Ground Hog Day – Not

As I walked to the lift this morning it felt like ground hog day. It was snowing again. There has been a lot of that recently. However, by the end of my first run I knew there was a distinct difference between yesterday and today. The wind had swung around to the south and was blowing damp moisture laden clouds onto the slopes.

The steep (now exposed) faces like the Bluff were firm and being cut up by the wind. The gullies and powder stashes in the trees not affected by the wind (forecast to swing even further to the south-east) were heavier than yesterday. Even though the winds were not nearly as strong as yesterday, the upper t-bars were, I surmise, on visibility hold. Sponars, Antons and Basin opened eventually.

Yesterday’s snow was unusually dry but poor vis and strong winds kept Karels T-bar closed and left the other upper T-bars with no crowds, as conditions were harsh up high.

How much snow is here? I figure we have had 30-40 cms of new in the past 48 hours on top of the resort. The village shuttle buses are using chains this morning. The snow guns had a huge shift both day and night and the bottom of the Supertrail is looking much better. Still I prefer to ski Lover’s Leap, Lover’s Leap Bypass (wonderfully groomed) and under the Ramshead chair to get back to the village.

Something you don’t often see is Bunny Walk groomed (yesterday) all the way from the bottom of Sponars T-bar, across the creek and down to the Supertrail. This has caused a bit of an Ingrid (technical term for the steep drop onto a cat track) so be aware if dropping in from above.

Another warning to all: I hit a nasty rock today. There aren’t many about but the deep cover is providing access to places not normally used and (I should know better) there are rocks in what look like smooth untracked powder runs.

There is a lot of activity on the main face of Crackenback. Hopefully it will only be for the duration of the school holidays. See photos below.

Yesterday’s groomed Bunny Walk

Eagle’s Nest iced

Bump run below Bunny Walk being built for races

Next run, skiers’ left of above, used for race training

New terrain park being built above Tower 10

And another terrain park being built to skiers right of the above

Good cover of natural snow under the Ramshead chair

Only after 8:00am this morning did the temperature rise above –4C. It’s been below that for days. The forecast says mostly fine and some isolated showers. I’m wondering what might happen if all the moisture coming across the Bight hits the cold air being pumped up from the south?