J.Spin
New member
A link to pictures is at the bottom of the report
Lost Trail reported 8 inches of new snow as they resumed operation for the weekend, so most folks were excited to get up on the hill and enjoy the powder. For the most part, the past week has been cloudy and cool with some moisture, and the biggest snowfall accumulations occurred around midweek. Even some of the people who can?t wait for spring to come have been happy to see us get into a cooler, wetter pattern. There?s a lot of concern about what this fire season will be like with the below normal snowpack.
I arrived at the hill in good time to make the lineup, which in this case was at the junction of the Bunny Hill and Drifter as everyone awaited the go ahead for Chair 2 loading. I found Paul and Claire (who also work at the laboratory) as we waited. Strangely, the wait turned into 10, then 15, then 20 minutes, and finally I decided to head out and seek another lift. Claire came with me on her skis and Paul decided to work on his snowboarding alone. We cut across the flat areas near the base and made it over to Chair 5 in just a couple of minutes. We were happy to see it running, and I figured we?d made the correct decision since there was still no sign of Chair 2 opening up.
We took a quick run down the Chair 5 lift line (Bobcat), which was my first chance to find out how the new snow was skiing. In many areas the snow had been compacted by the wind, so it was challenging powder skiing. We continued on down to Side Street and while the snow was deeper, it had still seen the effects of some sun and wind. I think we were the first people there for entire day though, as I couldn?t see any other tracks in the area.
While riding Chair 4, I mentioned to Claire that I was on the lookout for another colleague from the lab, Valerie, who was skiing with her husband Dominik. I only had a slight idea of what Val was wearing (various shades of blue) but Claire said that she had just seen a couple fitting my description under the lift. Well, if Val and Dom had made it over to Chair 4 and she?d seen them, there was a good chance we could find them again.
The Ripper looked pretty wind sculpted, so I decided to check out the Sacajewea trees for a first run. There was actually some nice powder on Sacajewea, but as soon as possible, I cut us into the trees to the skier?s right of the trail. Clair was impressed with the conditions in the trees, and made quick work of them. Since Claire is from France, I wasn?t sure how interested she would be in skiing the trees, but it turns out they are one of her favorite types of ski terrain. I?d always heard that not many people in Europe liked skiing in the trees, but Claire informed me that that wasn?t exactly correct. She explained the main issue: unlike the way most resorts are set up in the U.S., where there is simply a boundary to boundary policy, tree areas are considered ?off piste? at many European resorts. Therefore, it takes a bigger commitment if you are going to go and ski the trees. From our discussions, it seems that she has skied a lot of backcounty (including trees) in Europe. Anyway, she?s been here in Montana for about four months and has been enjoying the tree skiing.
Connecting over to Lewis and Clark through the trees, I saw a skier clothed in tri-color blue, and wondered if it could be Val. It turns out it was, and she and Dom had gotten off at the Chair 4 mid station and were on their way into the powder of the Odyssey trail. Claire and I joined them, and we found variable consistency powder. I found the lightest, deepest snow on the skier?s right, where the 8 inches hadn?t settled much. We finished off down Bob?s Run, which had adequate coverage, but much more settled snow due to its southern exposure.
On the next run, Val and Dom were game to try the Ripper, so we headed down the wind sculpted face. I took Claire slightly to the skier?s left under the lift to hit ?The Slot?. I suspected that as usual, it would be minimally affected by the wind, and boy was I right. I got to crank some nice high speed turns in the unblemished powder as we dropped down to the lower reaches of the face. I was shouting out some serious noise by the time I?d hit the bottom, and Claire agreed it was the best snow if the day so far. The snow below the face was also really nice on this side of the mountain, and our foursome regrouped for some fun turns on the lower slopes of the Ripper. Claire then jumped into the trees, as did I, to enjoy more of the good snow.
