Craig's Report - January 14, 1997 - 4:30 PM

"Isn't a beautiful day?" she said. "Bah!" was my reply. Okay I will grant that the clear skies do lend themselves to a certain scenic splendor that this picture of yesterday morning's alpenglow can only suggest.

However my discontent is demonstrated by this much sadder picture (sorry about the sun flares). My poor Mazda has not been moved or cleared since before New Years, but has still not reacquired it's snowy mantle. Admittedly there has been more snow up on the hill, but there really hasn't been any thing significant in about a week.

What's more it is chilly. The mornings start off in the minus twenty somethings and while it warms into the minus teens in the afternoon, warmer in the sun, it is still nippy.

These conditions, coupled with my widely renowned whiny spirit, have rather dulled my enthusiasm the last few days. However after a couple of days off I hit the slopes today at the crack of 2:00 PM. With the Meat Hook (Face Lift) now in operation, access to Snake and Easter is relatively effortless. The Haul Back is still not open and my grumpy reluctance to climb kept me to the right side of Snake where the snow was still soft, but pretty well trodden. The Haul Back was actually running, apparently for testing, so I imagine it might be open tomorrow.

Easter Bowl still had lots of soft snow and although well tracked, there were at least some places where it was not completely chewed. The mogul runs tended to have lots of icy spots, particularly farther down or in heavily trafficked areas. The groomed runs were fast and crisp, but generally held a decent edge.

Overall the conditions really weren't bad at all and the temperature was manageable, but the combination of the two didn't really excite me. Maybe my enthusiasm needs a little work, or powder. <g>

Oh, I almost forgot. Apparently the cat skiing in Timber Bowl started up yesterday. I don't have any firm numbers yet, but I have heard rumors that the price is $100/day during the week or $150/day on weekends, with half days being half price. I will post something when I get some definitive information.