EMSC
Well-known member
This trip was the annual guys trip I go on. Castle is certainly a favorite 'little area that rocks' too.
As expected on too many pre-planned trips, 'you should have been here last week when we had the best conditions of the year'. It was not a bad by any means (~1" new on Mar 8th day), but also the 'least good' snow overall that I've skied at Castle, mostly because it's been absolutely beyond incredible on my prior trips. We still skied some pretty good snow to be sure, but on more limited aspects.
Thursday the 8th was fairly chilly starting off at -23C(-10F) but with the sun out all day it felt pleasant once past the early am. Most of us had flown in the evening before only getting to Pincher Creek after midnight, and with the temperatures there wasn't exactly a rush to the mtn. Getting on-hill by ~9:30. We tried a warm-up lap in Sheriff (main upper bowl to the right of the red chair(tamarack)). It was OK, but also a bit firm-ish/lumpy-ish to the lookers right side and softer to lookers left side of that bowl. My brother seemed only interested in the south chutes and we tried those next but thy were not good. At some point the sun and lightly softened them making for a mixed bag of chunky, soft, and firm-ish all at the same time with maybe an inch of new snow on top.
We never skied the south chutes again this trip.
It was clear that sun exposure was the key to everything so we tested the east faces on the North peak. where we began to find all the spots that still held 6" of leftovers or in some spots decently long lines of ~6" for several hundred verts at a time. I should mention here just how uncrowded it was on Thursday. There was almost no one skiing the steeper terrain. I think early they had a small lesson, but in the afternoon there was a literal one person occasionally on the beginner chair, etc... It was a bit repetitive, hitting only ~3 or 4 different named areas on the north mountain most of the day but the snow was quite good in the steep trees. We did manage to get a lap in kind of in huckleberry bowl and the pitch between tamarack bowl/showboat which also had the same mix of soft and untracked conditions. With only a stop for a snack at 2p.
Sunday the 12th was the 4th consecutive day of the trip and we had to drive over in the morning from Sparwood area. It was supposed to warm up per the forecast, but we ended up with sun at the base and a persistent cloudiness over the upper 3/4 which was a good thing. keeping things cool and fresh. There was probably a wild ~25F temperature difference between the upper and lower mtn. With the base just below the freezing mark and a decent chill up top. Castle had had 8cm (3") on Saturday's report but per the employees Saturday had crazy big crowds with 30+ minute lift lines and 30+ min lunch lines (on Sunday they were out of about half their lunch menu including simple things like fries). Sunday did have short lift lines. None longer than ~5-8 min and most of the time 2-3 or even zero.
We were late to start at ~10a and as we neared the top of the blue chair (sundance) we about panicked as the red chair was not running. After a brief talk with the patroller turning people away we learned it was mechanical in nature with a 30 min estimated re-start. So we went down under the blue chair and took the t-bar up which goes a bit higher than the blue chair by just enough for a higher traverse line. It turned out to be unnecessary as the red chair was running by the time we made it back up.
While certain parts of what we had skied several days earlier were skied off there were still pockets of soft and 6-8" to be found on the North peak areas as well as the huckleberry/showboat Red chair run. This time with tired legs we did take a 20-30 min lunch break but mostly kept to the 'bird in the hand' areas we knew were good instead of skiing areas that might or might not have been angled just enough to the S of E. Again being a bit of a broken record, but still varying over an expanded 6+ named trail width of of North peak. Some of the decision factors being the large vert on a potentially poor snow line once you've committed, and the long cycle times per lap that get chewed up too.
Frosty approach Mar 8
Nearly empty parking right in front of the day lodge
It would have been better if we tried closer to the chair sun aspect wise.
One and done in the south chutes...
Top of North peak side
New Tele skier addition to the crew this year.
Finally figuring out where there were deeper pockets...
Unnamed, but near Tamarack Bowl late afternoon. Note the sun still hitting the aspect we skied on our first run. At some point in the days prior it had warmed just enough to make things not terrible, but not great in sunny/South-ish facing areas.
Certainly an appropriately named bar with a low key vibe.
MARCH 12th pics.
As Tony put in his report the Frank Slide between Castle and Fernie as we head back east to Castle...
