This morning was clear and a bit colder, so I wanted to get the hill to see what was up. The light was flat on the hill just before the Sun came up, so I took the opportunity to make an early visit to the Planetary Office and commiserate with the crew and assess the situation, before rushing out to what would await. The early reports were not encouraging, but we finished our deliberations and made a survey of the hill. The Tram has ice built up on the cables from the peak to past Tower 4. The Tram crew was working at knocking it off, but it was a very slow operation, so the Tram will be a wild card. The Peruvian Chair offered the quickest passage to the upper mountain, where the glaze layer was breaking up under the traffic, revealing some nice sugar just underneath. The day was looking up. With very low attendance, back to back chairs were no problem, and I began to look for some wind transported deposits that were placed in the hollows. These little treasures kept the interest up, while trying to deal with an otherwise challenging day. Tomorrow will not be a morning to rush up to get the early turns, rather a little wait for some traffic to tenderize the hill would not be an unreasonable option. You are aware of the pressure to make the opening bell? Well you get a free- get out of first Tram- pass with no demerits. I do not know if there is any snow forecast for the next bit, but these conditions will persist for some time. These conditions sharply contrast the spectacular run of goodness we have had up until now, and expose any bad habits you might have let creep in during these great past times. I was shwagging all my turns , as my edges are toast, and I don’t want the knee grabbing impact of a sharp edge. I will get to lay into the turn with confidence in the near future. In the mean time, I will be taking it easy and continue the training runs to be ready for the next siege, which you know will come. Keep the faith!!! Ciao! Here is a shot of the peak dock covered in ice. There is someone knocking the rhime ice off the cables.
STRANGE DAYS