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Pats Peak 03/28/13

dlague

Active member
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
8,792
Points
36
Location
CS, Colorado
Conditions: Wet PP and loose heavy snow

Trip Report:

Last night of “night” skiing! As Spring progresses, moments like this are going to be a sign of the times as it is each year! We are bracing ourselves for “Not Ski Season”. So every last bastion of skiing will be chased down by the diehards in an effort to not let go of “Ski Season”, all for what – to get our last turns of the season in! It is a sad time – if you really think about it! We were talking to some of the staff at the Sled Pub and they talked about how depressing it gets around this time of year. Gone are the crowds, adult race leagues, school programs, on slope competitions, and après ski parties will soon fade too. All that splendor, excitement and frivolity – poof – gone over the next month or so as the smaller players close in a march towards the big boys of May – question is – Who will they be?

So, this night of skiing at Pats Peak was bitter sweet! The lodge seemed rather empty, few patrons we visiting the Sled pub and the lift line was not! We pretty much had what felt like the mountain to ourselves. Was the snow soft? Absolutely! But, we had freshly waxed our skis and boards with wax designed for temps above 32 degrees and they ran great. Nice thing about cloudy evenings and night skiing is not having the Sun pounded snow mixed with shade covered snow which results in the slow-fast-slow feeling! Nonetheless, we skied the typical culprits, Cyclone, Tornado, Duster, East Wind, FIS, Twister and Turbulence Park! FIS and Twister required a little uphill skating and poling since they only had two chairs running Hurricane Triple (close to the top) and Turbulence Triple. The trails have plenty of loose heavy snow on top of a deep PP base which made carving a breeze and the steeper trails (if you can say that abut Pats Peak) had enough pitch to get decent speed which is needed once on Squall Line (too flat – can the excavate that to have a few degrees more pitch). The Park was in pretty good shape (lots of snow left there). We made a couple of runs through there to go off a few kickers and there was no stalling like you would find on a sunny spring day – the glide was consistent everywhere. Fun, Fun, Fun in the park!

Overall, the snow conditions were actually really nice considering it was 47 out, and the setting very mellow! These spring skiing days are, by design, chill! We just had fun with it! BTW, Harpoon always tastes great in their tall glasses!

Shot from Turbulence Triple

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