I was thinking about the snow conditions, when suddenly I remembered Elk Basin. I suspected it would have good snow as usual, and none of the others had ever even been there. Unfortunately, we lost Claire as she met up with another friend, but I got to introduce Val and Dom to Elk Basin. The snow was excellent, and on the first pitch I got turns to match those in ?The Slot?. Due to timing, we took our next run in the same direction, but headed back to the main base via Lower Oreo. The snow in the trees around the upper parts of Oreo was fantastic, probably due to its relatively high elevation and protection. Overall, it was great morning of turns.
On another skiing note, I finally (after about a decade) got a new pair of ski pants. I?ve been applying duct tape to my current pair of Mountain Hardwear Gore-Tex pants for about 5 years, and I?m on my third layer of tape for the cuffs. The pants have gained substantial weight due to all the duct tape holding them together (if you?ve seen them you?ll understand), and they?ve needed to be replaced for years. Still, I didn?t want to commit money to a new pair yet, especially one that I wasn?t sure I?d like. I?ve seen what Arc?teryx has to offer, and I was thinking about some of their Minuteman Pants, until we went up to Missoula and I checked them out. It turns out that the Theta SK pants were much more the style I wanted: they feature Gore Tex XCR, full (almost) side zips, articulated knees, powder cuffs, rugged cuff patches, and the supposed high quality of Arc?teryx. The pants are unfortunately quite expensive ($375 retail) but I found them online for around $300 through moosejaw.com. Arc?teryx also seems to have a degree of sizing options to match their product quality. They?ve got five sizes in the pants (XS-XL) each with three sub sizes (short, regular, and long) so almost anyone can get a perfect fit. Mine fit so well that I don?t even want to take them off after skiing. Anyway, so far I?m very impressed with the pants. I don?t think they?ll be any question about they?re ability to keep me dry; the big test will be how well they hold up over the next few seasons of hard skiing. If I can get a decade or so of hassle-free dryness out of the Theta SK pants, then the investment will certainly have been worth it.
A few pictures from the day can be found at:
http://www.jandeproductions.com/2005/26MAR05.html
J.Spin
Lost Trail reported 8 inches of new snow as they resumed operation for the weekend, so most folks were excited to get up on the hill and enjoy the powder. For the most part, the past week has been cloudy and cool with some moisture, and the biggest snowfall accumulations occurred around midweek. Even some of the people who can?t wait for spring to come have been happy to see us get into a cooler, wetter pattern. There?s a lot of concern about what this fire season will be like with the below normal snowpack.
I arrived at the hill in good time to make the lineup, which in this case was at the junction of the Bunny Hill and Drifter as everyone awaited the go ahead for Chair 2 loading. I found Paul and Claire (who also work at the laboratory) as we waited. Strangely, the wait turned into 10, then 15, then 20 minutes, and finally I decided to head out and seek another lift. Claire came with me on her skis and Paul decided to work on his snowboarding alone. We cut across the flat areas near the base and made it over to Chair 5 in just a couple of minutes. We were happy to see it running, and I figured we?d made the correct decision since there was still no sign of Chair 2 opening up.
We took a quick run down the Chair 5 lift line (Bobcat), which was my first chance to find out how the new snow was skiing. In many areas the snow had been compacted by the wind, so it was challenging powder skiing. We continued on down to Side Street and while the snow was deeper, it had still seen the effects of some sun and wind. I think we were the first people there for entire day though, as I couldn?t see any other tracks in the area.
While riding Chair 4, I mentioned to Claire that I was on the lookout for another colleague from the lab, Valerie, who was skiing with her husband Dominik. I only had a slight idea of what Val was wearing (various shades of blue) but Claire said that she had just seen a couple fitting my description under the lift. Well, if Val and Dom had made it over to Chair 4 and she?d seen them, there was a good chance we could find them again.
