IN THE DEEP

The sun peeks through the clouds as I type, breaking open the sky, blue pushing white further into the mountains... bringing visibility for fireworks this evening as we ring in the new energy, new decade, new year!

But that wasn't how it was this morning; pitch black and dumping snow when we woke, adding what seemed like another 6" to the 12" that was up there.




This week is our early week, the ski area opens 15 minutes early during this busy 7 days between the holidays to cut down on the morning lines- brilliant for us early risers, I tell you. We were in the Gondy line behind the legions of First Trackers at 8:00am -a nod to all those hard working blue coats that have to "suffer" through 4 extra powder runs bright and early- and we were at first chair of Four Points by 8:10. As Brooksy said, "We'll catch em by their second lap up Sundown."

We blazed a knee-deep trail off Four Points to Rainbow-Moonlight; many took Sunset but there's nothing like that reliably fresh-groomer Rainbow that makes that 10" new feel like you're a rockstar. Less obstacles, less work; and conserving energy early today was wise. We'd made 3 runs by 9 and didn't want to come up for air. The Clocks, Tornado, Sideburn, Face... you name it, there was at least 8" on it, and up to 18 in the trees.

Nature squeezed in one last hurrah for '09.

On the way down I spied someone poached Mother Nature's Atlas-sized bumps, that looks to be ready soon! And Conce's open, but not much powder left on it from this high alt. storm. But there's Champagne all over that upper mountain, by the truckloads. And while it was completely fogged in and dumping those perfect, dry, symetrical flakes while we were up there, it's bright and blue as the Caribbean Sea outside now.

Sometimes I have to just look around and say, "Do I really live here?"

Forecast brings us more we hear, this break in the clouds is just a tease. We hope for a January to remember for our 5th Annual All Mountain Ski Camp starting on the 11th... if you know the dance, do it for us!

See you in the deep- AND HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!




thanks Jimbo for the break from filming!

You know it's a slim December when the locals are amped up for 8 inches since the mountain closed, 11 in the last 24 hours, but that's what this morning offered as we joined the pack at Storm Peak at 8:52am. It was still snowing lightly at the 5degree summit when we arrived and bombed down Storm Peak; ahh, some of our favorite terrain is finally skiable on December 24th. Merry Christmas!

We continued down Rainbow to freshly-opened Moonlight, littered with piles of new and old snow that hadn't been touched by anyone but Ski Patrol. It was warmer as usual on the "sunny side", so we took a lap up Sundown and tried out 1 Oclock and into the 1230 trees. Also seemingly virgin for the 09-10 season, our all-time favorite stash was in mint condition. Scared of what was underneath still however, we watched our line carefully, but wow; our billows were over my knees, and over Craig's head. Lovely.

Furthermore, the right side of lower high noon was also among the best I've seen it; knee-high powder mounds primed for bombing.

The fog, goggle failure, and ridiculously low temperatures kept our morning short, we've skied our VA visitor to rubber, and the powder just makes it worse. So after another run, we found our way down to Lower Valley View which has been groovy all week but was divine today.




Merry Christmas everyone! See you In The Deep!

Steamboat hosted yet another Olympic skiing event this holiday week; nordic and alpine skiers competed to qualify for their seat on the Olympic team. 10k, moguls, and aerial categories included, the visitors and locals had a lot to spectate and enjoy during December 23rd and 24th in The Boat. We were also Christmas-blessed as always, and awoke to 11 new inches of snow this morning... more on that in the next post!

This video was taken Monday... when we got about 6 new inches to play on, and a foot in spots. It was my first day up, but Craig's 3rd... it's been a slow December, reminiscent of 2004 perhaps (32" total for the month); but we hope it only means whatever's missing from 2009 will plummet down from the skies in 2010 for an epic January as usual, hopefully a la 1996 style. (216" total for the month! Please note THAT 95-96 season they also only got 34" in December... watch out!)

Not much open until today- Buddys Cyclone Tornado were our only options Monday- but they opened up more terrain with the arrival of all the holiday travelers; we've got some visitors as well so we'll see you up there ~





Stats til 07/08:

The only thing that would keep the plastic butt of Craig's monoski off the first chair of the Christie sixpack this year is the Broncos-Giants game in Denver... which thanks to modern technology we are driving down to while this autoposts to the blog... Fear not we return tomorrow to make some turns!


HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

As guaranteed, we always post when we get snow... and today was Steamboat's first unofficial powder day, as with no lifts running, we couldn't get our turns in just yet.

