I stepped through the temporal portal late yesterday, right in the middle of the horse coral on my return from the Home Planet.  The horses have become quite used to this manifestation of high strangeness, and just gave an amused chortle.   I hit the hill early to get ahead of the crowd and get a handle on the conditions.  The Sun was shining out in Mineral Basin, but there was a cloud deck moving in fast.  Amazing groomed lines were the highlight of the morning session, where this last installment delivered perfect material to work into a deep shag carpet.  The carving was easy and reliable, with no sense of punchiness at all.  Lewis and Clark was the go to area to stay ahead of the crowd and get first tracks on perfectly prepared corduroy.  Here is a shot of Samantha who was ready to SHRED some of the Bird’s finest and she was stoked to be on hand for the occasion.  The off trail has set up on all sides of the hill after significant wind worked most of the exposures.  The last installment had quite a bit of water in it, so that deep softness has passed, but there is a dry chalky consistency that is still very workable.  A low amplitude rumble is wide spread, and the high traffic areas have some deeper interference patterns setting up.  The Upper Cirque opened after this last addition, and I look forward to checking out the entrances in the next couple of days.  Here is a shot of Timp. looking sharp and clear just before the lights went out.  Tomorrow, look for there to be some flurries in the morning, with some clearing later in the day.  The Groomers will still be offering the consistent goodness, but look for some wind deposited lines to, perhaps, be around.  The High Northeast aspects were benefiting from the today’s wind direction, so I will be looking there first for the natural smooth.  Traffic may be a bit lighter, so a full vertical assault can be enjoyed.  Stay Frosty!!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 27th, 2016 at 6:21 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.