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.
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.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home