But we're excited to post today's pics and to report that this system is going to stick around for a few days of heavy, dense snow, perfect for base-building! 'Bout time, since we only have 13 days left to build that base! They've been blasting the guns all day too, which is niiiiiice.

This morning's view...

Today's blast...

Tomorrow's continuance...


And more on Sunday if we're lucky!!

It's been warm. It's been sunny. It's November. There's panic in the air. But never fear, "it always comes," we say around here, because if there's one thing we can count on, it's that white stuff! It's just a matter of WHEN.

The WHEN is now. We had our first official "Winter Storm Warning" in October this year; a blasting, paster of a storm, we got below-average temps, feet of snow in some areas of Colorado, and yet, it's all gone.

Well, we're now at the 2-hour countdown to WSW#2. We're into November finally, and we're at the 2-week-mark, as of today. Just 14 days to the opening, and this three-day storm should bring us some of what we're looking for. It's been a tumultuous week for weather in the U.S., actually, the central east coast is getting pounded today with Ida's lil' sister- flooding and gale force winds from Cape Hatteras to Cape Cod. While I love watching Mike Bettes get his hair wet in the wild wind as opposed to seeing him in dry and sharp in the studio, I must admit I'm jealous of Virginia Beach's weather right now. But here's a look at what's to come...


One last note, they should change the seasons around here. Or the lingo. Or both. If we're getting "Winter Storm Warnings" in the fall, how can they be WSWs? They should be Fall Storm Warnings, or Winter-Like Storm Warnings... OR we should just change our dates. Winter starts November 1st, because we've already had six weeks of snow by the time it starts for everyone else on December 21st.

Here's what I'm dreaming of... how 'bout you?





~See you in the deep.

... this is about the time of year last year where we checked in with our loyal fans and began the official countdown of weeks... (we've all be counting days for about a month now)

Steamboat is only 8 weeks away from opening, and the snow has begun to dust our peaks with the reminder that fall is not a long season around here. The leaves change and fall over a course of only two or three weeks, and October always, always, brings us snow.

We got our first snow on September 21st like clockwork around our wedding anniversary (it snowed on our wedding day, 9.23.2006), and we got a second dusting this past weekend... reminding me that yes, I should in fact begin the countdown for IN THE DEEP!! Stay tuned, kiddos, we're almost there. . . pray for snow and record snowfall!


-See you In The Deep!

Today Craig tested out the KBG Monoski, designed by Kevin Bramble, whose name you might recognize from the XGames and Paralympics. After years of being disappointed by the upkeep and (lack of) durability of various monoskis on the market, Bramble designed and began manufacturing his own beefed-up model of monoski.

As you can see, the frame sits Craig up a little higher and straighter. He found it easier to load onto the chairlifts, and thought the shock was the smoothest part of the ride. Craig's complete review of the Bramble has been placed on our sister blog: http://accessanythingreviews.blogspot.com.

There were definitely some pros and cons of the rig over his Revolution (see end of blog); but its beefy model can't be beat. There are over a dozen models now on the market, so this test driving process will stretch to next season at least.

Despite not fitting into someone else bucket quite right (like using someone else's ski boot) and not having his powder ski, Craig bombed the slopes like normal.

We took a Thunderhad lap down Vagabond to get the feel of the this new machine; then met up with Bruce and Pam Reommich for some upper mountain fun. This Bramble lives at the Reommich's house during the offyear between visits of its owner Kevin Simpson from Scotland. A HUGE shout out to Kev for letting Craig test it out!

Once up top we took a look at 3 and 1 Oclocks; both had a slight amount of powder on them, enough to grab your boards a bit and still feel like fresh. The sides were softer, but the groomers with several inches of fresh were the nicest; a little heavy in the trees. The report was 5" at 5am, which was about right.

Next we tested out 1230 trees and where there was more snow, conditions were actually a little worse- the skiers struggled through a thick top layer while my board just sailed on through if I leaned back enough. The short little straight ski that was on the Bramble didn't do Craig any good through there at all, he needed quite a bit of pushing from his friends to get into those trees.

We look like we've got some more snow on the horizon though our days are dwindling... sad to say we'll be counting down the very last week of the season starting tomorrow... so it's now or never!






____________________________________________

Note the different frame of the ProComp Revolution. Craig's has about 2million vertical feet logged into it, so he's shopping for a new one.

Today was no foolin', another deep, epic day in the 'Boat. I had resigned myself to sitting this week out, but after two days of watching Craig come home with that poo-eating grin, I decided I had better make a few turns in this "triple threat" storm myself.

