel the fall line, keeping your hands up as you pushed into the fog.  Tomorrow, look for some overnight accumulation as a slight impulse is slated to move through.  The Groomers will be offering the dreamy dry chalk that will let you lay it down like Ligety, and light traffic for the morning session.  The forecast is for clearing skies, but it might take a bit for the vis to improve.  Due to the very foggy day, I was not able to get any kind of realistic shot off, so here is another one of my art pieces for your consideration.  Syrup won’t stop ‘ EM!!

This entry was posted on Friday, January 30th, 2015 at 6:26 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.