schubwa
New member
Once again, I miss the Summit Chair opening the day before. But just like last time, they only had it open an hour before the 3:00 close time. It had been socked in all day and then cleared at the last minute.
So today I get to Sunrise and park and scramble into a short line, thinking there'll still be goodies for sure. It's light gray bird, with a bit of a west wind, but the chairs on Summit are turning so it's got to be a go. I line up and the rope comes down, so we get on the lift. But Patrol is still working on the top as the wind had created some slabs overnight. But up we go and see that they've opened the backside! First time this year. And I'm with Gerry and his son Alex Lopez, so it's straight off the back. Each guy gets his own bowl. Weird because nobody seems to be behind us. Usually you have to hurry to stay ahead of the guys behind, you know the drill. So down to the West Catchline, first guys off the back this season, through absolutely delicious creamy pow. Then up NWX, traverse all the way back to Summit and it's closed. WTF, they say they're still doing avy control, it'll be 45 minutes.
We soon find out that they let us on the chair by mistake! Ha, what luck! They had stopped all the others behind us so we get a heli-quality run off our season passes. Merry Christmas.
About a half an hour later the chair reopens and I took two more runs off the back before I had to get back to town. It's amazing how long it takes to do a lap off the back. You're on a fast groomed cat track with lots of rollers so it is not entirely unpleasant. Sort of like snowboard cross as you literally traverse for miles as you circumnavigate half the mountain. Can't wait 'till next time.
So today I get to Sunrise and park and scramble into a short line, thinking there'll still be goodies for sure. It's light gray bird, with a bit of a west wind, but the chairs on Summit are turning so it's got to be a go. I line up and the rope comes down, so we get on the lift. But Patrol is still working on the top as the wind had created some slabs overnight. But up we go and see that they've opened the backside! First time this year. And I'm with Gerry and his son Alex Lopez, so it's straight off the back. Each guy gets his own bowl. Weird because nobody seems to be behind us. Usually you have to hurry to stay ahead of the guys behind, you know the drill. So down to the West Catchline, first guys off the back this season, through absolutely delicious creamy pow. Then up NWX, traverse all the way back to Summit and it's closed. WTF, they say they're still doing avy control, it'll be 45 minutes.
We soon find out that they let us on the chair by mistake! Ha, what luck! They had stopped all the others behind us so we get a heli-quality run off our season passes. Merry Christmas.
About a half an hour later the chair reopens and I took two more runs off the back before I had to get back to town. It's amazing how long it takes to do a lap off the back. You're on a fast groomed cat track with lots of rollers so it is not entirely unpleasant. Sort of like snowboard cross as you literally traverse for miles as you circumnavigate half the mountain. Can't wait 'till next time.
