Craig's Report - February 17, 1998

Continuing Decent

After hiding out from the crowds all weekend, I had a bare couple of hours this morning in which I could venture out and see what was left.  There were the remains of what appeared to be an ankle deep layer of new which probably appeared Sunday night.  This was well trodden, but still added some softness to most of the mountain.  The backs of moguls were often quite slick though and the normal spots were all rather scraped off.  It was sunny when I arrived which allowed me to grab shots of Upper Cedar bowl from the top of the T-Bar and (below) of Cedar Bowl looking back up from the flats on the top of lower Cedar Main.  Shortly after these were taken it got much grayer.

Overall it wasn't bad, although I probably would have sniffed disgustedly at it when softer days were more recent memories.  I even found myself rather enjoying the challenge of the firm moguls and survived a trip down kangaroo with my dignity, if not my style, intact.   Oh dear, what am I saying?

Dear Griz, bless me with powder for I have sinned
grant me your divine dumps
ere I am lost in the valleys of the bumps.

I didn't get in much cruising, but it seem pretty good although some spots were a bit harder than ideal.  The hill was still quite busy with reading week students from Saskatchewan, but it was much better than the weekend.  At least travelling as a single, the lineups were manageable and the various bodies splayed across the icy bumps of Freeway certainly helped add to the challenge.

It was actually a bit nippy this morning, but I have no idea what it did in the afternoon.  At 6:30 PM it is -2C under what I think is high cloud - its dark whatever it is.