Craig's Report - March 31, 1999


Yet Another Sweet Morning...

Picture 1
(Anaconda Glades)

I had planned a day of rest today, safe in the knowledge that yesterday afternoon's sun baking would not have left any worthwhile powder (I heard reports it got pretty heavy late in the day). But this morning there was fresh snow in the driveway and I felt obliged to drag my weary body out for at least a couple of runs.

I have not done much exploring in the trees coming into Currie from the Timber since they require just the right conditions and have usually been closed due to either avalanche danger or ice whenever I have happened to be on the ridge. This is not to say they haven't been open lots, but not when I happened by, so I decided to a special trek over there today. It was a good choice as there were only a couple of other tracks down them and the snow was deep and soft.


 


(Roadblock)

These are quite steep and in places rather well endowed with trees making them most definitely expert slopes. On much of the hill I know most of the routes and holes, but here I slipped into a nice little chute only to find it dead ending in this little tree barricade. Zooming through the tight gap proved to be quite okay, but a bit intimidating the first time given the pitch of this slope (much steeper than it looks in the picture) and the uncertainty about what was beyond. I think I would have given this area a double black designation as it is definitely more challenging than some other slopes with that rating.

With conditions like there were today though, it is a rather delightful spot and I will have to make a point of getting to know it better.

 

Picture 1
(Extreme Green Currie)

It was once again powder everywhere, with lots of over your knees stuff that was fairly light and very nice to ski. Grooming was minimal even on some lower slopes and I found this sign at the entrance to Currie rather amusing. It reads:

"Currie Powder is not freshly groomed"
"Extreme Green". <g>

 


 


(Heiko Socher)

After traversing over to the top of Easter Bowl from Currie, who should I find but Heiko Socher, the former owner of the ski hill and the fellow who pretty much created the Fernie Ski hill as we know it. Even this year's expansion pretty much follows his plan and as I understand it the reason he sold the hill to Lake Louise was to ensure the expansion would actually happen. These days you might even see him out on the hill on a snowboard, although he claimed that was just an impostor pretending to be him. <g>

 

When I headed down about 11:30 the new snow on the lower runs was starting to get a bit heavy, but everything up top was still excellent. However at 1:50 P.M. it is now 6 C at the house and the sun is starting to peek through the clouds.

(Click on any picture for a larger version)

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