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Dec 29, 1998 Mini Report I just did a couple of runs today without the camera, so I am just adding a quick update to the existing report. It was snowing most of the day and everything I saw was soft. In the afternoon only the Face Lift was closed and deep snow was plentiful off the beaten track. It was warmer at the top of the hill than the bottom and the snow was the stick to your goggles get you soaked stuff, but it was still great. At 4:00 PM it is -7 at the house and snowing. |
The
snow came as promised - 33 cm according to the board at the Boom chair. However
with it came avalanche closings that only left what my neighbor calls the Fernie
Triangle open on the upper hill - North Ridge to Bear, with everything on either
side closed. The result was lots of skiers packed into a little area as suggested
by the shot looking up Bear. One couldn't help thinking about a giant can of
Raid. <g>
Morning lineups were pretty big too, although they got a lot better at noon.
We
didn't get up the hill until late morning and there wasn't much in that triangle
that was untracked. You could still find the odd deep turn if you went looking
and didn't mind doing the alder tango. In this shot is from a less used part
of Linda's run you can still see tracks in the knee deep new, but the main part
of the run was pure mogul and while they were generally very nice and soft,
there was already the odd spot scraped through to the old ice.
Everyone
was eagerly awaiting the opening of more terrain and on one ride up the Boom
chair we were greeted with the spectacle of a solid line of skier standing shoulder
to shoulder along top of Cedar Ridge from the top of the lift down past the
first several closure signs. I thought it would have been a great picture, but
just as we got off of the lift the signal was given, the powder rush was on,
and they all just dropped into the bowl.
It was kind of weird heading in just after the slope was open, the signs hadn't even been flipped yet, and finding the slope well tracked. There were still lots of nice turns to be found though. Here a fellow appears to be looking for some unsullied little chute to make his own...
while
these guys decided to just lay back and watch the show. <g>
The skiing certainly was excellent and a hoot, but powder prudes like my young son and I both declared it rather dense for the powder moniker. This may have accounted for the generous quantity of downed skiers.
Nonetheless folks were clearly having a great time and at the Haulback there
was a sea of grins and lots of excited tale telling. We only had time for one
run before meeting the rest of the family and I can only surmise that moguls
probably sprouted like mushrooms on the slope in the afternoon.
My wife overheard some ski school employees telling a customer that they expected the new lifts to be open in the first week of January, perhaps the 3rd. Maybe they are operating on the same rumours as the rest of us, but it does make the January 1st date sound a bit shaky.
At 4:00 PM it is -10 C, cloudy and snowing very lightly at the house.
(Click on any picture for a larger version)
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