One Word: EPIC!

I do not use the word 'Eipc' lightly. As a matter of fact I tend to refrain from using it at all, until a day like Monday comes along.

The recent spring like conditions gave way to full winter by last Wednesday and softened up the mountain nicely. Stormy weather continued and really hit us hard on Sunday night with the Monday morning snow report boasting 15 inches up top. With the March crowds in town Ashley and I got to the gondola early at about 8am. By 8:15 the line was snaking through Gondola Square and getting bigger every minute. We met Ben, Joey and Michele at the top of the Gondola and skied Norther first thing down to 4-Points lift. The snow was 'blower,' about a foot deep, soft underneath and just blowing up and around your waist. The moguls were still visible and as you skied in the troughs face-shots abounded. We gathered at 4-Points with major smiles, snow still pouring from the skies. Up 4-Points and down to Sundown through the trees of lower Closets. Not a lot of turns...just moving through the trees with the snow flowing all around us. Up Sundown and into the trees to the right of 3 O'Clock. I could have skied the entire run non-stop. It was effortless. Our base is over 100" at the top. There is no concern about downed trees; most of the usual rocks and dangerous terrain features are well covered. The only things to really worry about are trees and lift towers. Since the snow is only blowing over your shoulders and head a few turns each run visibility is not an issue. What a day! With conditions this good in bounds I knew it would be twice as good backcountry. I convinced Ashley to take a hike with me before she got too tired.

We loaded Morningside lift at about 9:30 and hiked to the Microwave Towers. The snow stake read 136". I honestly don't remember the last time it read that deep. We skied Gate D right down the middle. Every turn was over our heads....like you read about (which you are right now). On to second pitch which was steep and fun. Through the gate to 3rd pitch, we skied right between Parker's (AKA Fish Bowl) and Clem's (AKA Lower St Pats). I picked the most open route I knew of so we didn't have to worry about the trees. Once we started skiing the snow rose over our heads. It was getting stuffed in our mouths, down our throats. We could not see at all. I couldn't even force myself to the surface to catch a breath and gain some knowledge of what lies ahead. The snow was that deep! Even though I mapped my route before I started skiing and knew there were no obstacles in the way, I was still scared. It was intense, crazy powder skiing; chewing on a mouthful of snow the whole way down. The hike out from the Bog was a major trail break. Snow up to our thighs in spots. Darrel came up behind thanking us profusely for breaking trail and took the lead for a while. Ashley and I continued to break trail over to the lower canyon while Darrel continued back in bounds. The hike took longer than expected and fogged my goggles pretty good. We got to the top of Endless Gully and I had to spend some time clearing them. Finally I realized that it just didn’t matter if I could see through my goggles. Once I started skiing the snow would be over my head anyway. I let Ashley go first and she ripped it like a pro. I saw her stop before the entrance to the lower portion of the gully. I called her name so she could watch my decent. I skied a steeper section than her and could feel my self come to the surface in between turns, but the snow continued to blow over my head. I stopped just below Ashley. She said it was like watching Bugs Bunny tunnel across an open field. The lower part of the gully was the same...bottomless! I wish I had my camera. It’s Larry I can thank for that, bummer. This was honestly one of the best days of the season. Not since Sunday, November 27th, my first day of the season, do I remember the conditions being so sublime.

Bizarre but Satisfying

Wow! Went to bed last night still anticipating the storm, but the stars were out and the temps hung around 35 degrees downtown. Didn't have a lot of confidence for a powder day at bedtime. As I rolled around in bed with the morning light creeping in the 6:50am snow report came on the radio: Surprise, Surprise, Surprise! 7 new inches at mid-mtn and 6 at the summit, 20 degrees with 10mph winds. That'll get me up and going.

