Craig's Report - January 16, 2007

Out of Hiding

It seems the plumbing in my feet came from the discount bin, so the prospect of frigid temperatures combined with ski boots has kept me in hiding for several days. Much belayered, I finally waddled out again yesterday afternoon, when temperatures finally started climbing into the more tolerable end of the teens. Today was better yet, although still pretty nippy. As you might expect after a week without significant new snow, most things are packed, but while those of us with a nasty powder habit are starting to get twitchy, conditions are still very good.

The groomed runs are firm, but provide good grip and at least in my travels seemed free of anything that could be called ice. They did lose a couple of fat Craig demerit marks for being noisy underfoot, but otherwise it was hard to fault the cruising conditions. Surprisingly the same wasn�t true for some of the less travelled terrain. A trip down Steep and Deep found a mix of soft, stiff and stiff chopped that easily exceeded my limited talents for smooth comfortable turns. Higher traffic mogul runs were better and indeed with a few exceptions the skiing was probably better where more folks skied, although some places like Freeway did have icy spots.

All in all not bad at all, but of course would certainly be tastier with a few centimeters of fluff to top it off.

At 17:15 it is -9 C at the house and overcast.


At the base with the rental shop to the left and Timber Chair in the background.

Looking across Lizard Bowl from the top of the small gully separating Sunnyside and Arrow.

Cedar Ridge is in the background of this shot from the top of Steep and Deep.

Looking across Concussion Chute towards Tom�s run.

The view down from the same spot.

Sky Dive from the bottom. It was a generally good mix of soft packed moguls, but with the odd hard spot or dash of crud to keep you alert.