Where Monday and Tuesday were cold, (infamous local Y-Von even told me she was actually SORE from shivering yesterday) today wasn't so bitter once you got off the peak; about 15-25 degrees warmer by the reports.

However you know what that means. The powder was dense. I of course, having missed the cream of yesterday, and riding on a fat board,didn't notice. While they struggled on skis in the Three O'Clock trees, I bombed down Twilight laughing all the way. They also hit the bumps on Lights Out, while I cruised past to Moonlight Trees. I know that's cliche, but yea "it was in the trees today." But it seemed that you had to pick the right treeline with a very steep pitch that hadn't been touched since about noon yesterday to get the full throttle of today's accumulation in your face.

So we continued on in search. I think next to Twilight, my favorite run today was Cyclone, but honestly even Rudy's at 8:38 with 4-5" on a glasslike groomer was scrumptious. Next we headed to Pony, where many had been. But again, if you knew where to look, it was there.

Now I know some of you are now thinking of cherry blossoms, golfing, cycling and camping... but we're still eating it up like frosty white cupcakes here in the hills. Our base is a ridiculous 110+'' and the storms show no signs of relenting soon. We'll be back up tomorrow for more.


See you In The Deep!

Steamboat TV18's and NRC Broadcasting's Eli Campbell injured his knee early this season and has been unable to ski since the start of the year. We ran into Eli and his lady Erin at Creekside one day, and discussed the idea of monoskiing... it gave him something to look forward to... when the doc would clear him for some strapped-in safe snow sliding! That day was finally yesterday, March 29, coincidentally one day after the anniversary of Craig's ski accident.

Eli's a great snow athlete- one look at his Facebook pictures and you can see he has a thirst for adventure in the woods. So with even more powder coming at us this week, we think we've timed this perfectly! Hopefully Eli will take this lesson to the next step and make some turns.

101 Fitting
Fitting the monoski bucket, foot cage, and outriggers to a beginner stance is primary; you should have an expert help line this out for you. Once you've mastered the basics, you can adapt to a more intermediate stance.

101 Control
Even more so than able-bodied skiing, when monoskiing you must start out slow to control the rig. It's a heavy piece of equipment that can hurt someone; so control of the device is of the utmost importance.

Push forward and backwards, lift up, pivot, and get an overall feel for your balance in the bucket and on the outriggers. Then on a flat surface practice getting up some momentum and stopping yourself. Monoski stops are made by pressing down with your arms and shoulders and pivoting one way or the other, as if the outrigger is doing the job, but it's your body is setting the turn in motion. Once you've mastered stopping the rig on a flat surface, move up the bunny slope to begin working on turning.


Eli did great at the base; he took to the rig right away, and was able to find his balance quickly. As a ski racer and athlete, Eli wasn't learning to ski, he was learning to adapt his existing (excellent) skiing skills to this particular equipment. The concepts are mostly the same, so he had a head start; but even his success far succeeded anyone's expectations!


101 Turning
Turning the rig is similar to turning when standing skiing; your head/eyes and thumbs should direct your turns. If you're overturning, you're looking into the next turn too late. [Overturning on a monoski will cause "wash out," where the ski turns back uphill and the bucket slides
out beneath you.] Prevent this by staying ahead of the turn by always looking to the next side once your turn has begun.

Now you're monoskiing!

Eli made some great turns, first twice down Headwall and then Craig took him to Swinger, and as he picked up momentum he seemed to pick it up, by the wide part of the trail, he was bombing away, turning less, and really getting the hang of it!




Thanks for being such a good sport, and thanks to TV18 for putting together the video of yesterday, we can't wait to see it!

Despite the lack of new snow, everyone's happy when it's sunny out. The temps remained low, but that didn't stop the crowds from covering the slopes. It's that time of year where Steamboat gets to flex its Family Friendly Resort status. The carnival rides are out, the base is slushy, and everyone's thinking spring.

We made our turns late today to let the hill warm up and soak up some afternoon sun. Everyone we knew reiterated the same sentiment: What a Gorgeous Day! True that, even for my powder hound, "this bluebird weather can't be beat." Don't get me wrong, we still anticipate that late March or April dumpage, but if you're not getting snow this time of year, we'll take the sun (over clouds or rain anyday!).

