Days 21-22: Thank you, Santa!
I'm not quite sure how I got shifted from Santa's "Naughty" list to his "Nice" one this year, but I must've done something right. Santa dropped 18" of new snow from his sleigh this holiday to deliver yet another "best day of the year (so far)."
With the new snow have come the holiday visitors. Lots of map readers, and plentiful examples of stupid human tricks were displayed all over the mountain over the past two days.
About the only people you ever see using powder cords are visitors, but to their credit I didn't witness anyone using them as streamers this week. Skidog speculated on the business prospects of selling them out of the back of his car in the parking lot...in white only.
That's just a typical chairlift conversation with this gang. :lol: Unfortunately, today Skidog was serious when he commented, "This wind is getting a little windy."
Huh? :-s Who are you, Yogi Berra?
Yesterday (the 24th) was the storm day. We picked up about 5" of medium density snow overnight and it snowed moderately throughout the morning. It wasn't enough to hide the base but it sure sweetened things up. I left early to head down the canyon to prepare for our holiday party that night, just as the front blew through and ridiculously intense snowfall enveloped the canyon. The drive was no picnic, but it foretold our powder day for Christmas morning.
The road closed at 6 a.m. Christmas morning for avalanche control, and a note to Evren: I left my house at 8:10 a.m. At 8:27 I pulled up to the line of stopped cars right at A Gate. At precisely 8:29 a.m. we were rolling up the canyon and by 8:45 I was sitting inside GMD. Yeah, that's such a hassle!
It really doesn't get much better than it was today. Blue skies and a bit nippy, but tolerable. Oh, and did I mention 18" of untracked?
We caught the opening of Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder, and I had the best run of the year thus far down Harold's, not crossing a single track from the traverse all the way down to Main Street. Face shots on every turn. We didn't do too badly on the Backside rope drop for the Instructor's Traverse, either.
By 1 p.m. I was spent and headed home to exchange gifts.
Merry Christmas!
I'm not quite sure how I got shifted from Santa's "Naughty" list to his "Nice" one this year, but I must've done something right. Santa dropped 18" of new snow from his sleigh this holiday to deliver yet another "best day of the year (so far)."
With the new snow have come the holiday visitors. Lots of map readers, and plentiful examples of stupid human tricks were displayed all over the mountain over the past two days.
About the only people you ever see using powder cords are visitors, but to their credit I didn't witness anyone using them as streamers this week. Skidog speculated on the business prospects of selling them out of the back of his car in the parking lot...in white only.
That's just a typical chairlift conversation with this gang. :lol: Unfortunately, today Skidog was serious when he commented, "This wind is getting a little windy."
Huh? :-s Who are you, Yogi Berra?
Yesterday (the 24th) was the storm day. We picked up about 5" of medium density snow overnight and it snowed moderately throughout the morning. It wasn't enough to hide the base but it sure sweetened things up. I left early to head down the canyon to prepare for our holiday party that night, just as the front blew through and ridiculously intense snowfall enveloped the canyon. The drive was no picnic, but it foretold our powder day for Christmas morning.
The road closed at 6 a.m. Christmas morning for avalanche control, and a note to Evren: I left my house at 8:10 a.m. At 8:27 I pulled up to the line of stopped cars right at A Gate. At precisely 8:29 a.m. we were rolling up the canyon and by 8:45 I was sitting inside GMD. Yeah, that's such a hassle!
It really doesn't get much better than it was today. Blue skies and a bit nippy, but tolerable. Oh, and did I mention 18" of untracked?
We caught the opening of Ballroom/Baldy Shoulder, and I had the best run of the year thus far down Harold's, not crossing a single track from the traverse all the way down to Main Street. Face shots on every turn. We didn't do too badly on the Backside rope drop for the Instructor's Traverse, either.
By 1 p.m. I was spent and headed home to exchange gifts.
Merry Christmas!
