It looked as thought the clouds were going to be hanging in early today, but moved off as the opening bell sounded and did not intrude all day long.  With a slight chill in the morning air, there had been just a firm freeze as opposed to a hard freeze, which left the Groomers felling very consistent to start things out in Mineral Basin.  The front of the hill was going to take a while to soften as that chill held off the break for a couple extra hours.  Following the break was the key to today’s fun quotient, with different aspects going off in order as the temps. softened the pack to the Sorbet state.  When you hit that magic window, this hill gives you the real back country corn experience, and by hitting the aspects just right, you can keep that feeling going bell to bell.  After the Forklift Debrief, I took the opportunity to move through the Tunnel, as I have not been through all season.  Here is a shot from about half way through with light at the end.  It is good to know that that light is not an oncoming freight.  I was following the break around the hill and got great lines wall to wall.  Even the off trail broke, with those aspects offering very nice lines that were feeling soft and pliant.  There are still lots of smooth lines to find with just a bit of traversing.   Later in the day, when some of the flat areas got manky, it was wise to slow the roll to escape the dreaded ” Over The Handle Bars” effect of hitting the sticky spots and double ejecting.  Doh!!  Here is a couple of shots of a section of the Track Cables that are going to be replaced in the near future.  Check out the amazing structure of the strands that are perfectly fitted and inter locking.  A thing of beauty.   Here is  a shot of the entire section that weighed at least 18 lbs.  It gives you a real appreciation of the magnitude of this refit.  This piece was at the table where they were giving away frosted cookies on the Plaza for today’s festivities. Tomorrow, look for that weather that held off today to be the in full effect as that system moves in overnight. The clouds are beginning to filter in as I write this.  Stay with the Groomers, as the off trail will be refrozen from today’s melt down. The light will be variable, so stick with the trees for the best visibility.  The hill remains in great shape, and will be ready to accept this new installment that should last several days.  IBBY!!!

This entry was posted on Friday, April 8th, 2016 at 5:25 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.