Matt Duffy
New member
"Just to let you know, it's minus 58 on top." It was a warning given to us by the attendant of the M1 lift. Ha. That's nothing. Until it gets below the negative triple digit mark, it isn't too cold to ski. Anything below that, and it depends on the day... <BR> <BR>Back to the point, minus 58 windchill is not bad at all with the proper attire. That was at 9am. It was easily above zero by noon. <BR> <BR>There was some new snow up there last night, too. 3" is the official report, but wind played it's usual games with it, sometimes providing good stretches of boot-top deep. Trouble is, this is on top of very, very firm snow, crust, and sometimes ice. A couple of tear-jerking cruisers on a groomed FIS were pretty fun with nice swaths of untouched powder on the left half. Another fast one on Chilcoot and it was time for a break to warm the toes. <BR> <BR>We then got adventurous and checked out the virgin Drifter Woods, which were really nice in the upper sections, boot deep snow helped that out. Yes, it was on top of crust, but it never broke and the fresh stuff was just enough to make it enjoyable. The lower parts though.... not quite enough new snow. Another 6" would make a world of difference. <BR> <BR>Then, not having been punished enough, we ventured for some more open woods, where there is a bit more freedom in which to move. Snow was consistantly boot-top, sometimes deeper out there. But it was of the ultra-light variety, normally a good thing, but not with crust underneath. We were fortunate that no one else has been foolish enough to go out there yet. The surface was smooth under the light powder. It was odd; skiing in untouched powder, having it roll up above my knees and into my chest, while at the same time my skis made a very loud scraping sound with every turn. Strange. I had fun, but won't likely be out there 'til there's a lot more snow.