Quote:
Originally Posted by riverc0il  If natural snow trails and woods are not skiable, it is not a net gain, IMO. I would rather loose some snow and have all trails open than need to wait for another foot of snow to open trails back up again. Net gain of total snowfall perhaps, but the reports coming in from the reports look pretty nasty. |
I'm kind of yes and no with this assessment. The fact that a weather event like this renders the natural snow trails unskiable is a negative. Having to wait until the next storm for things to open back up again is also a negative and will test patience.
That said, I think increasing the base in these areas is a positve. The season's a marathon, not a sprint. With so much time left to go I'm willing to sacrifice a bit of time in the short term if it means building a deeper base for the long term. Sometimes these 'crust' events set up as a nice 'shield' protecting snow depths.
It's a bummer that we won't be able to get in the woods again for a bit, but the alternative you suggested rarely exists. How often do we have a weather event resulting in a net loss of snowpack and yet the woods are still skiable this time of year? The only way for that to work is if it rains and then it's extremely warm the next day or there's a persistent thaw where we are losing snow, but it's still soft because of weather.
Knowing that last truth.....I'll take the base building event and just be patient for the next dump.