March 06, 2001

V-V-V-Variable

That would be the way I would have described the conditions as I vibrated down the absolutely impenetrable corduroy of Silver Fox. We had been forced over to the shady side of this run by a closure on Incline (looks like preparations for a free style event) and the Nastar course that hogged the sunny side of the run. It was a typical scorching spring day where everything was determined by the attention of the sun and deep shade was not the place to be.

I suspect it was pretty brutal first thing this morning, but there was some nice skiing to be found by the time the crack of one ski team arrived. The well baked areas were becoming rather sticky and sloppy by then, so it helped if if you could play the Goldilocks (not too hot, not too cool) routine, but an error on the side of the mush certainly seemed preferable to the bullet proof frozen moguls of shady characters like Freeway.

Of course the predations of the sun were having an effect on the frail snow pack and while the hill certainly isn't in its death throes yet, it might be wise to keep the number of the priest handy. Getting people down from the Haul Back may soon be a challenge. Lower North Ridge was skiable without ski damage, but it certainly helped to be on good terms with the trees on the right border. I didn't see Wallaby today, but it was a complete mess yesterday afternoon and there were even traces of sun rot on the edges of View Trail, although the main route was fine.

Away from the reach of the snow guns, brownish bits were certainly not uncommon on well trafficked runs and in the less busy, but sunny spots, even more sticks and other gotchas are starting to emerge. All this makes it sound like the skiing was miserable, but I at least did not find that to be the case and indeed found it quite enjoyable.

At quarter to five in the afternoon the sky is crystal clear and the temperature is still 11 C on my now shady porch. Hmmm.

The soft, but not too soft, rounded moguls on the side of Cruiser were delightful in the early afternoon.

Dipsey Disaster zone. The stretch of Dipsey from the Bear's Den to the flats has been a rock garden almost all winter, but now it is just plain pathetic.

The traverse under Polar Peak to the Currie Chutes was closed, presumably due to worries about slides from above. I did see people lower down on the chutes, so perhaps you get in from the low traverse. Upper Cedar was also closed.

Ooey gooey mogul field on the skiers right of the gully in lower Currie. The sloppy snow was fun to ski, but the legion of emerging pointy punjis certainly kept one on their toes.