Roger and Amy were in town visiting from Vermont. Marc_C, Dale, Pat and I headed to Solitude today to join them.
It was a wonderful morning. Wind apparently blew yesterday's new snow around a bit, and it took some figuring to decide where to go to maximize the depths. Wind crusts were tricky in a couple of places, but many more places sported boot-top or more of light fluff. South-facing aspects had a sun crust underneath, while north-facing lines were downright superb.
Our first foray was into the skier's left of Cirque, off the Apex knob, where we learned our first lesson about staying off south-facing aspects. The trees to get there, however, between Diamond Lane and Concord were sublime. Even those who stayed on Diamond Lane found an inch or two of fluff over groomed corduroy.
We went back up Powderhorn, and again dove into the trees, this time between Concord and Paradise. More good stuff was there to be had, finishing up in the trees between Stage Coach and Fluid Drive. On our third run we finally bopped out the Powderhorn gate into Black Forest, where despite boot-top new snow we were again reminded to stay off of south-facing aspects. Playing around with a few degrees of aspect here, a few degrees there, made all the difference in what was felt underneath.
Despite this we still headed out the gate to Parachute on our next run. It meant a more substantial run to gain access to the Summit chair, and it was also Roger's favorite run at Solitude. Good snow was available if you picked your line carefully.
Atop Summit, we headed out the Honeycomb Traverse. I'm not sure who set the traverse lines this season, but the upper traverse was a steep sidestep uphill, and the lower traverse was an up-and-down ride Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. We opted for the lower line, for we were heading out the gate to Prince of Wales, and there's no point in taking the higher line if you're accessing that gate.
Just beyond, we dropped into the trees to the skier's right side of Prince of Wales. What did we find there? Knee-deep bottomless untracked, baby! \
/ I never saw a single other track all the way back down to the Woodlawn trail. A bit further down Woodlawn we headed out the gate to skier's left and traversed over to Crystal Point, where more knee-deep untracked was found. I made the mistake of that momentary hesitation while threading some small aspens, forcing myself into "Oh $hit" mode before losing it. I heard Pat yell "I saw that!" from the traverse above. 
Dang!
High clouds were by now streaming in ahead of a storm expected to drop 12-18" of new snow tonight, and I had to head back down to the Valley to attend the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, so I called it a day by noon...already well-satisfied.
It was a wonderful morning. Wind apparently blew yesterday's new snow around a bit, and it took some figuring to decide where to go to maximize the depths. Wind crusts were tricky in a couple of places, but many more places sported boot-top or more of light fluff. South-facing aspects had a sun crust underneath, while north-facing lines were downright superb.
Our first foray was into the skier's left of Cirque, off the Apex knob, where we learned our first lesson about staying off south-facing aspects. The trees to get there, however, between Diamond Lane and Concord were sublime. Even those who stayed on Diamond Lane found an inch or two of fluff over groomed corduroy.
We went back up Powderhorn, and again dove into the trees, this time between Concord and Paradise. More good stuff was there to be had, finishing up in the trees between Stage Coach and Fluid Drive. On our third run we finally bopped out the Powderhorn gate into Black Forest, where despite boot-top new snow we were again reminded to stay off of south-facing aspects. Playing around with a few degrees of aspect here, a few degrees there, made all the difference in what was felt underneath.
Despite this we still headed out the gate to Parachute on our next run. It meant a more substantial run to gain access to the Summit chair, and it was also Roger's favorite run at Solitude. Good snow was available if you picked your line carefully.
Atop Summit, we headed out the Honeycomb Traverse. I'm not sure who set the traverse lines this season, but the upper traverse was a steep sidestep uphill, and the lower traverse was an up-and-down ride Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. We opted for the lower line, for we were heading out the gate to Prince of Wales, and there's no point in taking the higher line if you're accessing that gate.
Just beyond, we dropped into the trees to the skier's right side of Prince of Wales. What did we find there? Knee-deep bottomless untracked, baby! \
/ I never saw a single other track all the way back down to the Woodlawn trail. A bit further down Woodlawn we headed out the gate to skier's left and traversed over to Crystal Point, where more knee-deep untracked was found. I made the mistake of that momentary hesitation while threading some small aspens, forcing myself into "Oh $hit" mode before losing it. I heard Pat yell "I saw that!" from the traverse above. Dang!High clouds were by now streaming in ahead of a storm expected to drop 12-18" of new snow tonight, and I had to head back down to the Valley to attend the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, so I called it a day by noon...already well-satisfied.
