J.Spin
New member
The past week has finally helped to build the snowpack in western Montana. The monster storm that pushed on shore earlier in the week added about 18 inches of snow depth at Lost Trail, so now the snowpack stands at 25? at the base (7,000?), 29? at the top of chair 1 (7,800?), and 27.7? near the top of the chair 4 area (7,900?). Unfortunately, a colossal warm front has raised snow levels to around 7,000? (we were in the 50s here in Hamilton today at around 3,600 feet). With all the new snow, we had decided to head up to Lost Trail no matter what, and even if the conditions weren?t all that great, we could give Ty the time on skis he?s been wanting for the past two weeks. The temperature was 51 F when we left our place, and I was amazed that it didn?t change a bit all the way up to 5,000 feet. Then, suddenly, in about the span of about 2 turns on the pass (maybe a mile at the most), the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. That was some sharp temperature gradient! The fairly heavy rain turned to snow at around 6,500?, and the temperature finally bottomed out at around 37 F at the top of the pass.
The snow surface we found was sort of wet, and a bit crusty. Lost Trail had groomed some of their terrain, presumably getting the base in shape for their eventual opening, but it didn?t seem worth hiking with Ty for a groomed run or the difficult conditions off trail. We probably would have needed to get up around 9,000? to get to some quality snow anyway. So, we got Ty?s skis out and played around in the parking lot and the small hill near the lodge. We pulled him around a lot, and, for the first time, he slid on his own for a few feet. A few folks were hiking up for turns, but we didn?t get to hear from them about how things went. There was plenty of prep action going on around the base, so hopefully the area will be ready to open as soon as they hit the depth they want (I think this is around 36 inches of settled snow). A cold front is moving through now, and should bring back more normal temperatures tomorrow. We may head back up to the hill if they get enough new snow to cover the crusty stuff, but it doesn?t seem like there is quite enough moisture around to make it happen.
J.Spin
The snow surface we found was sort of wet, and a bit crusty. Lost Trail had groomed some of their terrain, presumably getting the base in shape for their eventual opening, but it didn?t seem worth hiking with Ty for a groomed run or the difficult conditions off trail. We probably would have needed to get up around 9,000? to get to some quality snow anyway. So, we got Ty?s skis out and played around in the parking lot and the small hill near the lodge. We pulled him around a lot, and, for the first time, he slid on his own for a few feet. A few folks were hiking up for turns, but we didn?t get to hear from them about how things went. There was plenty of prep action going on around the base, so hopefully the area will be ready to open as soon as they hit the depth they want (I think this is around 36 inches of settled snow). A cold front is moving through now, and should bring back more normal temperatures tomorrow. We may head back up to the hill if they get enough new snow to cover the crusty stuff, but it doesn?t seem like there is quite enough moisture around to make it happen.
J.Spin