The base is starting to get brown, as is town, but there's still an 87" summit base to be enjoyed, and we hit the sunny side to do just that! Laps down Sunshine Lift Line were fast and furious, as was Westside, but Rolex looked a little too shiny for tasting today. Flintlock was perfect under today's conditions in pitch and face; luscious. Storm Face wasn't bad either, and Sunset to Moonlight were mint as usual. The snow in the trees had been burned for sure, so it was groomers and soft bumps were for the taking. The Daze was ripe for the taking, as was Bashor for the way down- fresh cord (guaranteed at Bashor after 4pm)! mmmmm.

Help us pray for that spring Deep -
... and GO 'CUSE!

Yep, we're back, and yep, so is our glorious mountain. The storm started blowing in around 10pm last night, and its ferocity got us into bed and setting the alarm for the early rise. We woke to an 11'' report this morning and made first chair on Christie. Storm and Morningside were closed for av blasting, so we beelined it for Four Points, bracing against sideways winds, white out visibility, and temps we haven't felt in months; -1 at the top. Yea you read that right. My fingers were frozen by the second run, so my clicks on the camera were nill. (Luckily Craig got some shots in!)

We started out with some Godly epic turns down Sundown and Lights Out; the snow was light and fluffy, the hardpack was all but buried once again. (What season is it?) After two weeks of balmy temps and meltoff, you'd think the lines would be packed and the freshies hard to find after the first run. But quite the opposite; there wasn't a soul up there. We got first tracks down 2 Oclock, a little windblown but untouched and nice next to the trees. The only body we saw was a patroller dipping in and out of the trees. Next we hit 1 Oclock, even better than 2:00 was, without the windlips and piled at least thigh high in the 1:30 trees. We followed up with one of our new laps to South Peak: from Sundial to the trees, edging the boundary line down Tomahawk to Ramrod, best snow of the day at the top in Sundial's trees for sure. Any run that had any little bit of exposure definitely had some blowing snow and limited visibility.

The wind began to let up a little around 9:30, the lines increased around 10, and the clouds broke at 10:30 or so. We did one last Elkhead lap down Sunnyside before heading over to Teds Ridge for last licks. Despite being groomed, the difference in snow quanitity from upper to mid mountain kept Teds a little thin- only about 6-8" down there, but still very nice.

Although it's overcast now, we spent the weekend skiing under cloudless skies and on great conditions. Sure they were April/Spring-like conditions, but Winter's not over, so we don't expect them to last. But you never know.

It was enjoyable none the less; I myself rarely get up to enjoy days like that, preferring the fresh stuff of course. Saturday, we took our first turns from the top down Buddy's, getting our legs under us, taking some footage of JK and his gang (below), cruising over to Rainbow and Moonlight. There was actually some snow to be had out there still, random small stashes of powder leftovers from Friday, just enough to get some giggles out of us.



Not as many giggles as Harold's throwback outfit brought (right), but giggles nonetheless. Yes, he brought that suit and vest all the way from MD just for fun; he wasn't wearing it on Friday. Good fun.

We also made great turns on Sunshine Liftline and Broadway, without the scraping sounds we heard on lower mountain; eg. Vagabond wasn't in bad shape, just a bit icy by the end of the day.

Sunday brought an incredible decrease in the on-mountain population, the full mazes from Saturday were all but empty on Sunday, despite similarly warm and hospitable conditions.

It was a boys day, with Craig, his dad, and BFF Keith, finding the freshly tilled runs like One and Two Oclock, Flintlock and Sunset, all quite nice.

Forecast unfortunately calls for snowlessness, but we're on our way to Houston and selfishly glad we're not missing any rare powder days. Hopefully we can bring some precip back with us!

We probably wouldn't have gone up today had it not been for Jeffrey Krauthamer (left) celebrating his birthday on the hill all the way from MD... we woke up to a 1" report and bad reports all week about the hill. Craig had been up once, made it to Thunderhead, and turned around because he said it felt like a skating rink. Our temps have been warm, too warm, and we just haven't gotten any snow for about two weeks. Some locals go up every day. Some, like me, are just way too picky for putting up with subpar.

But the skies were unloading by about 9am, and by the second report, there were 5 new inches to be had! We'll have to thank Jeffrey for getting us up there to appreciate it. He visits every winter since I can remember, and had his adaptive turns scheduled for 10am today. We met them at the top of the Gondy shortly after, and made some fabulous, and I'm not exaggerating, turns in Wally World.

There wasn't much to be had in the obvious places, but first turns in Sundial trees and I was in heaven, even on my short groomer day board. At least a half a foot and untouched, on top of a relatively grabby surface. A surprise from above. We kept searching for the stashes along the sides, and beelined down Ramrod for some more.

