Craig's Report - March 01, 2006

Not Quite as Hoped

The hoped for mega powder dump didn�t exactly happen, but with 20 cm of sundry types of snow falling during the previous day, there was still some pretty nice skiing. There was also some pretty tough skiing depending on where you went, for at various times and places you could encounter everything from dense powder to soggy glop and early on even some icy bits down low.

North facing slopes seemed to be the ticket to finding that powdery stuff, with 1,2,3, Easter Bowl and Cedar Ridge all providing me with pretty nice runs. In contrast a run in Lizard just after it opened was pretty decent down to about the top of Sunnyside where it became stiff and crusty, yielding to full on mashed potatoes by the bottom of Sunnyside.

The run down Cedar Ridge was notable for being much nicer than yesterday, with a sufficient coverage of new snow to keep things pleasant right down to Cedar Trail. It was also very quiet and barely tracked for the Boomerang chair was not running, which meant a sudden flash back to those long gone years when the price for a sweet Cedar run was the long, long cruise back to the bottom on Cedar Trail.

Like Cedar Ridge, the snow remained good quite low on the North facing ridges of Lizard and Currie. Indeed even the Window Chutes were pretty good right down to Deer Trail, with the exception of the odd firm spot hidden in the otherwise soft snow. By early afternoon the lower groomed runs became quite soft in the warm sun and the walk home was a helmetless, gloveless trek.

At 14:30 it is 4 C at the house under an increasingly cloudy sky.


Timber Bowl in the sun.

A shot from the base with Stag Leap, Sky Dive and Decline in the background amid snow dusted trees.

By the bottom of Sunnyside it seemed that a potato masher might have been more appropriate than skis.

Fresh snow and no people on Cedar Ridge brought back memories of the delights and misery of the pre Boom chair days.

1,2,3 was nice and even the lower Bootleg Glades still had nice snow.

Despite various bombing runs, there still is an impressive chunk of snow hanging off of the cliff above White Pass.

The top of Easter. This was nice, although there were some firm sections on the steeper upper section where perhaps the snow had sloughed off. Upper Lizard in the background was still closed.

In the telephone pole like trees between the Window Chutes. Generally this was very nice, but occasional crisp sections kept you on your toes (hopefully).