The weather had held off today despite the weather forecast, with nice Sunshine lighting up the dance floor.  Mineral Basin was delayed a couple of hours for control work, but opened around 11:00 AM for the extra excited folks who showed up to get a taste of the goods back there.  The coverage was thin, but the snow quality was excellent, still holding on to the soft fluffy feel that I had hoped to encounter.  Reports from the open off trail areas were encouraging, with only a few reports of rock issues.  I took the Groomed sections to get a better look for myself, and did wander off the tilled areas to get a sense of the free range.  While the coverage is good, I will be sticking close to the main lines until we get more snow. Here is a shot of the greater area to give you an idea of coverage and the pummeling the area took from the faithful who were not shy about hitting it hard. As you can see, with the exception of the close areas, it got worked wall to wall.  That is good to get it compacted for the next installment that is still promised to arrive tonight and through the next few days.  The hill is in fine shape to take more of the frosting to get it ready for the holiday season.  A White Holiday Season.  Tomorrow, look for weather to be working into the area, so visibility will be an issue.  To avoid the interference patterns in the bad vis, and use the known machine worked areas to give yourself the most consistent ride.  I have been sneaking off into the off trail only to find some serious rumble to contend with.  As accumulation increases that will be a non issue.  Here is a shot of some cool clouds over Timp. way down range.  Get there early to avoid the push.  There was quite a push this morning, so it will only get more intense.  See you Sunday after my day off.  Syrup won’t stop ‘ EM!!

This entry was posted on Friday, December 19th, 2014 at 4:25 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.