Vortex
Member
Location Loon Mountain Sat and Sunday thg 28th and 29th of Jan
Condition packed Powder and almost Wet packed Powder at days end
Temps Sat high 30's to low 40's Sunny
Temps Sunday high 30's to low 40's cloudy impending precip.
Glass half empty or half full.
Depends on your knowledge of the mountain and your tolerance for crowds. The Snow was the best I have seen all year on Sat. Sunday the 2nd best. I heard rumours of 7,000 skiers on Sat. The lines at the gondola and the North Peak chair after 9.30 on Sat were just plain long. The Kanc quad lines were long also, but as usual the East Basin double was okay and I got many runs in. Sunday no line issues at all.
Loon reported 10 new inches of snow last week. I arrived up North Friday night Looked like about 7 new inches out back... so Loon's 10 inch report from 20 milles North looked reasonable.
I met up with a buddy and we were on the North Peak Quad by 8.15 am. Upper Fume was fantasic. The lower part had snow made on it recently and it did not seem like it had enough time to cure. Scratchy.
Walking Boss top to Bottom was awesomne. I hit Sunset to flying fox that had snow made on it recently also. That was the best I had seen it in a really long time. Walking Boss was in great shape also.
A little after 9 I headed over to the east basin double to spend the rest of the Day.
Angel St was in great shape, with the exception of a 15 foot section of ice on the headwall. The lower part under the chair was fantastic. We met up with a couple other friends and did dipper to upper Basin st to Cross cut. Cross cut was a wonderful soft packed powder run. Best snow I had seen anywhere this year. Combo of snow making and natural was perfect.
I headed back up and took Rolling Bear a new trail open and it was soft and the pitch made it a great run.
Around 10.30 we took Speak easy to Rampsture to the bottom and got into the Singles line on the Kanc. It took a bit to get back up, but not horrible. Ow the views, wow.
The rest of the morning I just looped around up top and enjoyed mysef. I grabbed and early lunch and got back out around 12.30. The lines at the Kanc were long. We took the wrong line, should of been in the single line. A few runs up top then we took bear claw to Blue ox our legs were beat.
The folks in line must have been frustrated most of the day , but early runs and early lunch made it work ok for me. They did leave the lifts open an extra 1/2 hour to help those who felt they need a bit more to make it worth while. Everyone was in line, but the trails were not really crowded.
I bet there were lines at every ski area that was open.
Sunday I was out even earlier. Very little lines. The snow was great, just no sun. I found that Skiing so much Sat made my legs a little shaky Sunday. I did the same thing skiied the North peak until 9.30 and headed over to the double. Lower Flume was much better than Sat. Another night to cure and some grooming made it much better. They also seeded the bumps on Sat night so the bumps began to grow.
I called it a day about 12.30 and headed home. My wife and daughter took the later arrival and later departure route and it was snowing around 3 when they left.
Condition packed Powder and almost Wet packed Powder at days end
Temps Sat high 30's to low 40's Sunny
Temps Sunday high 30's to low 40's cloudy impending precip.
Glass half empty or half full.
Depends on your knowledge of the mountain and your tolerance for crowds. The Snow was the best I have seen all year on Sat. Sunday the 2nd best. I heard rumours of 7,000 skiers on Sat. The lines at the gondola and the North Peak chair after 9.30 on Sat were just plain long. The Kanc quad lines were long also, but as usual the East Basin double was okay and I got many runs in. Sunday no line issues at all.
Loon reported 10 new inches of snow last week. I arrived up North Friday night Looked like about 7 new inches out back... so Loon's 10 inch report from 20 milles North looked reasonable.
I met up with a buddy and we were on the North Peak Quad by 8.15 am. Upper Fume was fantasic. The lower part had snow made on it recently and it did not seem like it had enough time to cure. Scratchy.
Walking Boss top to Bottom was awesomne. I hit Sunset to flying fox that had snow made on it recently also. That was the best I had seen it in a really long time. Walking Boss was in great shape also.
A little after 9 I headed over to the east basin double to spend the rest of the Day.
Angel St was in great shape, with the exception of a 15 foot section of ice on the headwall. The lower part under the chair was fantastic. We met up with a couple other friends and did dipper to upper Basin st to Cross cut. Cross cut was a wonderful soft packed powder run. Best snow I had seen anywhere this year. Combo of snow making and natural was perfect.
I headed back up and took Rolling Bear a new trail open and it was soft and the pitch made it a great run.
Around 10.30 we took Speak easy to Rampsture to the bottom and got into the Singles line on the Kanc. It took a bit to get back up, but not horrible. Ow the views, wow.
The rest of the morning I just looped around up top and enjoyed mysef. I grabbed and early lunch and got back out around 12.30. The lines at the Kanc were long. We took the wrong line, should of been in the single line. A few runs up top then we took bear claw to Blue ox our legs were beat.
The folks in line must have been frustrated most of the day , but early runs and early lunch made it work ok for me. They did leave the lifts open an extra 1/2 hour to help those who felt they need a bit more to make it worth while. Everyone was in line, but the trails were not really crowded.
I bet there were lines at every ski area that was open.
Sunday I was out even earlier. Very little lines. The snow was great, just no sun. I found that Skiing so much Sat made my legs a little shaky Sunday. I did the same thing skiied the North peak until 9.30 and headed over to the double. Lower Flume was much better than Sat. Another night to cure and some grooming made it much better. They also seeded the bumps on Sat night so the bumps began to grow.
I called it a day about 12.30 and headed home. My wife and daughter took the later arrival and later departure route and it was snowing around 3 when they left.
