I couldn't make it up during the mid week for the storm, but Saturday was a pretty awesome afternoon.
Driving up was sort of sad. I haven't been on RT4/100 all season and was amazed to see the toll the river took on the road and area. Lots of new concrete and trashed homes & businesses. Worst was this poor girl:
I'm a third gen Trans Am owner and seeing her sitting alone in the field with couches and other washed away crap made me quite sad.
Anyway, lets perk up the mood. Got to the lifts at 10:15, 55 degrees, and blue sky!
Everyone in the parking lot and lines were extremely friendly and excited. Lots of good vibes all around made for a really enjoyable time on an otherwise pretty crowded mountain.
Conditions were 100% spring, even the spots that would have been boiler plate were edgeable. Superstar was one of the most heavily tracked runs. From the early morning to the late afternoon, the bumps grew from turtle shells into whales! A couple of zipper lines even formed after the second lift tower pictured. Some real good guys tearing it up all day long. The opening to Superstar was bumped, the middle was super soft, smooth, carvable, and crowded! Moved off the main route to skyehawk and skyelark- both excellent runs all day long with consistent and challenging bumps. Eventually took the Nivis Walk over to Ovation which, despite coverage was a TON of fun. Kinda like tree skiing without the trees!
Lots of puddles mid mountain and below but super soft bumps.
After spending time on the quad, I moved over to K1.
I took runs on just about everything that was open and lapped the North Ridge Triple until I was beat and in need of refreshments. Ridge Run was especially fun. Met some guys who were into hauling ass and racing down the otherwise ignored trail. Skied with them for a bit on Cascade and Escapade as well. Got lots of good pointers on my admit-ably shoddy bump technique. About 200-300 yards of walking back to the K1 after the snow ran out though. No biggie, gave time for a breather and some fruit snacks.
I think there was enough cover for Snowdon to open up, but probably not enough staff. Either way, I took a hike over and one run down Concusion. Totally worth it!
Around 3:30 I was exhausted from all of the bumps so I took a beer break that never ended and worked on my tan. Hung around with my 24oz Bud and watched a shameless white chick line dance to Western songs with a Budweiser. Classy.
Overall, a beautiful day and an excellent end to the season.
Driving up was sort of sad. I haven't been on RT4/100 all season and was amazed to see the toll the river took on the road and area. Lots of new concrete and trashed homes & businesses. Worst was this poor girl:
I'm a third gen Trans Am owner and seeing her sitting alone in the field with couches and other washed away crap made me quite sad.
Anyway, lets perk up the mood. Got to the lifts at 10:15, 55 degrees, and blue sky!
Everyone in the parking lot and lines were extremely friendly and excited. Lots of good vibes all around made for a really enjoyable time on an otherwise pretty crowded mountain.
Conditions were 100% spring, even the spots that would have been boiler plate were edgeable. Superstar was one of the most heavily tracked runs. From the early morning to the late afternoon, the bumps grew from turtle shells into whales! A couple of zipper lines even formed after the second lift tower pictured. Some real good guys tearing it up all day long. The opening to Superstar was bumped, the middle was super soft, smooth, carvable, and crowded! Moved off the main route to skyehawk and skyelark- both excellent runs all day long with consistent and challenging bumps. Eventually took the Nivis Walk over to Ovation which, despite coverage was a TON of fun. Kinda like tree skiing without the trees!
Lots of puddles mid mountain and below but super soft bumps.
After spending time on the quad, I moved over to K1.
I took runs on just about everything that was open and lapped the North Ridge Triple until I was beat and in need of refreshments. Ridge Run was especially fun. Met some guys who were into hauling ass and racing down the otherwise ignored trail. Skied with them for a bit on Cascade and Escapade as well. Got lots of good pointers on my admit-ably shoddy bump technique. About 200-300 yards of walking back to the K1 after the snow ran out though. No biggie, gave time for a breather and some fruit snacks.
I think there was enough cover for Snowdon to open up, but probably not enough staff. Either way, I took a hike over and one run down Concusion. Totally worth it!
Around 3:30 I was exhausted from all of the bumps so I took a beer break that never ended and worked on my tan. Hung around with my 24oz Bud and watched a shameless white chick line dance to Western songs with a Budweiser. Classy.
Overall, a beautiful day and an excellent end to the season.