The Valley was sunny and clear on the drive up, with a dark cloud hanging over the hill to start out the day.  High winds delayed the Tram opening as well as Mineral Basin for a bit, so alternative lines were chosen to keep the momentum going.  The Groomers were very nice, but the ones that saw all that Sun yesterday were very crispy and difficult, however, it was easy to find alternatives.  Mineral Basin opened in short order and I took advantage of the good visibility there to hit the buffed lines.  The snow on those main Groomers was still cold and chalky, making the laps there fun and empty.  I hit the Forklift Chair early where I was greeted by this beautiful girl from Ixtapa Mexico, who got the table ready for the crew who would be pulling in to compare notes on the recon routes.  Thanks for putting that together on such short notice Ruby!!After breakfast, the Tram opened up as the grauple began to fall with vigor.  The high density product was silky smooth and floaty, which covered the crunchy layer very quickly.  That enabled a much broader scope of line choice as the depth built up.  The High North was really the best on the the hill, though the visibility made it tough to see.   Here is a great shot of the perfect wind buff on the Upper Cirque taken by Neil the other day to give you and idea of the awesome quality that has been available despite the low snow fall.   It may get deeper, but it does NOT get better that this. There is always something great to find on the hill on any given day.  Tomorrow, look for some overnight precipitation to add to the goods on the hill, with additional weather during the day.  Despite the warmth in the valley, it is wise to dress for weather as it was surprisingly cold sitting on the chairs in the high wind.  There was a light rain falling on the bottom 500′ of the hill at 3:00PM and the pack down there was getting a bit pasty.  Watch out for the crunch down low in the AM.  The Groomers should still be holding the cold when it gets tilled up, but that off trail pack could be interesting.   See you for the fun!   Peace Out!!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 9th, 2015 at 6:06 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.