A bit overcast and even flurries up top
It was hard to get a pic to show the mixed sunny/cloudy conditions
These next few are on the pitch near Tamarack bowl
As expected on too many pre-planned trips, 'you should have been here last week when we had the best conditions of the year'. It was not a bad by any means (~1" new on Mar 8th day), but also the 'least good' snow overall that I've skied at Castle, mostly because it's been absolutely beyond incredible on my prior trips. We still skied some pretty good snow to be sure, but on more limited aspects.
Thursday the 8th was fairly chilly starting off at -23C(-10F) but with the sun out all day it felt pleasant once past the early am. Most of us had flown in the evening before only getting to Pincher Creek after midnight, and with the temperatures there wasn't exactly a rush to the mtn. Getting on-hill by ~9:30. We tried a warm-up lap in Sheriff (main upper bowl to the right of the red chair(tamarack)). It was OK, but also a bit firm-ish/lumpy-ish to the lookers right side and softer to lookers left side of that bowl. My brother seemed only interested in the south chutes and we tried those next but thy were not good. At some point the sun and lightly softened them making for a mixed bag of chunky, soft, and firm-ish all at the same time with maybe an inch of new snow on top.
We never skied the south chutes again this trip.
It was clear that sun exposure was the key to everything so we tested the east faces on the North peak. where we began to find all the spots that still held 6" of leftovers or in some spots decently long lines of ~6" for several hundred verts at a time. I should mention here just how uncrowded it was on Thursday. There was almost no one skiing the steeper terrain. I think early they had a small lesson, but in the afternoon there was a literal one person occasionally on the beginner chair, etc... It was a bit repetitive, hitting only ~3 or 4 different named areas on the north mountain most of the day but the snow was quite good in the steep trees. We did manage to get a lap in kind of in huckleberry bowl and the pitch between tamarack bowl/showboat which also had the same mix of soft and untracked conditions. With only a stop for a snack at 2p.
Sunday the 12th was the 4th consecutive day of the trip and we had to drive over in the morning from Sparwood area. It was supposed to warm up per the forecast, but we ended up with sun at the base and a persistent cloudiness over the upper 3/4 which was a good thing. keeping things cool and fresh. There was probably a wild ~25F temperature difference between the upper and lower mtn. With the base just below the freezing mark and a decent chill up top. Castle had had 8cm (3") on Saturday's report but per the employees Saturday had crazy big crowds with 30+ minute lift lines and 30+ min lunch lines (on Sunday they were out of about half their lunch menu including simple things like fries). Sunday did have short lift lines. None longer than ~5-8 min and most of the time 2-3 or even zero.
We were late to start at ~10a and as we neared the top of the blue chair (sundance) we about panicked as the red chair was not running. After a brief talk with the patroller turning people away we learned it was mechanical in nature with a 30 min estimated re-start. So we went down under the blue chair and took the t-bar up which goes a bit higher than the blue chair by just enough for a higher traverse line. It turned out to be unnecessary as the red chair was running by the time we made it back up.
While certain parts of what we had skied several days earlier were skied off there were still pockets of soft and 6-8" to be found on the North peak areas as well as the huckleberry/showboat Red chair run. This time with tired legs we did take a 20-30 min lunch break but mostly kept to the 'bird in the hand' areas we knew were good instead of skiing areas that might or might not have been angled just enough to the S of E. Again being a bit of a broken record, but still varying over an expanded 6+ named trail width of of North peak. Some of the decision factors being the large vert on a potentially poor snow line once you've committed, and the long cycle times per lap that get chewed up too.
Frosty approach Mar 8
Nearly empty parking right in front of the day lodge
It would have been better if we tried closer to the chair sun aspect wise.
One and done in the south chutes...
Top of North peak side
New Tele skier addition to the crew this year.
Finally figuring out where there were deeper pockets...
Unnamed, but near Tamarack Bowl late afternoon. Note the sun still hitting the aspect we skied on our first run. At some point in the days prior it had warmed just enough to make things not terrible, but not great in sunny/South-ish facing areas.
Certainly an appropriately named bar with a low key vibe.
MARCH 12th pics.
As Tony put in his report the Frank Slide between Castle and Fernie as we head back east to Castle...
A bit overcast and even flurries up top
It was hard to get a pic to show the mixed sunny/cloudy conditions
These next few are on the pitch near Tamarack bowl
