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!
