The weather forecast was for it to be mainly sunny today, but we had to make do with just the odd bit peaking through the clouds. It even snowed a bit, but left only about a centimeter up top.
The conditions were packed just about everywhere, so the choices were moguls or groomed. It was a bit cooler today and things were fairly firm, but most places still carved well. Some high traffic areas like lower North Ridge and Puff had been reduced to fairly soft mogul islands in a glacial sea, but even these could be navigated fairly well once edging techniques were recalled..
I was impressed by how well the lifts were handling the larger crowds, especially since this is still the holiday weekend in Alberta. Line ups were either minimal or nonexistent, although admittedly my skiing spanned the lunch break. From lift conversations I learned that people seemed to think there were no significant line ups on Saturday or Sunday, so perhaps the ones we encountered on Saturday were just temporary transients.
The lighting did not make for great picture taking, but this is a shot you
are unlikely to see very often in these reports. It is taken from the bottom
of Fish Bowl and I rarely go outside the ropes. However Papa's run was all but
mogulled today and there was a steady stream of folks cruising the bowl. Some
nice soft turns were still available up top, but I am sure it was better over
by 2000 foot and beyond. Near the bottom a crust developed which required a
little more attention to detail, but wasn't really bad.
Kudos to the ski hill for grooming a cat track beside the road down into our subdivision. It can be nerve wracking walking up the road for folks staying in the village with kids and even more so for those of us with kids who have to walk up to the school bus stop. I don't know if this will be a permanent feature, but I can hope.
At 5:30 PM it is -3 C at the house under a cloudy sky.
(Click on any picture for a larger version)
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