Sunnyside was the highlight (left), although the turns in Sideburns on our final descent was what we live here for as well. Light, fluffly, untracked, and deep enough to get some yips out of us!

Hopefully we'll get a few more turns in before we leave town on Monday, snow or no snow. With Jeffrey in from MD and Kevin in from Scotland, it's likely! ... video?

Yesterday's 14 inches was an anomaly. The report said 6" mid, 14" summit, 5" mid since the mountain closed. What does one make of that, while lying in a very uncomfortable bed 2 hours from home at 5am? We had three options: 1. We could have stayed in Vail and skied, but purchasing lift tickets when you have a season pass just seems inane. 2. Stay in Vail and have breakfast with our buddies. 3. Drive home and expect the best. Needless to say if the report had been 1", we would have opted for choice #2. But 14" would get anyone up and going. So we blazed out of Vail (their report was 8"), and met the group of Denver friends waiting for us at home. A cloudless sunrise drive to a bluebird powder day awaiting...

First and second glances at the base and top of the Gondola struck the group of us with some wonder... Fourteen? Where?

Rudy's was a smoothed glade with about 2" max on top of it, a very tasty run to Four Points none the less. Sunset brought a few more inches to taste, maybe 5" on top of set bumps, bouncing us all the way down Lights Out. But certainly not the foot-plus that our front rangers were looking for. YET. So we went looking.

Still about only 5" on 1:00 and in the trees that surround, but 5 on top of a groomer was still worth driving from Vail for. Not that we have anything against Vail, however after several drinks, a fun concert at Dobson, and some interaction with our local buddy Kevin's x girlfriend, and a new Vail motto has been formed: Vail is full of bitches. Well, 'cuz, it is.

So back to the 'Boat (which might also need a new motto)... and the stashes.

Westside: none but what's on the right side hill as usual. Hill has been renamed: Craig's Ridge.
Top of Sunshine LiftLine/Keith's Ridge: definitely best first tracks as usual.
Sundial and trees between that and Tomohawk: actually almost knee deep in spots and untracked.
Ramrod: ridiculously nice as usual.
Huevos/"Kodak" (Morningside): knee deep and untracked.
Upper trees left of Hurricane: untracked and shin deep.

Verdict: Another lovely day on the mountain under blue skies, but still left us wondering, where's the beef?

Perish the thought, but we slept in. We're not total slackers, we called the snow report at 6am and heard "4 new inches since the mountain closed... NOT currently snowing." To me that meant dust-on-crust, and a Monday in the office. When we actually made it to the living room however and looked at the deck, the house was in full-blown emergency... nearly a FOOT was on the deck, how the hell can that be?? We made it to the hill by 9 in record time, and one look at Concie below us on T-head was enough to make us wonder... someone had either made a mistake, or we'd gotten nearly a foot of snow in 2 hours.

It was the latter.

After turns through knee-deep piles on Blizzard, we headed for the top- a brave trek across the gusty, windblown Face to get to an epic run down Sunset to Moonlight trees. The snow is not only deep, it's light. Again, we were in shock- yesterday's 40 degree temps seemed to blow out with the sunny skies, it's about 20 up there with a foot of fresh! We went from the most perfect weather for the Winter Carnival I've ever seen to one of the best powder days of the year... it was RAINING when we came home from the movies last night- go figure!

Mind you, when scraped off in spots (lower High Noon, say) there was indeed some *cccrrrrrhh* sounds beneath us. But if you stayed in the trees, hunting for the goods, you had no problem finding them. You know where that is... we'll selfishly keep our secret stashes to ourselves today, we earned them.

In addition to the surprising conditions, also odd were the pockets of people. For instance, Rudy's was littered with timid skiers going around the push piles. Yet we saw not a soul on Storm Face and Sunset. Even upper High Noon was void when we were there, yet after a lap up Sundown there were hundreds at the top, just stagnant; as if waiting for each other.

To avoid the groups going down from there, we took another lap down Sideburn, and I saw one person between there and Rainbow to Hurricane. Some phenomenon I can't explain was keeping the groups together enough that there were wide open powder turns down Hurricane still at 11:30. We caught our last turns down Concentration finally, making a last minute lap up Thunderhead again to earn them, and well worth the wait. Up to our knees yet again.

This beats out all the jealousy I had over the weekend for our pal Jake who was storm chasing in the south, the Champagne has returned!!

