Jay's Report - January 06, 2006

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

My coma was shattered this morning with excited claims by my wife of �There�s 19 cm reported last night!� I jumped out of bed like I was in an air raid and slammed into the wall face first. Without looking outside, I scrambled my ski gear on and crammed toast down my throat while falling out the back door. I should have looked outside first.

Rain! Almost like I woke up in a shower. Such expectations! The best day of the year was just 2 days ago. My legs screamed in mercy for a break yesterday. Today, it was basic survival. I had my worst fall of a decade, making the mistake of high speed snaking off a groomed portion of the Bear to an ungroomed, wet, glue, spider web, velcro type of junk that stopped my skis like I hit a train, catapulting me about 25 ft in the air. Total double eject, four roll, head spinning, nose running, mouthing slobbering car wreck. That was the start of the day and that was the ugly.

The bad was anything below base of White Pass. The good? That was anything that was open on the White Pass Side above the base of the White Pass chair. There was 2 feet of powd in spots. Surprize and Surprize trees was a popular gnarl spot. Did 4 runs there, hit a tree on the last one, and decided not to tempt fate any further. Hey, I know my limits. When Currie and Cedar open (closed due to an obvious avalanche hazard), might be some nice turns out there. I�ll be there just as soon as the bruise on my shin subsides to the point where my ski boot will fit again.

Although the forecast is for cooling temperatures, at 7 pm it�s plus 2 c at the house and still raining. I�m savoring a well deserved scotch. If you were out there today, I would recommend the same.