Bernie's Report - February 11, 2003

Still Firm & Fast

Spring skiing without the warmth of the sun to soften things up! That's the way my skiing companion described it today. There were a few areas that were out of the wind with a good southern exposure that did soften somewhat, but generally speaking the conditions are hard packed. Perhaps it�s my skiing technique, but the grooming machines seem to be powdering more of the hard pack with each pass and the groomed run conditions have improved over the past week. Early in the day the conditions were quite consistent but later they deteriorated to alternating sugar and ice. With careful route selection it was possible to stay in the sugar most of the time

Over the past two weeks more runs have been groomed and the recently groomed runs are much more enjoyable to ski. We actually found some fairly �fresh� snow on one or two �out of the way� runs. I was skiing most of the day with a group from Toronto. And although they were disappointed that the fabled powder was missing, they expressed to me that they felt conditions were quite good.

Some off-piste conditions are gradually improving. Milky way and Currie trees are quite skiable though the steeper slopes, such as Cedar Ridge are still closed due to the possibility of uncontrolled slides.

It�s all relative� compared to fresh powder, conditions are the pits but compared to conditions a week ago, conditions are improved.

Bernie - bernie@far.redtree.com