-See you in the Deep!

Well after several weeks of ski camps, drop-ins by college buddies, and family visits (and TONS of snow, we are up to 250 inches so far), the sun is out and the groomers are fast. I spent the last three days enjoying the sunshine and blue skies, and taking advantage of warmer temperatures and soft snow. While the mountain honestly is still in great condition, we are approaching that moment when we need more snow too. Maybe I am just spoiled by all the snow the last couple of seasons (489 inches and 60 powder days last season and 100 inches each in December and January this season) or maybe it’s the “hard pack” I have been hearing under my ski. Either way I think we are all ready for some more freshies.

Today was the best of the last three with temperatures in the 40’s and lots of blue sky. We (my BFF and me) started on the lower mountain carving up the big wide slopes of Vagabond and then headed up Burgess Creek to check out the sun soaked Sunnyside. It did not disappoint with small hero bumps of soft slushy snow. After that, we headed over to High Noon and Two O’clock (hey didn’t two o’clock used to be a black run???) and finished with Daybreak. Both a little scraped off, but still holding a good edge. Next we traversed to Storm Peak, which was also a little scraped up, and down to rainbow. And I must say that lower Rainbow was the run of the day. I got incredible turns down through the shadows on the left side and didn’t hear that east coast scraping sound the entire way. The last two runs of the day consisted of the “Lap of Love” (Buddy’s run to Calf Roper to Rainbow to Moonlight) followed by a trip up Elkhead, and a surprisingly great run down the freshly groomed Upper Valley View. To finish the day we arrived at the top of the Bashor race course just as they were breaking down for the day and took advantage of the still fresh cord that had been waiting for us all day. Now it’s time to take a couple of days off and wait for this weekend’s snow. See you in the deep!

We didn't get up early today, and instead watched the snow fall in piles of snowflakes the size of pancakes from our offices until we could take it no more. The 2" and 5° on the 5am report kept building and building, and by the noon report there was a foot. So sometime after lunch we both started putting our gear on for some late day turns and made it to the top by 2.

The wind, snow, and cold were relentless all day apparently; Storm Peak was such a blizzard we couldn't even get across the plain to drop off onto the Face and had to cut across the track to Sideburns, where we dove into thigh-deep powder, blind as bats. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face; even the top of Sundown, which is sometimes milder than Storm, reminded me of Eric Weihenmeyer's ascent up Everest- blowing sideways, bundled mountaineers huddling together deciding which line to take, and visibility nil. Needless to say it was not a day for the camera folks; apologies.

We headed for the favorite stashes as usual, and if there were tracks in 1:30 trees at any point today, they were already covered. Craig buried himself in a treewell, luckily landing upright, because he just plainly couldn't see! Faceshots and fog combined, we were both as blind as Weihenmeyer. By the second lap up Sundown my goggles were toast, and I had to nip into the Patrol shack for a quick clear up.

From there we dropped down Sundown liftline, enticed by skiers below our previous ride, and despite a few screeching halts, Craig bombed those knee deep bumps like a porpoise, getting hoots from the riders above, while I surfed behind to make sure he didn't find another hole to hide in. By the time we hit the bottom of Moonlight we were already spent.

We headed to the top for a frosted-goggle top-to-bottom through the meadow below Storm and the untracked left side of Hurricane. The blizzard was just as bad at the bottom, six inches of fresh lay waiting at the bottom. It's gotta be snowing several inches an hour.

Tomorrow is going to be ridiculous! WOOT!

"See you in the deep" is an understatement.

Another gorgeous day in the Boa, people... a perfect condition kind of day. With 11 new inches today on top of yesterday's foot, and however many before that (how long has it been snowing?), the groomers were covered, the bumps were filled in, and the trees were like butter. The snow was exponentially lighter today than it has been, the temps cooperated, and we're back to our Champagne!

A little wind blown from the dropping jet flow at the top, we ducked into the trees immediately, hitting 3:00, 1:30, and 12:30 right off the bat. A lap through Sunset to Moonlight, cutting into the trees above Moonlight yielded some of the most deep stuff out there.

The place was deserted as well, so seconds and third helpings were a-plenty. Likely the crazy inversion valley fog and clear peak is what kept the peeps at bay; their loss, it was a gorgeous bluebird powder day indeed, you just had to get above the Gondy to see it.

No equipment failure today, just tired bodies from several days of riding in the heavy powder. We had to cash ourselves in at only 10:30, just when the clouds rolled back in for some more dumpage.