March 28, 2001

The Comeback Hill

You can never count Fernie out opined Richard, my locker neighbor, local institution and <free plug alert> proprietor of the excellent Rip' n Richard's bistro down in town </free plug alert>. It would seem he is right, for after worrying about whether the hill would even be open at this point, I have had the pleasure of some pretty good skiing over the last three days. Up high there has been honest to goodness powder, sometimes boot high or better. There is still no base, hazards abound and farther down the conditions are far from powder, but with a little judicious route selection a day of really fine turns is certainly possible.

By all accounts the skiing up on White Pass this morning was especially good, but a computer glitch and some miscellaneous snippets of reality kept me off of the slopes until afternoon. By then the snow in Timber, although still soft and friendly, was pretty well used, but I had no trouble finding a nice untracked shot over on the Currie Chutes and was able to follow that up with a pleasant medley of trees and soft bumps.

Over on the old side the Face Lift and upper Cedar were closed and the lower elevation took its toll as the transition from powder to heavy was not far below the top of the Bear. However if you have a taste or tolerance for full bodied snow, soft turns were abundant, particularly as the Haul Back was closed and few folks were interested in making the long and nostalgic traverse out Cedar Trail. I even enjoyed, in a floundering fashion, the boot deep paste we encountered on Linda's run, although I think my skiing companions were making mental notes to avoid both me and especially my route selections in the future.

The lower runs were hardly a treat, but had improved considerably over a couple of days ago. Some bare spots had disappeared and the frozen spots that had been slush puddles were fairly grippy. Hardly the stuff of dreams, but adequate as a transit to the bottom.

At a little past six in the evening it is cloudyand about 5 C at the house.


Trees in Currie - used, but still good.

The drop into the bowl off of Falling Star, just below the top of White Pass.

Some nice freshies await on the Concussion Chutes

Nice looking snow on Linda's Run, but a taste for mush was necessary to enjoy it.