The sky was clear this morning, but the cold and the wind were still in full effect.  I am glad that I dressed for the conditions, as the Sun did not seem to be making much of a difference for the morning session.  As anticipated, the Groomers were offering smooth lines, however, they were a bit firmer in Mineral Basin and much firmer on the front side of the hill.  The off trail was still holding the cold, but my forced foray into an East facing aspect made me beat a hasty retreat back to the smooth and buffed offerings.  Still, the High North was still soft and workable, with dry chalky quality holding strong this many days after that last accumulation.  Here is a shot of the East Twin that had been blasted by overnight winds that had scoured the high elevations.  The cold and wind kept the snow quality preserved, though it seemed more like mid January than late March.  Traffic was very light and quick turnarounds were a nice feature after the high traffic storm events.  Interference patterns are beginning to build in again as the traffic works the popular lines, but smooth shots are still easy to find.   Tomorrow, look for another cold morning, but warming is in the forecast, so we might see some improved ambient temps. in the next couple of days.  The Groomers will still be offering the dry chalk, but expect the firmness to continue to require a bit higher edge angle.  Look for Mineral Basin to be offering the Sun lit lines as the time change darkened the front side of the hill again.  The hill is in great shape, with great snow to be found especially on the North facing aspects. See you on Sunday as I will be taking tomorrow off for R and R.  Peace Out!!

This entry was posted on Friday, March 18th, 2016 at 4:09 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.