Day 53: That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Today had easily the worst surfaces I've skied all winter. I'm told that last Saturday gave today a run for that title until it started snowing late in the day. I wouldn't know, I skipped last Saturday in favor of a hike with the dog and Skiace. I should have done the same today.
Today started off as bulletproof. It never softened. Groomers were porcelain and the ungroomed a coral reef. Bobby Danger said it hurt his feet. He and I planned to ski Pipeline, which would allow me to check off another of my life's bucket list items. After a couple of runs, however, I decided that in view of the firm snow, the thicker than forecast overcast, the brisk southwest wind and the hairball hike up the knife edge ridge made worse by this season's lower than normal snow pack, I was going to pass. As the late Doug Coombs once said, the mountain speaks to you and you have to listen to what she's telling you. Sometimes she says, "Not today." Today she was loud and clear. Bobby, though, stuck to plan and headed alone for the Twins, but Snowbird patrol had already closed the gate by the time he got there so his plans were thwarted, too. In the end the mountain had her way.
I bumped into Alta GM Onno Wieringa outside Watson's at mid-mountain and asked if he couldn't find a better time of day to sample the product. He laughed and assured me that he could, but alas it never got any better. AmyZ, Skidog, Bobby and I spent the morning at Alta until just after 11, when we headed for Snowbird to meet Mira, Sima and Baron. Contrary to Crocker's misinformation emanating from California, not a single snowflake avoided this week's warmth - not on any aspect, not at any elevation. If things had softened today that would have been no problem but only the bottom couple of hundred verts softened any at all. Yes, Tony, that includes upper Silver Fox, the Rastas, Whoopsies, etc. All were positively miserable. Skiing them was at best character building, at worst masochistic. I actually contemplated lapping the Wilbere chair.
We found rdwore on the plaza at Snowbird and he accompanied us back to our cars at Alta. For some reason I stuck it out until 3PM. I'm still not sure why I did.
No photos today, it wasn't worth bothering to pull my camera from my pack.
Sent from my HP TouchPad running Android 4.0 ICS
Today had easily the worst surfaces I've skied all winter. I'm told that last Saturday gave today a run for that title until it started snowing late in the day. I wouldn't know, I skipped last Saturday in favor of a hike with the dog and Skiace. I should have done the same today.
Today started off as bulletproof. It never softened. Groomers were porcelain and the ungroomed a coral reef. Bobby Danger said it hurt his feet. He and I planned to ski Pipeline, which would allow me to check off another of my life's bucket list items. After a couple of runs, however, I decided that in view of the firm snow, the thicker than forecast overcast, the brisk southwest wind and the hairball hike up the knife edge ridge made worse by this season's lower than normal snow pack, I was going to pass. As the late Doug Coombs once said, the mountain speaks to you and you have to listen to what she's telling you. Sometimes she says, "Not today." Today she was loud and clear. Bobby, though, stuck to plan and headed alone for the Twins, but Snowbird patrol had already closed the gate by the time he got there so his plans were thwarted, too. In the end the mountain had her way.
I bumped into Alta GM Onno Wieringa outside Watson's at mid-mountain and asked if he couldn't find a better time of day to sample the product. He laughed and assured me that he could, but alas it never got any better. AmyZ, Skidog, Bobby and I spent the morning at Alta until just after 11, when we headed for Snowbird to meet Mira, Sima and Baron. Contrary to Crocker's misinformation emanating from California, not a single snowflake avoided this week's warmth - not on any aspect, not at any elevation. If things had softened today that would have been no problem but only the bottom couple of hundred verts softened any at all. Yes, Tony, that includes upper Silver Fox, the Rastas, Whoopsies, etc. All were positively miserable. Skiing them was at best character building, at worst masochistic. I actually contemplated lapping the Wilbere chair.
We found rdwore on the plaza at Snowbird and he accompanied us back to our cars at Alta. For some reason I stuck it out until 3PM. I'm still not sure why I did.
No photos today, it wasn't worth bothering to pull my camera from my pack.
Sent from my HP TouchPad running Android 4.0 ICS
