February 05, 2000

Variable

I got mixed comment from folks about today's conditions. Some thought it was a pretty nice day, but most mentioned terms like crispy or opined that we needed new snow. I personally thought it was kind of ho-hum, but I guess given the rain and warm temperatures of last week it could have been a lot worse.

Mogul hounds were probably the happiest, for well trafficked spots like Cedar Ridge, Sunnyside, Diamond Back and even Puff, had pretty decent moguls. These things had a little soft stuff lying about and edged well, but for my tastes, they would have been dramatically improved with a fresh coat ankle deep or better. The groomed runs were also pretty good, although definitely fast and firm down low, but not quite to the point that I would call them icy.

Areas which had not seen much traffic, like Snake Ridge and parts of Easter Bowl, were decidedly cruddy. While the stiff uncut snow by itself would not have been too bad, snow compressed by earlier tracks had set up somewhat, making for a rather uneven ride. It was skiable, but pleasant isn't a term that comes to mind.

I only did one run in Currie, and that was the stepping traverse run along the South ridge. While hardly prime, the snow here was not too bad, at least until you got down near Traverse Trail. I heard reports that the benches in the center of Currie were really quite decent, but everyone seemed to agree that the Concussion Chutes were unfriendly.

At six PM the temperature at the house is pretty much unchanged from the middle of the afternoon at -6C and the sky is cloudy.