Day 43: Great spring skiing...except that it's February.
With some stuff to take care of this morning, and my usually posse following other pursuits today, I got a decidedly non-alpine start from the house at noon, where it was already 56ºF. I spent the extra time swapping my DIN alpine soles onto my Garmont Adrenalins, for today would be the first time that my Salomon Scream 10 Hots would be out since November. It was going to be one of those days.
(Note: I'd forgotten just how unpleasant it is to walk through a parking lot in alpine DIN soles. Long live rockered Vibram!)
The lot at the base of the Cabriolet was surprisingly full, but I scored a sort-of parking spot in a muddy snowbank next to the loading area and headed up. It was 46 degrees despite a thickening high overcast approaching from the west. As usual the Red Pine area was teeming with folks, but by simply striking out toward the south I left the crowds behind and found the solitude I was seeking. My destination was The Canyons' new DreamCatcher Quad, which I have yet to ride, so I cruised down Chicane dodging a few unpredictable SPOREs and boarded the Tombstone Express with a young guy spending his winter here from Michigan. He was the last person I'd ride a lift with for a while.
Cruising down Another World the people thinned rapidly. I bypassed the Ninety-Nine 90 chair, figuring that the bumps up there might be big and firm, and instead boarded the Peak 5 chair, ascending slowly through the conifers. Another cruise down Harmony, and I was at Dreamscape.
I should say something here about the surfaces, which were a bit wet, slightly slushy, and decidedly spring-like. Patches of brown snow even showed up here and there. After a week of warm temps that followed a dry spell for most of the past month, it's high time that we return to winter with a good dump or two.
Ready to sample some of the 200 acres of new terrain, I rode Dreamscape and dropped into Specter, which was a beautiful glade, rather steep at times before mellowing into Fool's Paradise. This is terrific new terrain that would be prime on a powder day in low visibility. For today, though, the area held medium-sized bumps that were eminently edgeable. I boarded the new quad and noticed that there were only a couple of other chairs occupied on the lift's entire length -- nice!
It was then time to work my way back to the resort's base. I dropped down McDonald's Meadow, a steepish blue, then cruised back to the Tombstone Express lift via Paradise and Harmony, the latter showing more frequent and extensive patches of brown snow at its lower elevations. Sidewinder was decidedly scratchy, although well covered, and I caught the Short Cut lift over a barren south-facing slope to descend back to the base via Doc's Run.
All in all, a nice way to get out for some fresh air on a warm afternoon, but I'm ready for that change they keep promising. There's a foot in the forecast for tomorrow into Monday.
With some stuff to take care of this morning, and my usually posse following other pursuits today, I got a decidedly non-alpine start from the house at noon, where it was already 56ºF. I spent the extra time swapping my DIN alpine soles onto my Garmont Adrenalins, for today would be the first time that my Salomon Scream 10 Hots would be out since November. It was going to be one of those days.
(Note: I'd forgotten just how unpleasant it is to walk through a parking lot in alpine DIN soles. Long live rockered Vibram!)
The lot at the base of the Cabriolet was surprisingly full, but I scored a sort-of parking spot in a muddy snowbank next to the loading area and headed up. It was 46 degrees despite a thickening high overcast approaching from the west. As usual the Red Pine area was teeming with folks, but by simply striking out toward the south I left the crowds behind and found the solitude I was seeking. My destination was The Canyons' new DreamCatcher Quad, which I have yet to ride, so I cruised down Chicane dodging a few unpredictable SPOREs and boarded the Tombstone Express with a young guy spending his winter here from Michigan. He was the last person I'd ride a lift with for a while.
Cruising down Another World the people thinned rapidly. I bypassed the Ninety-Nine 90 chair, figuring that the bumps up there might be big and firm, and instead boarded the Peak 5 chair, ascending slowly through the conifers. Another cruise down Harmony, and I was at Dreamscape.
I should say something here about the surfaces, which were a bit wet, slightly slushy, and decidedly spring-like. Patches of brown snow even showed up here and there. After a week of warm temps that followed a dry spell for most of the past month, it's high time that we return to winter with a good dump or two.
Ready to sample some of the 200 acres of new terrain, I rode Dreamscape and dropped into Specter, which was a beautiful glade, rather steep at times before mellowing into Fool's Paradise. This is terrific new terrain that would be prime on a powder day in low visibility. For today, though, the area held medium-sized bumps that were eminently edgeable. I boarded the new quad and noticed that there were only a couple of other chairs occupied on the lift's entire length -- nice!
It was then time to work my way back to the resort's base. I dropped down McDonald's Meadow, a steepish blue, then cruised back to the Tombstone Express lift via Paradise and Harmony, the latter showing more frequent and extensive patches of brown snow at its lower elevations. Sidewinder was decidedly scratchy, although well covered, and I caught the Short Cut lift over a barren south-facing slope to descend back to the base via Doc's Run.
All in all, a nice way to get out for some fresh air on a warm afternoon, but I'm ready for that change they keep promising. There's a foot in the forecast for tomorrow into Monday.
Attachments
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00 the canyons suunto s6 070210.jpg -
07 canyons dreamcatcher quad 070210.jpg -
06 canyons specter 070210.jpg -
05 canyons riding dreamscape 070210.jpg -
04 canyons harmony 070210.jpg -
03 canyons dreamscape 070210.jpg -
02 canyons chair 5 070210.jpg -
01 canyons 9990 070210.jpg -
08 canyons riding shortcut 070210.jpg
