A fresh installment of Essence finally arrived overnight, leaving the hill covered with a nice new coating. The Faithful were in full attendance today after a long stretch of high pressure, and they wasted no time knocking the air out of every square inch of accessible terrain. Most of the hill was open right out of the chute as there was more snow in the Valley than on the hill, but the snow continued all day building the cushion. A very stout North wind was blowing much of the upper mountain into Mineral Basin, but the visibility over there kept me from venturing in there. The lower two thirds of the hill was offering much more consistent lines as the trees tended to hold the snow. The Cirque Traverse was much better with the addition of new snow and I went all the way out just to check things out. A bit of care still needs to be taken, but there is more cushion and cover to help out the ride. Regulator was still a bit tricky, but was covered enough to make going to the Cirque Traverse no problem. Tomorrow, look for continued accumulation to cover the already stirred up snow back, which will help cover the old crust layer and make the powder seem more bottomless. The Exotic Trees were getting the most out of this storm, as the snow was trapped in the groves and filled in the rumble, and also the traffic over in that area was lighter than the full court press on the front side. It is going to be a great day, so get there early for the best of the day and enjoy the fluffulecent quality wall to wall. Here is a shot of the wind blowing hard out ahead of this recent front. Now we are in the thick of it. Ciao!!
South Wind