Pajarito-Bred
New member
5 am snow report-- Zero new. But the weatherman promised snow, and the first flakes were falling as we left home for the commute up the valley. 140 miles of snowy driving later, we were at the top of the Centennial lift with about 7" new snow at about 10 am.
We spent the morning exploring Grouse mountain bumps, and the open expanse of Larkspur bowl, where the crusty moguls were well hidden under the smoother fresh snow, and a challenge to ski. The north-facing runs there and off Grouse Mountain were in better shape, the light was better and the underlying bumps more tolerant of my skis. We took a run on Peregrine, under the Birds of Prey lift. The bumps looked smaller than usual, from the lift, with lots of lightly tracked areas along the south side. I, however found myself in one of the lines under lift made by a swarm of hot 20-year-old bumpers, but I showed up 28 years too late.
We found the best snow in afternoon down low, off the Centenniel quad, opposite the groomed intermediate runs, lightly tracked in the am, plus a few bonus inches from an afternoon snow squall.
It's likely the back bowls of Vail were not so pleasant to ski given the same conditions, not quite enough new powder to blank out the underlying sun/skier crust. Saturdays BC is often better since Vail seems to draw a heavier contingent of Denver-area "front-rangers" Crowds at BC were non-existent, except in the lodge at the top of Centenniel.
I'm getting tired of reading all those great Alta reports secondhand, after skiing so much early-season sketchiness here in CO. Next weekend we're sneaking across the border into Utah to go hunting for more powder.
We spent the morning exploring Grouse mountain bumps, and the open expanse of Larkspur bowl, where the crusty moguls were well hidden under the smoother fresh snow, and a challenge to ski. The north-facing runs there and off Grouse Mountain were in better shape, the light was better and the underlying bumps more tolerant of my skis. We took a run on Peregrine, under the Birds of Prey lift. The bumps looked smaller than usual, from the lift, with lots of lightly tracked areas along the south side. I, however found myself in one of the lines under lift made by a swarm of hot 20-year-old bumpers, but I showed up 28 years too late.
We found the best snow in afternoon down low, off the Centenniel quad, opposite the groomed intermediate runs, lightly tracked in the am, plus a few bonus inches from an afternoon snow squall.
It's likely the back bowls of Vail were not so pleasant to ski given the same conditions, not quite enough new powder to blank out the underlying sun/skier crust. Saturdays BC is often better since Vail seems to draw a heavier contingent of Denver-area "front-rangers" Crowds at BC were non-existent, except in the lodge at the top of Centenniel.
I'm getting tired of reading all those great Alta reports secondhand, after skiing so much early-season sketchiness here in CO. Next weekend we're sneaking across the border into Utah to go hunting for more powder.
