J.Spin
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A link to a few images is available at the bottom of the report.
Sunday was finally Ty?s chance to ski, and E was very excited to let him ride the chair lift for the first time. Lost Trail reported 2 inches of new snow, making for over a foot in the past week. The accumulations have even been enough to allow the re-opening of Lower Thunder, which was closed not because of coverage issues, but because of rotten snow that made for extremely difficult skiing. It looks like the new snow has finally been enough to cover up the rotten stuff. E also thought they may have done some grooming to help out the cause, but I couldn?t tell if that was the case.
As we drove up Lost Trail Pass in the morning, the snow line (as judged by accumulation on the trees) appeared to be around 6,500?. The snow at the ski area base (7,000?) had fallen a bit wet, but at least it was snow. The temperature when we arrived at the hill (~11:00 A.M.) was in the upper 30s F. While unpacking the gear from the car, I stuck Ty?s skis on the back of his KiD-SKi harness so that he could carry them. I figured he would quickly be annoyed with the idea, but as soon as I tried to take them out, he got mad. So, he ended up carrying them all the way to the base area. We?ll have to see if he has the same attitude when we?re hiking in the backcountry someday
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We considered heading over to Chair 5 for a shorter run, but eventually decided that a lap on Chair 2 (1,200? vertical) would probably work. With Chair 1 not running, we first had to head down Drifter, and Ty already seemed to a bit tired at the start of the run. Ty skied the Bunny Hill and the first part of Drifter on the H-Bar, but he wasn?t putting as much effort into his balance as usual, so it made a lot more work for me. Once we hit one of the steeper sections of Drifter, which was probably a mild blue, it became difficult to manage Ty?s speed. At one point in some of the steeper, uneven terrain, I had to lift him entirely off the snow with the H-Bar, which was a lot of work. The uneven terrain we?d encountered just wasn?t going to work with Ty?s level of effort today, so I carried him while I skied down to the mellow slopes near the bottom of Chair 2. Carrying Ty while skiing was actually a piece of cake, requiring far less effort that either skiing with him between the legs or with the bar. He liked it a lot, although I don?t think it was helping his skiing out too much.
I rode the lift with Ty, and his harness made loading (and unloading) a snap. E took my pack and the H-Bar, and rode on the chair right behind us. Ty really seemed to enjoy the lift ride and talked a lot during the trip. Once on the slopes, I let Ty ski the mellowest sections of Meadow Run and Meadow Trail, either with the bar or between my legs. During a couple of sections I carried him, and on the very last pitch above the lodge (Charlie Brown) he even got to ski some powder between my legs . He seemed to have a lot of fun with that. Ty was pretty tired after the one lap on the lift, and even though he was carried for some sections, he probably skied more vertical than he?d ever done before (8 laps on the Bunny Hill). He fell asleep within moments of starting the drive home.
It looks like a wet (although hopefully not too warm) week ahead, so maybe we?ll have some new snow accumulations for next weekend.
A few pictures of the day are at:
http://www.jandeproductions.com/2005/20MAR05.html
J.Spin
Sunday was finally Ty?s chance to ski, and E was very excited to let him ride the chair lift for the first time. Lost Trail reported 2 inches of new snow, making for over a foot in the past week. The accumulations have even been enough to allow the re-opening of Lower Thunder, which was closed not because of coverage issues, but because of rotten snow that made for extremely difficult skiing. It looks like the new snow has finally been enough to cover up the rotten stuff. E also thought they may have done some grooming to help out the cause, but I couldn?t tell if that was the case.
As we drove up Lost Trail Pass in the morning, the snow line (as judged by accumulation on the trees) appeared to be around 6,500?. The snow at the ski area base (7,000?) had fallen a bit wet, but at least it was snow. The temperature when we arrived at the hill (~11:00 A.M.) was in the upper 30s F. While unpacking the gear from the car, I stuck Ty?s skis on the back of his KiD-SKi harness so that he could carry them. I figured he would quickly be annoyed with the idea, but as soon as I tried to take them out, he got mad. So, he ended up carrying them all the way to the base area. We?ll have to see if he has the same attitude when we?re hiking in the backcountry someday
.We considered heading over to Chair 5 for a shorter run, but eventually decided that a lap on Chair 2 (1,200? vertical) would probably work. With Chair 1 not running, we first had to head down Drifter, and Ty already seemed to a bit tired at the start of the run. Ty skied the Bunny Hill and the first part of Drifter on the H-Bar, but he wasn?t putting as much effort into his balance as usual, so it made a lot more work for me. Once we hit one of the steeper sections of Drifter, which was probably a mild blue, it became difficult to manage Ty?s speed. At one point in some of the steeper, uneven terrain, I had to lift him entirely off the snow with the H-Bar, which was a lot of work. The uneven terrain we?d encountered just wasn?t going to work with Ty?s level of effort today, so I carried him while I skied down to the mellow slopes near the bottom of Chair 2. Carrying Ty while skiing was actually a piece of cake, requiring far less effort that either skiing with him between the legs or with the bar. He liked it a lot, although I don?t think it was helping his skiing out too much.
I rode the lift with Ty, and his harness made loading (and unloading) a snap. E took my pack and the H-Bar, and rode on the chair right behind us. Ty really seemed to enjoy the lift ride and talked a lot during the trip. Once on the slopes, I let Ty ski the mellowest sections of Meadow Run and Meadow Trail, either with the bar or between my legs. During a couple of sections I carried him, and on the very last pitch above the lodge (Charlie Brown) he even got to ski some powder between my legs . He seemed to have a lot of fun with that. Ty was pretty tired after the one lap on the lift, and even though he was carried for some sections, he probably skied more vertical than he?d ever done before (8 laps on the Bunny Hill). He fell asleep within moments of starting the drive home.
It looks like a wet (although hopefully not too warm) week ahead, so maybe we?ll have some new snow accumulations for next weekend.
A few pictures of the day are at:
http://www.jandeproductions.com/2005/20MAR05.html
J.Spin