Craig's Report - February 27, 1999


Vertically Variable

Picture 1
(Heartland infestation)

Great on top, not so great below. That about sums up the conditions and perhaps explains this mob scene on Heartland. The entire White Pass chair had stayed above the rain line and thus was pretty popular today.


 


(Ballet above the bottom of the Bear T)

There was some new snow overnight and this morning which certainly helped everywhere, but the sweet spot today was Currie. I heard this opened about 11, but even when I went up a couple of hours later there was still some very nice snow in there. Down near the bottom you could certainly feel the ice underneath, but since it was not skied when wet, the underlying hard surface was fairly smooth. The cat track at the bottom was pretty slick though.

The fog level went up and down and the visibility up top ranged from pretty good to essentially nonexistent.

 

Picture 1
(Cedar Ridge trees from Alpine Way)

The old side had many fewer people, but still had some very nice skiing up top. Unfortunately this would run out about half way down the Bear and the off trail stuff was then a few centimeters of new snow over frozen ruts and lumps.


 


(Red Tree)

Snake Ridge was open and had not had many folks over to it even late in the day. There were very few tracks down Red Tree even at three in the afternoon. The top part was pretty nice, but the underlying ice became more and more a feature as one descended. Once again there weren't many ruts since the area had been closed when it rained, but near the bottom there were lots of frozen rain channels running vertically down the hill under the thin new cover. This wasn't as bad as frozen chop, but wasn't exactly pleasant either.

The lower groomed runs were in much better shape than I expected, thanks to the new snow. A well edged ski was still a definite asset though.


At 4:30 PM it is -1 C at the house and snowing lightly.

(Click on any picture for a larger version)

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