It was 21 Degrees on the peak as first Tram hit the dock, with the front side as hard as a rock.   Mineral Basin had been given a very nice fresh tenderizing treatment, making the low traffic early laps fun and very fast.  The tenderizing had the consistency  of deep sugar granules, which felt luxurious underfoot, and made me want to slow down and experience the back country feel of corn goodness.   Off trail is still quite bouncy, but becomes more accessible as  the Sun works the sections.   The front side of the hill started breaking at 11:00 AM and the cold air kept the softening rate from gaining too much, which extended the quality until the closing bell.   Everyone was wishing for a couple more Trams, but there will be more tomorrow.  I expect another cold night, so another 11:00 AM break time will be in the ball park, but once again the morning laps in Mineral will offer the goods early.   The Grooming Crew did a great job repairing the funky section in the Lower Men’s Downhill Chute, so now it is good to go, and it is a nice steep pitch at that.  There are a lot of rocks on the Cat tracks out on Lupine Loop that are falling from the melted off sections above, so keep an eye out for falling rocks on those upper Cat Tracks, and watch your path as you go.  I caught a rock with one tip and it almost sent me down, but didn’t quite.    Here is a shot of the Sunday Cliffs waiting for softening to occur.   See you there for the morning session.   Peace Out.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 6th, 2012 at 5:01 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.