As I hustled through Gondola Square at about 8:18am I saw the line condensing toward the glass doors with Ben, Matt, and a small posse toward the front. I sped past about thirty people (sorry folks) and caught up with them past the ticket checker just a handful of people before the first gondola car. We were all excited about the new snow but not sure what to expect: dust on crust, heavy sludge, wind raped?

We skied Concentration and were welcomed with sweet snow conditions. The warmth from last night softened up the surface before the snow fell allowing the new snow to bond nicely. The first few inches that fell were heavy also lending to a nice bond, but the last 5 inches on top were light and dry. You could feel the solid layer underneath, but it wasn't bad...slightly scratchy, but carvable. You could even tease up a face shot if you dropped the knee low enough.

We took up Thunderhead, then 4-Points and skied Nelson's Run (named after Nelson Carmichael, one of Steamboat's Olympic bronze medal freestylers). Nelson's has great terrain features, sweet rock croppings and various fall lines. The rocks are completely covered by our near 100 inch base, making it very fun to ski.. Up Storm Peak and over to Kuus' Cruise. Love this run! A great steep pitch in and out of the trees between Sundown lift line and Priest Creek lift line. Fun wind drifts that run across the tree lines. The surface was smooth and speedy, lots of excitement. Up Sundown and into the trees of 2:30. Untracked and awesome! After that I had to split from the crew and continue my commute to work taking Morningside up and skiing St Patty's Bowl and then Clem's down to the Bog. St Pat's was great! I took one of the steep lines to the left of the open face. All the new snow about 10 feet to either side slid along with me as I skied. The slide obscured my tracks when I peered up from the bottom. Clem's was the deepest run of the whole day. Several face shots as I shimmied through the well spaced pine glades.

Anticipating the Storm

Here in the Rockies we've been watching the storm soak California...they are talking about 10 inches of rain around LA and similar amounts up north in SF. You can never tell what will happen to a storm as it hammers the coast, sweeps across the Sierras, and then blows through the deserts of Utah. Sometimes it can loose all it's moisture in the Sierras; sometimes it can dry out over the desert; sometimes is can go north to Idaho or Wyoming; sometimes it can go south to New Mexico and southern Colorado. But, sometimes it happens just right, stalling over the mountain of northern Colorado and dumping copious amounts of snow on Ski Town USA. Temps have been warm today, grey and overcast. We are anticipating the storm.

President's Day Powder

The President’s Day Snow Report said 7” at mid and 10” at the summit, 9 degrees with low wind. Perfect! Ashley and I got to the Gondola at 8:20am, a little late we thought, but apparently everyone was sleeping in. The doors had just opened and by the time the line filled in we were about 10 people before the glass. We waited the 10 minutes until the gondola opened wondering where everyone was.

Met Ben at the top of the Gondola and skied Norther to 4-Points Lift. Up 4-Points and hit an untouched, nicely groomed Hurricane with about 7” on top. A pure delight! The snow was light as can be and conditions underneath were soft and carve-able. We skipped down to Pony Express looking for more of the same – delicious groomer with powder on top. Longhorn was groomed later than Hurricane so the powder on top was much shallower. We decided on the left side of Pony Lift Line – sweet, fresh and nobody around. We had the trail to ourselves as we dipped our knees extra low to induce the elusive face-shots. The snow was awesome!

Up Storm Peak lift and over to Sundown. The Sundown side was definitely deeper than Pony Express, but it gets tracked before the lift opens due to the First Tracks program (pay extra to ride Sundown a few times before opening). We skied Priest Creek Lift Line, 2:30 Trees and 1:30 Trees – all were terrific. We decided to end our morning with a run from the tippity-top - Gate D, Second Pitch and out, so up Morningside we went.

Gate-D was terrific! I skied the left side of Million Dollar Rock and hit a cliff I’d been eyeing earlier. A slow take-off, quick drop and soft landing. As soon as I landed the snow from the top of the cliff came down on me like a wave crashing over my head. I had plenty of momentum to carry me through and into a few more turns before I hit the bottom. Very exciting! On to Second Pitch where I found a nice steep untouched line where I got face-shots on every turn. The rest of our ski posse continued to the Bog via Clem’s. Ashley and I had to continue our commute to work via Flying Z.

