IN THE DEEP

We uploaded a little early today, thanks to the best Gondola crew of the decade, and skied down to a deserted - and operational - Storm Peak Express. To our pleasant surprise they waved us through at 8:35 and we had the lift to ourselves for about 5 minutes, and as we climbed up to the peak we slowly started to see the glass-pressers ease in behind us.We got to the top of Storm Peak and saw minimal tracks in 10-12" of new snow and decided...

Well I can say it's finally here, and ya'll should be excited, 'cuz we sure are. We got first chair on the Gondy today (thanks to both Keith and Erin for helping us with Craig's rig, chair, skis, etc, man we'll be glad when they open up Thunderhead!), and that first smooth run down left side of Rudy's was mint... mind you it was cavernous in spots, but still tastycakes-good, from the cord to the 6" of fresh. It was about 11° up there so...

It's been snowing since around 2am, and it's piling on!! I heard today that over last weekend we got up to 3 feet at the top, and some wiseguy at the gym told Craig that he'd skied Hurricane and it was sick. Reminding a monoskier you can hike to get your turns, some nerve. [chuckle] Not that hiking UP Rainbow sounds like our cup of tea anyway.So Craig has vowed to get his rig sorted out today (whence last I wrote he had issues with the shock jamming) while we're up at the activity fair at the Grand, so we can ski tomorrow and...

If small towns churn rumors like coffee beans in the grinder, Steamboat is the Rumor Mill...Word is they're opening a few extra runs this weekend, but no more lifts: The bottom of Valley View (exit stage right off Christie) and See Me (next to See Ya). Now, that's unconfirmed, but the runs have been tilled by the grooming crew, meaning they are at least fixin' to do somethin' with them! And NOT a rumor: To entice the skiers Steamboat's...

Not so bad, glazed over in spots but not icey, soft on the edges, 22 degrees, and a good warm up. Short & sweet. Like Craig said, 'this is what I skied in NY, like West Mountain.' Craig also jacked his rig down, jammed into the compressed position. After all the work he did on this, its just another issue with the ProComp. The shocks that come on those are weak. Gonna bring the camera up when we open up.... Treo Mob...