Zand
Well-known member
Yet another trip that proved to me why I hate booking ski trips way in advance. Usually it's the opposite problem and will pour rain the entire time, but instead I decided to hit it right in the middle of a very strong arctic outbreak. Started off Wednesday with a summit temp at -15 and a steady wind of 30+ mph blowing in from the NE (strong enough to shut down the Skyeship for most of the day) making the wind chill around -50. Started at snowshed and headed over to K1 from there. Warmed up with Downdraft as it was fresh groomed (ungroomed stuff was unskiable everywhere) and was pretty fun with fast frozen groomed snow. Next run I headed to the Bear seeking warmth and for some stupid reason hopped on OL Express because the website was all giddy over a groomed Outer Limits the day before. However, it pretty much had the same surface as the moon, making for a fun slide down some craters and other frozen over features.
After a quick warmup in the Bear Lodge, hopped on an agonizing Skye Quad. The wind was blowing straight down the line... the lift ride completely sucked. Came down Skyeburst which was nicely groomed... actually warmed up a bit with the wind at my back. Took another agonizing ride and headed in the other direction down Bittersweet which had a bunch of wet guns blowing, allowing my mask to completely freeze to my face about halfway down. Fun.
After a lengthly warmup in KBL, made what was a great decision to jump on Superstar. Warm lift ride with the wind at the back and besides the headwall, a pretty wind-less Superstar. Did a couple laps on that which had terrific packed snow and a couple guns on the headwall. Then after a few laps hopped on High Road all the way down to Northbrook. Was gonna hit the Skyeship to warm up but was still on windhold so hopped on the ridiculously slow Northbrook Quad and headed back to Snowshed. Was gonna head for the car and go get lunch but decided to take a quick run down Header and lower Timberline which was a fun run and out of the wind.
After a good lunch at Wally's and an unthaw period in the room, headed back out around 2:15 and parked right in front of the Snowdon Quad. Headed down Killink, up the NRT, and hit East Fall which was still in good shape thanks to the light crowd. Headed up the K1 and down to Dream Maker which was great until the bottom of the headwall when it became a sheet of ice. Lower Dreammaker was closed so headed down Cruise Control to finish off the run.
Skyeship was open at that point so headed up there and down Skyelark. The top was nice groomed, but lower had some wet guns which froze goggles and facemask once again like Bittersweet. Took a run down Upper Ovation to Lower Superstar as lower Ovation was closed Wednesday.
Finished up the day with a Great Northern/Mouse Trap/Chute run just like early season followed by one more top to bottom on Chute. Upper Chute was still untracked groomed at 3:45... crazy. The afternoon was a bit more bearable than the morning but still only made it 7 runs before calling it quits.
Decided to sleep in Thursday and avoid the cold morning, but got on the hill shortly after noon to temps right around 0 and a wind probably closer to 20 mph. Warmed up with a Cascade run which was nicely groomed. Headed over to a groomed top-to-bottom Ovation. The steep was pretty fun to ski when groomed as it was still very edgeable. Also did a top-to-bottom Superstar run. Guns were off on the headwall but the fresh snow remained and made the headwall a blast to ski. The rest of the trail was also in good shape. Headed over to the Stash next which was a fun cruise and hit a few of the smaller features. Finished that run on a slick Grizzly.
Skye Quad back out of Bear wasn't as agonizing as Wednesday. Still a breeze but not so bad. Hit a groomed Vertigo which was more slick than Ovation, so not quite as fun, but with the shorter headwall it wasn't a problem. Lower Vertigo was nice. Followed up with a Bittersweet run, but cut off down Low Road which was pretty much open on blowover from Bittersweet. Hit Superstar and Ovation again before heading in for a late lunch.
Next up was a ill-advised Double Dipper run. It hasn't been groomed in a few days and was a sheet of ice. Best snow was inside the ropes under the chair. Followed that up with Rime, a nice cruise before another Cascade run which was a bit more skied off but still fun. Wrapped up the day with one more down Superstar.
Overall, all the snowmaking terrain was in good shape. Natural stuff up high only needs one good dump to get back open, lower stuff needs a big dump or two.
After a quick warmup in the Bear Lodge, hopped on an agonizing Skye Quad. The wind was blowing straight down the line... the lift ride completely sucked. Came down Skyeburst which was nicely groomed... actually warmed up a bit with the wind at my back. Took another agonizing ride and headed in the other direction down Bittersweet which had a bunch of wet guns blowing, allowing my mask to completely freeze to my face about halfway down. Fun.
After a lengthly warmup in KBL, made what was a great decision to jump on Superstar. Warm lift ride with the wind at the back and besides the headwall, a pretty wind-less Superstar. Did a couple laps on that which had terrific packed snow and a couple guns on the headwall. Then after a few laps hopped on High Road all the way down to Northbrook. Was gonna hit the Skyeship to warm up but was still on windhold so hopped on the ridiculously slow Northbrook Quad and headed back to Snowshed. Was gonna head for the car and go get lunch but decided to take a quick run down Header and lower Timberline which was a fun run and out of the wind.
After a good lunch at Wally's and an unthaw period in the room, headed back out around 2:15 and parked right in front of the Snowdon Quad. Headed down Killink, up the NRT, and hit East Fall which was still in good shape thanks to the light crowd. Headed up the K1 and down to Dream Maker which was great until the bottom of the headwall when it became a sheet of ice. Lower Dreammaker was closed so headed down Cruise Control to finish off the run.
Skyeship was open at that point so headed up there and down Skyelark. The top was nice groomed, but lower had some wet guns which froze goggles and facemask once again like Bittersweet. Took a run down Upper Ovation to Lower Superstar as lower Ovation was closed Wednesday.
Finished up the day with a Great Northern/Mouse Trap/Chute run just like early season followed by one more top to bottom on Chute. Upper Chute was still untracked groomed at 3:45... crazy. The afternoon was a bit more bearable than the morning but still only made it 7 runs before calling it quits.
Decided to sleep in Thursday and avoid the cold morning, but got on the hill shortly after noon to temps right around 0 and a wind probably closer to 20 mph. Warmed up with a Cascade run which was nicely groomed. Headed over to a groomed top-to-bottom Ovation. The steep was pretty fun to ski when groomed as it was still very edgeable. Also did a top-to-bottom Superstar run. Guns were off on the headwall but the fresh snow remained and made the headwall a blast to ski. The rest of the trail was also in good shape. Headed over to the Stash next which was a fun cruise and hit a few of the smaller features. Finished that run on a slick Grizzly.
Skye Quad back out of Bear wasn't as agonizing as Wednesday. Still a breeze but not so bad. Hit a groomed Vertigo which was more slick than Ovation, so not quite as fun, but with the shorter headwall it wasn't a problem. Lower Vertigo was nice. Followed up with a Bittersweet run, but cut off down Low Road which was pretty much open on blowover from Bittersweet. Hit Superstar and Ovation again before heading in for a late lunch.
Next up was a ill-advised Double Dipper run. It hasn't been groomed in a few days and was a sheet of ice. Best snow was inside the ropes under the chair. Followed that up with Rime, a nice cruise before another Cascade run which was a bit more skied off but still fun. Wrapped up the day with one more down Superstar.
Overall, all the snowmaking terrain was in good shape. Natural stuff up high only needs one good dump to get back open, lower stuff needs a big dump or two.
