Friday was my first day back after my trip to the brief encounter with the dark side, and glad I was to be back.  The Tram traffic was light, crowded only by the members of the Academy and National Ski Patrol, all who are here for sessions this week.  Walk of trams were the rule all morning, so no worries  The overcast and stout wind made the peak interesting and the high North aspects were picking up some transported snow helping to soften the existing crud.  The surface of the snow was covered with a reddish dust, which had blown in from the South as the storm moved through.  It gave the surface a kind of strange dullness in the variable light.  I opted for the groomers, which were soft and carvable, but jumped off into the crud just to check it out.  Though it was workable , it had been brought up to short choppy bumps which my knees did not agree with, so I made a hasty retreat back to the smooth and rippable parkways.  The visibility remained problematic , but got better toward the bottom and against the trees.  The Gad 2 area opened, but without the lift access so a long traverse was required.  The temps. were quite cold all morning and began warming up as Noon approached.  The lower mountain started to clump up as 1:000PM arrived leaving the groomers a tad lumpy, so I gave my knees a break and called it good to go.  Tomorrow should see improving and warming weather, so I anticipate great skiing.  Be aware of the groups on the hill and give them a wide margin as they are doing evaluations and there is no need to interfere with that process.  Go for first boat and get the most out of the morning!!!

This entry was posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 2:08 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.