The Ripper looked pretty wind sculpted, so I decided to check out the Sacajewea trees for a first run. There was actually some nice powder on Sacajewea, but as soon as possible, I cut us into the trees to the skier?s right of the trail. Clair was impressed with the conditions in the trees, and made quick work of them. Since Claire is from France, I wasn?t sure how interested she would be in skiing the trees, but it turns out they are one of her favorite types of ski terrain. I?d always heard that not many people in Europe liked skiing in the trees, but Claire informed me that that wasn?t exactly correct. She explained the main issue: unlike the way most resorts are set up in the U.S., where there is simply a boundary to boundary policy, tree areas are considered ?off piste? at many European resorts. Therefore, it takes a bigger commitment if you are going to go and ski the trees. From our discussions, it seems that she has skied a lot of backcounty (including trees) in Europe. Anyway, she?s been here in Montana for about four months and has been enjoying the tree skiing.
Connecting over to Lewis and Clark through the trees, I saw a skier clothed in tri-color blue, and wondered if it could be Val. It turns out it was, and she and Dom had gotten off at the Chair 4 mid station and were on their way into the powder of the Odyssey trail. Claire and I joined them, and we found variable consistency powder. I found the lightest, deepest snow on the skier?s right, where the 8 inches hadn?t settled much. We finished off down Bob?s Run, which had adequate coverage, but much more settled snow due to its southern exposure.
On the next run, Val and Dom were game to try the Ripper, so we headed down the wind sculpted face. I took Claire slightly to the skier?s left under the lift to hit ?The Slot?. I suspected that as usual, it would be minimally affected by the wind, and boy was I right. I got to crank some nice high speed turns in the unblemished powder as we dropped down to the lower reaches of the face. I was shouting out some serious noise by the time I?d hit the bottom, and Claire agreed it was the best snow if the day so far. The snow below the face was also really nice on this side of the mountain, and our foursome regrouped for some fun turns on the lower slopes of the Ripper. Claire then jumped into the trees, as did I, to enjoy more of the good snow.
I was thinking about the snow conditions, when suddenly I remembered Elk Basin. I suspected it would have good snow as usual, and none of the others had ever even been there. Unfortunately, we lost Claire as she met up with another friend, but I got to introduce Val and Dom to Elk Basin. The snow was excellent, and on the first pitch I got turns to match those in ?The Slot?. Due to timing, we took our next run in the same direction, but headed back to the main base via Lower Oreo. The snow in the trees around the upper parts of Oreo was fantastic, probably due to its relatively high elevation and protection. Overall, it was great morning of turns.
On another skiing note, I finally (after about a decade) got a new pair of ski pants. I?ve been applying duct tape to my current pair of Mountain Hardwear Gore-Tex pants for about 5 years, and I?m on my third layer of tape for the cuffs. The pants have gained substantial weight due to all the duct tape holding them together (if you?ve seen them you?ll understand), and they?ve needed to be replaced for years. Still, I didn?t want to commit money to a new pair yet, especially one that I wasn?t sure I?d like. I?ve seen what Arc?teryx has to offer, and I was thinking about some of their Minuteman Pants, until we went up to Missoula and I checked them out. It turns out that the Theta SK pants were much more the style I wanted: they feature Gore Tex XCR, full (almost) side zips, articulated knees, powder cuffs, rugged cuff patches, and the supposed high quality of Arc?teryx. The pants are unfortunately quite expensive ($375 retail) but I found them online for around $300 through moosejaw.com. Arc?teryx also seems to have a degree of sizing options to match their product quality. They?ve got five sizes in the pants (XS-XL) each with three sub sizes (short, regular, and long) so almost anyone can get a perfect fit. Mine fit so well that I don?t even want to take them off after skiing. Anyway, so far I?m very impressed with the pants. I don?t think they?ll be any question about they?re ability to keep me dry; the big test will be how well they hold up over the next few seasons of hard skiing. If I can get a decade or so of hassle-free dryness out of the Theta SK pants, then the investment will certainly have been worth it.
A few pictures from the day can be found at:
http://www.jandeproductions.com/2005/26MAR05.html
J.Spin