February 22, 2008

We’re melting. The temperatures have been rather warm. The roads are clearing, but they refreeze overnight. I don’t know what to expect for skiing this weekend. In the last two days, the ski resort has received 1 inch of snow at the base and 4 feet of snow at the top.

Monday’s skiing was exceptional. The temperatures were warm and it was raining a bit at the base. We were mostly getting sleet at the higher elevations, but the precipitation was much less than Sunday. We knew the upper mountain was going to be a delayed opening as they attempted to get the avalanche danger under control. We hoped we might get some nice runs in since the top of the mountain was going to be totally untracked after being closed for a day of snow and wind. When we arrived, they were already running the upper lift, but we could see that no one was riding up yet. We took a couple runs on a lower lift. The snow was slushy and sticky. We headed up to midmountain and saw a long line waiting for the upper lift. We skied back to the base, taking a fun narrow chute under the lift. The conditions were nice. As we were riding back to midmountain, we saw people finally going up the upper lift. Since the upper lift has much more capacity than the lower lift, the line was gone by the time we got to the upper lift.

On the ride up we began to scope out our options to get untracked snow. We could see that people had spread out across the mountain and tracks were covering most of the obvious choices. Being locals, we knew that there was a line behind the patrol shack that was often missed, perhaps due to the fall lines leading people away from the line, perhaps due to the steepness, or perhaps just because the patrol shack interferes with people’s visualization of the option. As we headed down, we quickly found untracked smooth dense windblown snow. Our skis rode effortlessly on the snow. We made wonderful turns all the way to the bottom of the first pitch, much further than we would normally ski without taking a break. It was just so smooth and effortless that we kept turning. From there we knew another often missed line and quickly headed over to it. It was quite nice to get a full run of mostly untracked snow without having to wait in line. We felt rewarded for sampling some of the lower mountain while others stood around overly eager to get first tracks.

We began looking for other secret lines and identified another good choice as we rode the lift back to the top. With a plan in our mind, we headed down a popular run toward the tram terminal hoping to find smooth snow for the second half of the run. As we approached the tram, I noticed a couple of snowboarders on North Face. Since snowboarders are rarely patrollers, I was pretty sure that our premier run was open. As we passed the tram, the recently unloaded passengers appeared to be rushing to get geared up, probably aware of the recent opening. We were ahead of the tram load. As I rounded the corner and saw that the gate to North Face was open, I turned to Kris and confirmed that she was game. We abandoned our plan and headed for the big slope.

A crowd was forming just inside the gate. Being locals, we were comfortable skiing quickly through the narrow bumpy opening and immediately over the edge into the steepness. People unfamiliar with the slope and people with less experience on steep terrain often stop to take a look before plunging in. I almost felt bad shooting in front of them, but I knew what they were feeling. I also knew what line I wanted and as I headed to the right, I was quickly greeted with broad expanses of smooth snow with only a couple tracks scattered about. I was able to ski a long way without stopping, making fun smooth turns on extremely steep terrain. I stopped briefly to wait for Kris. She caught up quickly and as she stopped to catch her breath, I left. I could see the crowd heading down the mountain behind us. I wasn’t going to let anyone pass me. I headed for a popular chute that is usually scraped and bumped. It was a different experience making turns where I wanted rather than responding to the snow conditions. I passed a struggling skier in the chute, cutting over and through some brush as I zoomed by. I stopped and waited for Kris again and again left her as soon as she caught up. I knew I was pushing her as she was making tighter turns to keep her speed lower, but I wasn’t going to let anyone get by. It took me 2 ½ seasons to get first tracks on North Face. It is a totally different skiing experience. I wasn’t going to let that go.

Down lower, the options get limited. Everyone had to exit through the same run. While only a couple dozen people had gone down before me, those couple dozen tracks cut up this lower section pretty bad. Adding to the misery, the snow got wetter and slushier as our elevation dropped. This last part was painful and difficult. We took our time through here. Kris was pretty exhausted. I was still enjoying the adrenaline from the run, but it was quickly wearing off.

As the snow got tracked throughout the day, it was reminiscent of the conditions earlier in the weekend with speedbumps forming as the snow packed under peoples weight. It was still great fun, but the effortless skiing was quickly replaced. Turn choices became critical. I even took a fall when I hit a bumpy track mid turn. We found one more stretch of good snow. After our North Face run, we returned to the top and executed the run we had planned prior to that detour. Our local knowledge proved correct. It was a great President’s day. In spite of the initial line for the upper lift, we never waited in line.