Wow!
Decided Tuesday night I had to daytrip K to see how much snow they got. After reading skiadikt's TR for the weekend, I figured it would be good. It was good.
Arrived at K1 base at 9:30 to sun and cold but not freezing cold temps. It would cloud up and then snow as the day progressed. Booted up and headed straight to Snowdon where I figured the best snow would be. Took a warmup on Vagabond (natural snow with nicely skied in bumps) and then headed to Patsy's. Great coverage. skiadikt's total of about 18" from the last storm was spot on. And there were many fresh tracks to be found just to the left or right of the main line. And the snow was blower, not at all heavy. And the alternate entrance points further up Frolic were loaded with snow. Did this loop 3x.
Then hit Low Rider. Wow! I really liked that glade. Same deal, lots of untouched snow to mid-calf if you just headed to the left or right a bit. Somehow that glade has a rhythm to it that just made me feel like I was flying. The combo of the layout of the trees and the snow quality made this my run of the day. So I hit it 4x, then stopped for lunch at 12:30. There is no foodservice at the K1 lodge. They told me it was at Ramshead. Not going there. So I poked around and found a sushi bar tucked into a corner. A bowl of piping hot miso soup, a tuna roll and a smoked eel roll and I was good to go. The food was great and it sat well. At $25 with tip, it wasn't cheap. But I was happy.
After lunch, hit the Superstar quad and headed over to the Needle's Eye area. Hit the Needles liftline (Thimble?) and then Vertigo. Vertigo was steep with pretty big bumps, most covered with powder and ice on the backsides. I killed this run. Even got a few pole taps from 2 bumpers watching me from the bottom. Now in full ski frenzy mode.
Back to the trees, so back up the Needle's Eye Quad to Bittersweet, then back up the SS quad to Somewhere and Nowhere glades. Liked these both alot, funny how they have different character even though they're right next to each other. Nowhere was a little tighter and had alot more snow. Now it's 2pm.
Back to the K1 gondola to run a lap each on Julio and Anarchy. The added steepness of these 2 glades made for fast and fun skiing. They were also a little bonier than the lower angle glades and I hit a few things that had me worried about core shots. Just a few scratches though. Now I'm getting tired and it's about 3pm. While the snow in the glades was pretty much the same anywhere on the hill, Snowdon still had the best snow overall.
So I decided to take it easy the last hour and just run fun laps on Low Rider. By now it has started to snow and the light was gone. But Low Rider was just great. Ran 2 non-stoppers there interrupted by an excellent blowout/full front flip when my left ski got tangled and released in deadfall while I was poking around for fresh snow. By now I was smiling so much it hurt and the wipeout just made me happier.
Another lap on Patsy's and it was last chair. It was snowing hard. And getting dark. So in memorial to my last trip there 2 weeks ago I decided to make my last run Northstar. And it was good. Natural snow bumps with a coating of fresh.
I might have been the last car out of the parking lot. I drove home with a permagrin. It started snowing hard when I hit NY. Didn't care. Bring it on!
When I got home my wife kept asking me why I'm smiling so much. Still smiling.
Day 16 of 07/08 was a winner.
I think I need to eat sushi for lunch more often.
Decided Tuesday night I had to daytrip K to see how much snow they got. After reading skiadikt's TR for the weekend, I figured it would be good. It was good.
Arrived at K1 base at 9:30 to sun and cold but not freezing cold temps. It would cloud up and then snow as the day progressed. Booted up and headed straight to Snowdon where I figured the best snow would be. Took a warmup on Vagabond (natural snow with nicely skied in bumps) and then headed to Patsy's. Great coverage. skiadikt's total of about 18" from the last storm was spot on. And there were many fresh tracks to be found just to the left or right of the main line. And the snow was blower, not at all heavy. And the alternate entrance points further up Frolic were loaded with snow. Did this loop 3x.
Then hit Low Rider. Wow! I really liked that glade. Same deal, lots of untouched snow to mid-calf if you just headed to the left or right a bit. Somehow that glade has a rhythm to it that just made me feel like I was flying. The combo of the layout of the trees and the snow quality made this my run of the day. So I hit it 4x, then stopped for lunch at 12:30. There is no foodservice at the K1 lodge. They told me it was at Ramshead. Not going there. So I poked around and found a sushi bar tucked into a corner. A bowl of piping hot miso soup, a tuna roll and a smoked eel roll and I was good to go. The food was great and it sat well. At $25 with tip, it wasn't cheap. But I was happy.
After lunch, hit the Superstar quad and headed over to the Needle's Eye area. Hit the Needles liftline (Thimble?) and then Vertigo. Vertigo was steep with pretty big bumps, most covered with powder and ice on the backsides. I killed this run. Even got a few pole taps from 2 bumpers watching me from the bottom. Now in full ski frenzy mode.
Back to the trees, so back up the Needle's Eye Quad to Bittersweet, then back up the SS quad to Somewhere and Nowhere glades. Liked these both alot, funny how they have different character even though they're right next to each other. Nowhere was a little tighter and had alot more snow. Now it's 2pm.
Back to the K1 gondola to run a lap each on Julio and Anarchy. The added steepness of these 2 glades made for fast and fun skiing. They were also a little bonier than the lower angle glades and I hit a few things that had me worried about core shots. Just a few scratches though. Now I'm getting tired and it's about 3pm. While the snow in the glades was pretty much the same anywhere on the hill, Snowdon still had the best snow overall.
So I decided to take it easy the last hour and just run fun laps on Low Rider. By now it has started to snow and the light was gone. But Low Rider was just great. Ran 2 non-stoppers there interrupted by an excellent blowout/full front flip when my left ski got tangled and released in deadfall while I was poking around for fresh snow. By now I was smiling so much it hurt and the wipeout just made me happier.
Another lap on Patsy's and it was last chair. It was snowing hard. And getting dark. So in memorial to my last trip there 2 weeks ago I decided to make my last run Northstar. And it was good. Natural snow bumps with a coating of fresh.
I might have been the last car out of the parking lot. I drove home with a permagrin. It started snowing hard when I hit NY. Didn't care. Bring it on!
When I got home my wife kept asking me why I'm smiling so much. Still smiling.
Day 16 of 07/08 was a winner.
I think I need to eat sushi for lunch more often.
