Day 40:
Some have said that I've gotten spoiled since moving here. :roll: Today will make those folks feel vindicated. Only a year ago, it would have been even inconceivable to leave the mountain at noon with 8 inches of new snow on the hill.
But today was a bit less than inspiring, and I wanted to save energy for an even bigger, better day promised for tomorrow. That, and for some unknown reason I was positively exhausted today, and promptly stretched out in bed at 1:45 pm for a 90-minute nap.
Marc_C semi-tied one on for St. Patty's Day, leaving Dale and yours truly to ourselves for the first couple of runs. The first was out to West Rustler, a mistake after the prevailing southwesterly winds overnight moved the snow around over there. This stuff wasn't 6% blower to begin with (probably 12-15% is my guess - it rained at my place at 5,000 feet), and the uneven depths were tricky to say the least over the sun crust from earlier this week. We finished by catching the Tower 10 traverse over to Christmas Tree, then back to the base. Dale was trying a pair of Volkl Mantra demos, basically the same ski as my CMH-Edition Explosivs, but he wasn't loving life, claiming that they felt heavy. I (and later Marc_C) tried to tell him that yes, indeed, they are heavy, but you can't expect to be dancing around on them like Tinkerbelle -- their heaviness is an asset when plowing through stuff when you roll them on edge and just hang on for the ride.
Still no Marc_C, so we headed back up Collins, realizing that we should've taken Wildcat instead. We zipped out the Baldy Shoulder traverse, which for some reason unknown to me is now an up-and-down adventure today, whereas before it was a gravity traverse all the way, culminating in a ropeline gate into Baldy Shoulder proper that seems to have been moved uphill, too. I should've stopped at Ballroom and hit the untracked there in the filtered sunlight, for by the time I reached Tombstone the flat light and snow had moved in there, and it was a braille run through chowder. Down low, however, I managed to find some untracked in the trees near the top of the old Collins lift, and life was good -- as expected, that aspect was apparently well-sheltered from last night's wind.
We hooked up with Marc_C at the base and headed up Wildcat, finding nice, even untracked on the hill behind where the Watson Shelter used to be. Even better was Cabin Hill after another ride up Collins -- perfect untracked, the turns of the day in my opinion after Dale exchanged his Mantras for his kid's skis sitting in the back of his truck.
We rode up Supreme and hiked up Catherine's, and headed out beyond So Long. I decided to venture to the left past the Cliff Area signs, convinced that there must be a way to thread through them, and was rewarded with the deepest turns of the day through the trees. Somewhere along the way, we lost sight of Dale. Out of bounds into the Patsy Marley sidecountry, turns were lovely untracked, albeit with a slight crust that could be felt underneath.
No sign of Dale, so we headed back up Supreme only to have my phone ring just as we were boarding. Dale had gone back to GMD to swap out his demos, so Marc_C and I skied No. 9 trees, linking tree islands and finding untracked at noon. We headed down and out to the transfer tow to GMD for lunch, but at lunch, we were all fading.
"Ya know, I'd like to save some energy for tomorrow."
"Yeah, I've got a lot of stuff to do at home."
"I think I'm outta here."
So, at 12:45, we each headed out to our respective vehicles. On what many would consider to be a powder day. After a measly 9,403 vertical feet.
The snain at my house at 5,000 feet has just turned to snow at 43.2ºF. Tonight's system promises to be colder, and drier. The forecast calls for 2-5" during the day today, 8-14" tonight, another 8-14" during the day tomorrow, and even more beyond that. Local meteorologist Mark Eubank explains that there's a low pressure system centered over San Francisco, that is spinning like a pinwheel and throwing spokes of moisture in our direction, one wave after another. Tomorrow should be a good day!
Some have said that I've gotten spoiled since moving here. :roll: Today will make those folks feel vindicated. Only a year ago, it would have been even inconceivable to leave the mountain at noon with 8 inches of new snow on the hill.
But today was a bit less than inspiring, and I wanted to save energy for an even bigger, better day promised for tomorrow. That, and for some unknown reason I was positively exhausted today, and promptly stretched out in bed at 1:45 pm for a 90-minute nap.
Marc_C semi-tied one on for St. Patty's Day, leaving Dale and yours truly to ourselves for the first couple of runs. The first was out to West Rustler, a mistake after the prevailing southwesterly winds overnight moved the snow around over there. This stuff wasn't 6% blower to begin with (probably 12-15% is my guess - it rained at my place at 5,000 feet), and the uneven depths were tricky to say the least over the sun crust from earlier this week. We finished by catching the Tower 10 traverse over to Christmas Tree, then back to the base. Dale was trying a pair of Volkl Mantra demos, basically the same ski as my CMH-Edition Explosivs, but he wasn't loving life, claiming that they felt heavy. I (and later Marc_C) tried to tell him that yes, indeed, they are heavy, but you can't expect to be dancing around on them like Tinkerbelle -- their heaviness is an asset when plowing through stuff when you roll them on edge and just hang on for the ride.
Still no Marc_C, so we headed back up Collins, realizing that we should've taken Wildcat instead. We zipped out the Baldy Shoulder traverse, which for some reason unknown to me is now an up-and-down adventure today, whereas before it was a gravity traverse all the way, culminating in a ropeline gate into Baldy Shoulder proper that seems to have been moved uphill, too. I should've stopped at Ballroom and hit the untracked there in the filtered sunlight, for by the time I reached Tombstone the flat light and snow had moved in there, and it was a braille run through chowder. Down low, however, I managed to find some untracked in the trees near the top of the old Collins lift, and life was good -- as expected, that aspect was apparently well-sheltered from last night's wind.
We hooked up with Marc_C at the base and headed up Wildcat, finding nice, even untracked on the hill behind where the Watson Shelter used to be. Even better was Cabin Hill after another ride up Collins -- perfect untracked, the turns of the day in my opinion after Dale exchanged his Mantras for his kid's skis sitting in the back of his truck.
We rode up Supreme and hiked up Catherine's, and headed out beyond So Long. I decided to venture to the left past the Cliff Area signs, convinced that there must be a way to thread through them, and was rewarded with the deepest turns of the day through the trees. Somewhere along the way, we lost sight of Dale. Out of bounds into the Patsy Marley sidecountry, turns were lovely untracked, albeit with a slight crust that could be felt underneath.
No sign of Dale, so we headed back up Supreme only to have my phone ring just as we were boarding. Dale had gone back to GMD to swap out his demos, so Marc_C and I skied No. 9 trees, linking tree islands and finding untracked at noon. We headed down and out to the transfer tow to GMD for lunch, but at lunch, we were all fading.
"Ya know, I'd like to save some energy for tomorrow."
"Yeah, I've got a lot of stuff to do at home."
"I think I'm outta here."
So, at 12:45, we each headed out to our respective vehicles. On what many would consider to be a powder day. After a measly 9,403 vertical feet.
The snain at my house at 5,000 feet has just turned to snow at 43.2ºF. Tonight's system promises to be colder, and drier. The forecast calls for 2-5" during the day today, 8-14" tonight, another 8-14" during the day tomorrow, and even more beyond that. Local meteorologist Mark Eubank explains that there's a low pressure system centered over San Francisco, that is spinning like a pinwheel and throwing spokes of moisture in our direction, one wave after another. Tomorrow should be a good day!
