Spring is creeping back slowly but surely with warmer temps day by day.  The Final of the Freeride Contest is today so the crowds should be light on the lifts and all systems GO.  The temps are still low enough so that most areas will stay dry but those that see the direct sun will be getting wet and will refreeze overnight to be a bit crusty in the AM.  The good news is that there are plenty of alternatives to hold you over till softening occurs.  The forecast is for a brush by tomorrow so the light might be a bit off, but no matter when you know the run is baby butt smooth.  Remember those crusty ones and adjust accordingly .   Well it is back to the couch for me, see you all tomorrow!

Friday morning still had the cold northerly flow in force.  Blue bird day in the offing and some unreal grooming to start the fire.  The Down Hill in Mineral was race ready and wide open just for us.  Took a tour of the south facing and found that the cold had held off the melt which left those groomers dry and chalky.  The Freeride Contest was in session on the Silver Fox -Upper Cirque section so those areas remained out of play, but the contestants were shredding it with awesome performances!!!  The patrol shot several sections of the cornice in Little Cloud with spectacular slides down Old Reliable.  This area remained closed until the cats straightened out the slide debris after which we were treated to wide and smooth ball room dancing!!  You have to love perfection and take advantage of it when and where you find it.  The crud is still stiffening up over all , but remains quite soft and pliable in the deep north facing trees.  The lower elevations are becoming even stiffer and bumpier with  increased traffic .  Light traffic, again, left the lift lines free for maximum vertical.  The cold and light north breeze kept  most aspects carvable.  The due south faces got a touch moist but not terminal so they can still be counted on for goodness later tomorrow when the sun plays them.  Be sure and take in the Finals of the Contest which will be held on West Baldy ensuring a spectacular finale to a great week of full throttle rock and roll.

Thursday morning started with very cold air and the darkness that day light savings brings to the first few runs.  Very light attendance, overall, kept the tram at a walk on level all day.  The contest was still working the West Baldy aspect and did not impinge on the runs at all.  The groomed corduroy was groovalicious, wall to wall, with a  dry chalky consistency where ever the big buff had been applied.  Yet another rare lower mountain shot got the nod this morning giving this steep long real estate a silky sheen like a fleece blanket.  Soooo Goood!!! The temps stayed briskly cold without much let up and all aspects remained winter like despite the high sun angle.  Again, only the most direct south facing aspects were dampened by the sun and will be crusty in the AM.  Touring opened today and will remain so tomorrow with great reports coming back from tours.  The crud is beginning to get set up with the continued cold and is getting a bit stiff but blastable if you carry enough speed , but it also gives way to slower meticulous round turns if one has the patience to approach it in this way;  so take your pick. The forecast is for continued warming so the day should be great for the faithful as well as the contestants.  Remember to give those south faces some time in the AM and take advantage of continued winter chalk.  See you on first boat!!!

Wednesday morning dawned clear and quite cold, however, not nearly as cutting as yesterday, but brisk none the less.  The Contest venue was West Baldy so that area was out of play, but no matter there was powder aplenty when the Sunday Cliffs and Little Cloud opened with very Righteous pow for the seekers.  The wind had spared these areas the brutal beating other areas had been subjected to and that spelled goodness top to bottom.  Yummm!!!  Thunder Bowl opened later in the day and was, also, scrumptulescent.  Bumps had been averaged out and did not pose any problems.  The continued cold temps, through out the day, kept all aspects, which  I checked out, in full effect.  I took a recon run out to look at direct south facing and only the very surface was coping a bit of crust so tomorrow there will be a bit of zipper crust  there.  Most exposures have been fully skied out, but they remain good to go with a bit more speed and persuasion.  Overall the large bumps have been mitigated so the hill is prepped for blasting.  The Tram sported walk ons all day, which was great for vertical accumulation.  Once again the cat crew worked their magic giving the “Aunt Jemima” treatment – soft and flat as a pancake-to a rare and steep lower mountain flume.  This shot stayed good all day and will have good workability in the AM.  Look for other excellent groomage to warm up on in the morning and be there early to take advantage of the light traffic and race ready corduroy.  There is nothing like setting and edge and hanging it out:  NO?!  Gots to be gone bye bye!!

Just as I had surmised the canyon was closed this AM for control but opened in good time.  A very long string of seekers backed up the road to La Caille and it was slow going.  Not one to be caught up in the crush I just took it in stride.   The new snow and wind combined to make a very diverse spectrum of consistency.  The over night snow was much higher density than yesterday which created an upside down situation.  In combination with the wind some areas were super deep but slabby and quite difficult to punch through.  Regulator was partially scoured and the right side was deeper.  East and north facing was favored but still interesting to say the least.  Mineral opened in due time and had been spared the brunt of the wind damage so that really shined.  The deep trees and lower sections of the hill remained very skiable.  The Faithful were represented very well backing up the queue at the tram and the chairs had much lighter traffic.  The slab was quickly mitigated by heavy traffic which broke up the surface tension making the consistency better over all.  The temps were very cold with very stiff wind on the peak causing a real frost bite hazard.  It is still winter and the cold kept the snow from gumming up in the sun which came out fully as the morning progressed.  The forecast is for nice days  this week and there is still some unopened areas for tomorrow.  Check on the availability in the AM.  The higher density snow has really helped cushion the bumps overall so they don’t have quite the sting they had yesterday with the light density and marginal visibility.  Grooming overnight will provide epic hydro velvet for the morning seekers.  It’s all good again !!!   Ah Yeah!!

