And On It Goes

After a great day on Friday it was hard to believe that Saturday could be any better but it was. Weather conditions were very similar to Friday - very cold, snowing and windy with limited visibility and no one was on the mountain. The only queue I encountered on Saturday was for the 8:30am rush for first tracks and when I went to get lunch at Black Sallees.

I was on about the 10th chair and at the top watching the early birds take The Bluff and lines under the chair in variable conditions; Lucky Phil and I hit the big wind drift on Little Merritts. Passing by Kareela on the Supertrail, we realised there were only 4 tracks in front of us as we carved up the centimetres-deep wind-blown on top of the groomer. At BunnyWalk station there was only a single track in front of as we relished in the freshies. We couldn't believe our luck. The second run had us searching harder for freshies on the main face but we still found them. The Basin and deep freshies followed. Karels got off to a late start but the Rim Run was like Groundhog Day with the wind filling our tracks as fast as we could lay them down. After coffee we went to Dead Horse Gap with Marion. It was so nice that after lunch Lucky Phil and I took Riley for his first ever run to DHG and we found even better freshies on the right side of the ridge. It is really rare for me to do 2 DHG runs on the same day but it was that good.

Today the sun was up early and although there appeared to be no new snow overnight, the wind had freshened up many of the drifts. There was more sastrugi and frozen rhino hide than yesterday but with the good vis we could see exactly where to go to get the most out of the fresh wind-blown. Dead Horse Gap again after coffee. Although we could see more tracks than we left yesterday we got freshies the entire way from tree line to the bridge. How good was it? Well, we did it again instead of lunch. In front of us, on our second run, there was a group of about 40 kids, associated instructors and ski patrol. Behind there were many more about to start. I used their packed-highway on the flatter sections and had freshies the rest of the trip. The snow was creamier (slightly heavier and prone to balling up) than yesterday but still lovely.

Saturday morning with fresh wind-blown on a groomed Supertrail

Marion at DHG on Saturday morning

Lucky Phil at same

First run to DHG on Saturday

Second run to DHG on Saturday

How can you tell?

Snow glow at Karels today

Top To Bottom

Linda at DHG today

Marion's second run to DHG today

How much can a body take? Lots!

All runs (ie: 100%) in the resort are officially open, including BunnyWalk and The Schuss. The main range looks very inviting but with great snow in resort and the easy-down to DHG and with mostly non-existent queues, why should I climb?

The forecast is for a big system Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday.