On our first day in Colorado the heat wave that had started while I was in Utah two weeks earlier was still going strong. Midday temps reached 60 degrees and I was in a T-shirt most of the day.
Due to high altitude and clear skies the mountain did freeze overnight. I was the unofficial tour guide as I had been here in 1980 and 1988 and my son Adam, friend Garry Klassen and Seattle weatherman Larry Schick (who introduced me to NASJA in 1999) had never been here before.
We headed for the Big Burn early but the snow was slightly on the hard side of ideal and surprisingly not much of it was freshly groomed. In mid-morning we moved to Alpine Springs, where the timing was right for groomed corn snow.
Due to conditions on the Burn we waited until after lunch before hitting any expert terrain. At 12:30 we went up High Alpine and took the short hike into Hanging Valley. The top had a short steep alpine face and the lower glades had good spring snow. On my 1980's trips this sector had been all powder, and it took a long time to track out as it requires 3 lifts and the hike to return.
We then took 3 more lifts plus the Rocky Mt. High poma (which did not exist in 1988) to 12,500 feet and skied the Cirque. There are quite a few interesting routes here, but when we went back up Sheer Bliss, we were shocked to find that the top poma and all the Cirque runs closed at 2:45PM. So we headed over to Sam's Knob and Campground, only to miss the latter's closing at 3:00PM.
We later found out that the closures were due to the unseasonable weather and patrol caution regarding possible wet slides.
Despite its high altitude and mostly north exposure Snowmass did not seem to handle the heat that well. There is a very small window of opportunity to ski the expert terrain between the time it softens and the time it closes, particularly with the 2-3 lift circuits necessary to get back to it. Most of the intermediate terrain is gradually pitched and susceptible to sticky snow after a while. The Burn and Sam's Knob hold up the best in warm weather.
I did take the camera on this trip but cleverly forgot to put the battery in it before skiing at Snowmass. I have pics from the other 8 days that I will resize and post later.
Due to high altitude and clear skies the mountain did freeze overnight. I was the unofficial tour guide as I had been here in 1980 and 1988 and my son Adam, friend Garry Klassen and Seattle weatherman Larry Schick (who introduced me to NASJA in 1999) had never been here before.
We headed for the Big Burn early but the snow was slightly on the hard side of ideal and surprisingly not much of it was freshly groomed. In mid-morning we moved to Alpine Springs, where the timing was right for groomed corn snow.
Due to conditions on the Burn we waited until after lunch before hitting any expert terrain. At 12:30 we went up High Alpine and took the short hike into Hanging Valley. The top had a short steep alpine face and the lower glades had good spring snow. On my 1980's trips this sector had been all powder, and it took a long time to track out as it requires 3 lifts and the hike to return.
We then took 3 more lifts plus the Rocky Mt. High poma (which did not exist in 1988) to 12,500 feet and skied the Cirque. There are quite a few interesting routes here, but when we went back up Sheer Bliss, we were shocked to find that the top poma and all the Cirque runs closed at 2:45PM. So we headed over to Sam's Knob and Campground, only to miss the latter's closing at 3:00PM.
We later found out that the closures were due to the unseasonable weather and patrol caution regarding possible wet slides.
Despite its high altitude and mostly north exposure Snowmass did not seem to handle the heat that well. There is a very small window of opportunity to ski the expert terrain between the time it softens and the time it closes, particularly with the 2-3 lift circuits necessary to get back to it. Most of the intermediate terrain is gradually pitched and susceptible to sticky snow after a while. The Burn and Sam's Knob hold up the best in warm weather.
I did take the camera on this trip but cleverly forgot to put the battery in it before skiing at Snowmass. I have pics from the other 8 days that I will resize and post later.