J.Spin
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A link to pictures is at the bottom of the report.
Last week once again provided some much needed moisture to the Bitterroots. The precipitation on Monday night/Tuesday morning left a neat look to the mountains, with a well defined snow level at ~5,000?. When I last checked out the weekend forecast, it looked like Sunday was going to be the cloudier day of the weekend. Sunday morning in town actually did turn out to be quite dreary, with a solid blanket of low clouds. However, as we headed south to the pass, the clouds began to break up. By the time we got to Lost Trail, it was mostly sunny with a few fluffy clouds passing through. The temperature was 41 degrees F, and there was a bit of a breeze from the north.
It?s always tough to gauge exactly how much snow falls at Lost Trail from the Saddle Mountain SNOTEL (which suggested 4-5 new inches), but as we headed to the main base area, we could see that coverage was looking really good. Amazingly, (or perhaps not so amazingly the way things went much of the 2004-2005 ski season) North Face looked nearly as good as it did all year. The major large obstacles on the trail were visible, but I?m not sure if they were ever completely hidden this season anyway. South Face was a solid blanket of white and looked to be in great shape for turns.
We decided to do some skiing with Ty in the Bunny Hill area, where we found a large amount of snow piled up into a tabletop. It must have been from the snowmobile races the previous weekend. We started off with a couple of quick runs down the slope from the tabletop, and then I took Ty for a full run down the Bunny Hill. We worked a bit on keeping his hands up in front of him, but he didn?t last too long before he wanted to take a break and have some food. Fortunately, the car was right at the top of the slope.
Since Ty seemed to be done for the day, I decided to hike up for a quick run on Charlie Brown/South Face while he hung out with E and had a snack. They sat on the deck of the base lodge and had a nice view of the slopes. E commented that one of the coolest things to watch was the way the passing clouds were constantly changing the light and shadows on the snow. The clouds were moving quickly, so you never knew what the light was going to be like from one moment to the next.
I threw my skis on my pack and made the quick jaunt up to the flat area below South Face. I knew it wouldn?t be a long run, but at least I?d be able to make some turns on such a great day. On my way down, I took a quick trip into the new snowfall on the skier?s left of the trail, but it was a bit too sticky so I retreated back to the middle. The snow in the middle of the trail (that had seen some snowmobile traffic) was much more like corn and skied well. At the bottom of the run, I planned to pop myself up on a small mound of snow, but got a lot more air than I had planned on, sailed right over it, and landed in a heap. Ty noticed this, but seemed entirely uninterested in helping me out. Oh well.
For the most part, the snow on the hill was nice corn where there had been any sort of traffic, so there are plenty of good turns available for now. That may change soon though, because another storm is approaching and the Missoula NWS is calling for 6-10 inches above 6,000? in the Bitterroots. Things are cooling off enough that the snow level is supposed to drop all the way to 3,500?, so there could be some powder on the hill for Wednesday/Thursday. It?s supposed to stay cool and cloudy into the weekend, but I don?t think it will be enough to preserve the powder. In any event, we should be getting another batch of much needed moisture.
A few pictures from the day are at:
http://www.jandeproductions.com/2005/24APR05.html
J.Spin
Last week once again provided some much needed moisture to the Bitterroots. The precipitation on Monday night/Tuesday morning left a neat look to the mountains, with a well defined snow level at ~5,000?. When I last checked out the weekend forecast, it looked like Sunday was going to be the cloudier day of the weekend. Sunday morning in town actually did turn out to be quite dreary, with a solid blanket of low clouds. However, as we headed south to the pass, the clouds began to break up. By the time we got to Lost Trail, it was mostly sunny with a few fluffy clouds passing through. The temperature was 41 degrees F, and there was a bit of a breeze from the north.
It?s always tough to gauge exactly how much snow falls at Lost Trail from the Saddle Mountain SNOTEL (which suggested 4-5 new inches), but as we headed to the main base area, we could see that coverage was looking really good. Amazingly, (or perhaps not so amazingly the way things went much of the 2004-2005 ski season) North Face looked nearly as good as it did all year. The major large obstacles on the trail were visible, but I?m not sure if they were ever completely hidden this season anyway. South Face was a solid blanket of white and looked to be in great shape for turns.
We decided to do some skiing with Ty in the Bunny Hill area, where we found a large amount of snow piled up into a tabletop. It must have been from the snowmobile races the previous weekend. We started off with a couple of quick runs down the slope from the tabletop, and then I took Ty for a full run down the Bunny Hill. We worked a bit on keeping his hands up in front of him, but he didn?t last too long before he wanted to take a break and have some food. Fortunately, the car was right at the top of the slope.
Since Ty seemed to be done for the day, I decided to hike up for a quick run on Charlie Brown/South Face while he hung out with E and had a snack. They sat on the deck of the base lodge and had a nice view of the slopes. E commented that one of the coolest things to watch was the way the passing clouds were constantly changing the light and shadows on the snow. The clouds were moving quickly, so you never knew what the light was going to be like from one moment to the next.
I threw my skis on my pack and made the quick jaunt up to the flat area below South Face. I knew it wouldn?t be a long run, but at least I?d be able to make some turns on such a great day. On my way down, I took a quick trip into the new snowfall on the skier?s left of the trail, but it was a bit too sticky so I retreated back to the middle. The snow in the middle of the trail (that had seen some snowmobile traffic) was much more like corn and skied well. At the bottom of the run, I planned to pop myself up on a small mound of snow, but got a lot more air than I had planned on, sailed right over it, and landed in a heap. Ty noticed this, but seemed entirely uninterested in helping me out. Oh well.
For the most part, the snow on the hill was nice corn where there had been any sort of traffic, so there are plenty of good turns available for now. That may change soon though, because another storm is approaching and the Missoula NWS is calling for 6-10 inches above 6,000? in the Bitterroots. Things are cooling off enough that the snow level is supposed to drop all the way to 3,500?, so there could be some powder on the hill for Wednesday/Thursday. It?s supposed to stay cool and cloudy into the weekend, but I don?t think it will be enough to preserve the powder. In any event, we should be getting another batch of much needed moisture.
A few pictures from the day are at:
http://www.jandeproductions.com/2005/24APR05.html
J.Spin