Jay's Report - January 02, 2006

Another 6

We got another six cm last night and there has been an encouraging frequency of flurry activity. Still no big old time Fernie dumps in the forecast but you never know. As I said last report, six ain�t bad. I�ll take it. What skier would object to six?

Snow coverage on the hill is great and getting better. What a stark contrast from last year at this time. Parking lots have been full and hotels are reporting full or near full occupancy but oddly, there are no crowds. I started the day on the old side with Linda�s Run. The softies were surprising. King Fir was next and Bear Chutes after that. Both had some icy sections that could easily be avoided by carving a little harder. I didn�t bother.

From there I went over to the Timber side to do the �steep three� � Corner Pocket, Upper Saddle and Lower Saddle. There was too much traffic on Corner Pocket so we passed on that and went directly to the Saddles. There�s a rope on Corner Pocket now. We stopped long enough to watch a few Fernie visitors belay themselves down in exhilarating wonderment. I can hear the apr�s ski stories now.

From there we searched out Cervix. It would have been magnificent with just a little more fresh. Cervix is a difficult to find chute located somewhere between Decline and Freeway. I�m not sure �Cervix� is the proper name of the run, or even if there is a name, or even if there is a run for that matter. In any event, it can be a gem but is often a gamble. It was a gamble today. Stagleap was our final sortie of the day. I always try to go top to bottom without stopping. It�s a total leg crusher at the end of a day. Of course, I stopped, as I have for the last umpteen years.

At 7 pm it�s 1 C above at the house. The question is, will there be six tonight?