Still no place like home (Steamboat)

I was forced to continue my travel following last week's journey. My wife's step-family was in Breckenridge over the weekend so we drove there on Friday night. The party consists of two new babies under a year old, Ashley's two step-sisters and their husbands, Ashley's brother and wife, and her dad and step mom. Being the junkie I am, I ponied up $75 for a lift ticket on Saturday to ski with the family. I figure it's better than strolling main street and shopping. The conditions were not as bad as expected. We got to ride the highest lift in the US, the Imperial Express ascending to 12,895 ft. Wow is it windy up there! I found some great lines high-up as well as in the trees as I ran the low-landers ragged. On our last run Ashley’s dad caught a rock under-ski and got thrown down. He dislocated his shoulder. Bummer! He’s a strong man (although careless sometimes) so he took it well.

Drove back to Steamboat on Sunday around noon. I joked with Ashley’s dad that we’d probably have to drive through a snow storm to get home. Well, I was right! It was dumping between Kremmling and Steamboat, especially on the pass. Tomorrow should be nice on our home mountain.

No place like home

All sun and no snow makes Jack a dull boy! Dave, Pete and I had a great trip to Jackson. Surface conditions sucked at the three resorts we skied, but we managed to have an awesome time anyway. Sunny skies and warm temps for the prior week made everything windblown and hard pack. Bullet proof may be too strong a word, but man it was hard. We managed to ski our tits off despite the poor snow conditions. With a deep snow base everything was open, so we skied as much of all the steeps as we could. Being from Steamboat, we don’t see too much terrain like that. Jackson Hole should change its name to Pucker Factor 5. We had a friend take us into Granite Canyon to the north of the ski area for a backcountry tour. Man did the snow conditions suck out there - super firm, windblown, breakable crust, but the terrain was sick.

On the way back to Colorado we went through Utah for some more steep terrain, skiing at Snowbasin one day and Snowbird the next. Both great ski areas. Snowbasin was top notch with a great base lodge that rivals some 5 star hotels. They have two gondolas, a tram and some high-speed quads. Amazing terrain here as well, super steep bowls and chutes accessible right off the lift. Anything you want. Snowbird was nothing short of mind-blowing. I can’t imagine a powder day there…the possibilities are endless.

My knees and back are very sore from four days of skiing hard pack snow on my alpine gear, but here comes the good news…It snowed a foot last night in Steamboat.

It’s always good to come home to Steamboat, especially when you’re welcomed with a foot of fresh powder. This morning was cold and windy with 11 inches at mid mountain and only 7 up top. Due to the cold temps I knew it wouldn’t be bottomless. You could feel the hard pack underneath, and the snow was so light that a sneeze could displace it. The runs that were groomed had anywhere from 5-12 inches on them. Those were the money runs today, but I also found some great stuff in the trees of Twilight/2:30. At 10:00 I went to Morningside for a little hike to finish off the morning. I met up with Charlie from the Mahogany Ridge Brewery at the top of Gate D. We skied Gate D, Second Pitch by the rope line and then over to North Woods for the Third Pitch. Considering this was a mid-mountain storm the Third Pitch was the best. I had a few choker turns where the snow got stuffed down my throat….ahhh – refreshing. Hopefully the snow will continue through the weekend.

Sunny Week

It's been blue skys and no snow since Sunday. I've taken the opportunity to get some work done before I leave for Jackson Hole on Friday. I'll be traveling with Dave and Pete from Backcountry Provisions. They're going to check up on their new sandwich shop in Jackson and we'll get a couple ski days in. After Jackson we'll go through Utah on the way back to Steamboat. Not much in the way of snow forecast for the weekend, but you never know. I'll tell you all about it when I get back.