It was a beautiful Easter Sunday morning, with the sunrise service attended by hundreds of folks who got a perfectly clear shot at the sunrise, though it was a tad brisk and windy.  The opening bell for the faithful, offered some very nice grooming in Mineral Basin, with the front side of the hill having held the cold and many North facing options were soft and dry.   The shots in Mineral Basin included another working of the Chamonix Chutes, that was just perfect with the sun softened snow pack, but you had to be on it fast to get the goods before the word got out.  White Diamonds was also back country perfect after the Grooming crew cut a new line, and laps there were sensational, as the lower section was included in the mix to make the Down Hill Course feel like it was all yours.  I was mining the perfection for the velvet feel, getting as many deep feeling turns as I could, once again pretending I had hiked to get the goods.  Since it was that perfect, I felt fully sated by the line.  The front side of the hill was fast and furious, with a dry chalky consistency right down to the last 200′, where it got just a touch crispy.   The day warmed up, softening the back side and quickly began to work the front side, but the sticky feel was holding off for quite a while.  Tomorrow, look for the off trail to still have some soft feeling fluff in the High North aspects, but all other exposures will have been worked by the Sun and will need the warming to kick in.  The Groomers will still be good in Mineral Basin as the Sun works it first, but I expect some serious crispiness for some time in the AM.  A warmer day is on tap, so get there early for the smoothest of the day, and avoid the grabby later day slush that tears at your knees.  Ciao!!!

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 8th, 2012 at 1:19 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.