Back at the Resort and Rock Springs side country.
Day 7 - I'm totally shot after 6 days of powder skiing and a lot of hiking. A lift feels good again. The Crags is closed to set up for a boarding event. We do one run up Pepi's and then straight down the Headwall. Good run, but there is far more to be had with no hiking required out in Rock Springs. The avie danger remained low to moderate. With its easy access the main runs are skied but, with just a little deviation, untouched fields of powder still lay awaiting us.
Day 8 - Are Mike and Joe going to be able to take off? We don't care. It's dumping like stink again and Bill, Ron and I have already rescheduled our flights to Tuesday. Another advantage with using frequent flyer points is that the rebooking fees are like $20 rather then the $100 - $200 the airlines otherwise will charge. The visibility in upper Rock Springs is horrendous. It is hard to keep each other in sight as we make our way down. The powder is deep, soft and plentiful though and we keep making the long trek back.
Day 9 - It's still snowing and we are still skiing, barely. Supplies are running low.
Day 10 - It's snowing very hard and there is a wind in the air. I'm anxious to ski some runs as this is supposed to be a wicked storm. Up the Gondie and over to Thunder. We are on one of the first chairs. Excitement. This is going to be good. What you hope, dream and wait for. Rising up over the ridge the wind picks up, the chair stops for a while right before the ramp and then it goes again. We're off and down through the powder back to the base of Thunder. It is snowing harder now then I've ever possibly seen. There are not many people in the corral but the line is not moving very fast. The reason becomes apparent - load one, shut down. Restart, load one, shut down. It's really pukin' now and the wind is nukin' as well. We decide to bail and head to a lower lift. The Gondie or maybe Apres Vous. Natures against us today though and by the time we get down they are in the process of shutting the entire mountain down. The winds are gale force now at the base. Eventually we make the decision to ride out the storm in our car. As we sit in the parking lot, the car is shaking violently and walls of white snow and ice buffet the car. Intense to say the least. After a couple of hours the storm abates so we went up and had lunch and waited to see if the mountain could somehow reopen. People were coming down now that had taken refuge in the Casper lodge. Some came down that were plastered in white and had a crazed demeanor like they had just came back from battle. These people told horror stories of being rescued off Thunder and digging snow caves in the slopes to hide from the storm. Others told of trees down around the mountain and other destruction. Later we learned of winds in excess of 100mph being recorded.
Miraculously the Resort got the Apre Vous chair up and running sometime after 2pm. Saratoga bowl was fun and challenging with great rock drops and wind buffed snow. Here and there were isolated pockets of soft.
All in all it was a kick *ss trip. Certainly kicked my *ss.