Pulling into the lot in the AM I was greeted by a mere dusting on the ground.  A quick trip to the peak revealed 5 to 8″ of light density top to bottom.  Go figure.  The wind was insistent and the snow fall formidable as the storm moved in earlier than predicted.  By 11:30 AM east facing was fully knee deep thanks to the increasing WNW wind transporting the goodness to the adjacent shots.  Mind you; the west and southern exposures were getting their share, but the Peruvian side was getting the lion’s share.  The bottom features were still fully in play due to the quite light density , which did little to cushion the  gnar below.  High north aspects still had a bit more skiability and were the best call , but they were restricted, briefly, by the closure of the Contest venue.  This closure was lifted as the visibility and high winds caused a postponement of the event.  The National Freeride competition is being held this week so the usual areas are going to be out of play at different times through out the week.  The contestants are streaming in and will be present all week so be on the look out for some stellar folks scouting  the lines.  That is always a great thing to see as very unusual approaches to the hill are going off all around.  The Contest, itself, will be fantastic with the new snow and high energy.  Tomorrow will, no doubt, be a powder panic so bear that in mind when planning your day’s strategy.   Heavy snow really kicked in around 1:00Pm and the deeper sections were well over knee deep but still did not mitigate the bottom features very much.  With the large amount of new snow be sure to check canyon road conditions before leaving the house so as not to get caught up in the traffic crush in the morning.  This is the one we have been waiting for so be still and rock hard!!!

Beautiful sunny morning with stout wind chilling an already cold morning.  The wind was swirling around the mountain with no apparent direction. It appeared out of the south, but Peruvian was blowing out of the north and Gad seemed to be out of the west.  The wind did not have quite enough carrying power to do much in the way of smoothing , but the  high north faces were showing signs of buffage.  The considerably cold temps helped keep the snow refrigerated nicely and only the most direct exposures will get wet.   The grooming crew punched a shot in Mineral, which I have never seen done, and it was a treat;  look for it under the chair.  Two other  lower Peruvian classics got the treatment as well and were super velvet.  Very nice!!  I took full advantage of the low early morning attendance to hammer out some serious vertical until the lines started to fill in as the morning progressed.  Out of area opened with great reports from the return tours so  the overall trend is getting better by the day. The forecast continues to promise a substantial snowfall so it is going to get good .  Bump areas are still hanging tough , but hopefully the new snow will be deep enough to make them blastable; one can only hope.  Shake off that daylight savings fog and get out early!!!!

You knew winter would return sooner or later.  This morning was cold and clear with clouds hanging on the mountain.  It is my day off from the hill .  2” were reported overnight so no real change in over all conditions can be expected except for some righteous sunshine and that can make the day in itself.  The groomers will be great again, as usual, and other aspects will have remained the same as yesterday.  Another more juicy storm, predicted for Monday, will help move the softness factor back into the plus zone.    Be aware that the bottom will be a factor on most aspects.  Have fun, enjoy the day !!!

Excellent grooming overnight straightened out the overall inconsistency of the old and new making the morning session rather delightful.  Overcast skies with light snow did not pose any visability problems.  The wind was rather quiescent at the peak but still the morning peak temp was 6 degrees.  I dressed for cold weather and that was a plus.   Light traffic for the first hour let vertical accumulate  until 10:30 AM when a large group arrived and briefly swelled the tram line but was back to walk ons by noon.  The off trail conditons remained quite challenging with the bump template firmly reliefed under the new snow.  The west facing remains very crusty below so northern aspects should be sought out.  Mineral remains variable and a quick tour of the groomers is in order to get a good look at your best options.. Again, north facing is going to be the better option with a smoother complexion beneath the new product.  It was snowing briskly when I left and snow all night is predicted.   The rocks at the top of the middle Cirque are getting covered again, but only slightly, so use caution when you approach this area from the traverse.  The north trees are still soft with the new snow but profuse bumps remain so take that into consideration.   I am not a fan of bumps as you may have noticed.  Take care, enjoy the fresh snow and don’t let the gnar get you!!!  Out!

The bubble finally popped and the freshness arrived none too soon.   The faithful showed up to celebrate it’s arrival with much energy and hunger.  First tram went off without delay.  The new snow was very nice with just the right amount of resistance to help cushion the underlying harshness, but none the less it was fully there.  Folks, who did not read yesterday’s advisement, ran head long into that reefage at the top of the middle Cirque which caused some consternation when they hit the rocks.  OOPS !!!  The depth was quite a bit greater than I though I would find and that was a good thing.  Some aspects had slid leaving just the old surface exposed; those places were a bit tricky.  I ran into some areas where the bumps had formed  two days ago which caught me off guard and I dealt with the thrashing.  OH! my knees.   Areas opened up in fine fashion and the crowd got spread out a bit .  Tomorrow should  be a bit more consistent and soft on the groomers but off trail will still be harboring some interesting crustulation.  The forecast is for more snow and cold so the overall conditions will improve markedly by the day,  Stay tuned !!!