Quite a bit better than expected. KHMR has had a modest 118 inches of snow this year, less than half of Mammoth and barely 1/3 of Alta. There had been a few inches in the last couple of days, not enough for powder but definitely enough for mostly pleasing surfaces, no doubt enhanced by the very low skier density. South facing had a somewhat firm subsurface, but at this time of year it's usually too cold for a true melt freeze. Temps were -11C first thing in the morning at the base, rising to -6C by our 1:30 departure to catch the heli to Chatter Creek. The top didn't feel much colder than the base, except when the wind came up midday at the top of the Stairway to Heaven lift.
I took a run down Bowl Over to assess conditions while Ben Solish rented skis. The lower mountain was in decent shape considering the snowfall. The steep part of this first groomer had a fair amount of vegetation showing, but the later 3 runs we did to the base were well groomed and skied nicely. The major coverage issues are dropping into the steep shots off the north sides of CPR or Redemption Ridges. The long chute from the top of Feuz Bowl has a clean entry and just a few avoidable rocks farther down. The sky was mostly clear when we skied this about 10:30AM, though it clouded over by noon. The main bowl on Blue Heaven to go back to the chair is in good shape despite skier traffic and its SE exposure. The traverse under the Stairway chair did have lots of rocks so we didn't bother with that.
The traverse under the gondola was much better, so we did that twice, once dropping through the steep but spaced trees into Bowl Over and the other dropping into a CPR chute (Dorchester?) almost even with the base for the Stairway chair. We lucked out with smooth and consistent snow in that one. Some of those chute have been gouged out due to confined lines at current coverage levels.
Several of you have asked why I've never skied from the other ridgeline running north from the top of Stairway to Heaven. Ben wanted to try it, so that was our last run. You do not have to climb the peak next to the lift. There's a bootpack around the back ascending about as much vertical as the one to High Baldy at Snowbird. It was tough today because of the wind, and I had to put my goggles on for that even though I had gotten by fine with my photogray glasses the rest of the day. This ridge is now marked on the map at Whitewall, and we dropped in basically at the top of the bootpack, probably the area marked Last Chance on the map. Snow was of course much less consolidated and fun skiing, but we still skied deliberately because there are some cliff bands, and with the overcast the light was pretty flat, like the infamous Whitehorn area at Lake Louise.
If you like the steeps, Kicking Horse has them in abundance, and while it would be nice if the place got more snow, what they get holds up quite well, especially midwinter. Current conditions are not the abundance of my 2002 and 2008 visits, but are far superior to the difficult 2005 season. Coverage is well below 2007's, but the day I was there that season it had not snowed for a while and the snow in those steep chutes was firm. So overall today was better than 2 years ago due to softer surfaces. 18,400 total.
I took a run down Bowl Over to assess conditions while Ben Solish rented skis. The lower mountain was in decent shape considering the snowfall. The steep part of this first groomer had a fair amount of vegetation showing, but the later 3 runs we did to the base were well groomed and skied nicely. The major coverage issues are dropping into the steep shots off the north sides of CPR or Redemption Ridges. The long chute from the top of Feuz Bowl has a clean entry and just a few avoidable rocks farther down. The sky was mostly clear when we skied this about 10:30AM, though it clouded over by noon. The main bowl on Blue Heaven to go back to the chair is in good shape despite skier traffic and its SE exposure. The traverse under the Stairway chair did have lots of rocks so we didn't bother with that.
The traverse under the gondola was much better, so we did that twice, once dropping through the steep but spaced trees into Bowl Over and the other dropping into a CPR chute (Dorchester?) almost even with the base for the Stairway chair. We lucked out with smooth and consistent snow in that one. Some of those chute have been gouged out due to confined lines at current coverage levels.
Several of you have asked why I've never skied from the other ridgeline running north from the top of Stairway to Heaven. Ben wanted to try it, so that was our last run. You do not have to climb the peak next to the lift. There's a bootpack around the back ascending about as much vertical as the one to High Baldy at Snowbird. It was tough today because of the wind, and I had to put my goggles on for that even though I had gotten by fine with my photogray glasses the rest of the day. This ridge is now marked on the map at Whitewall, and we dropped in basically at the top of the bootpack, probably the area marked Last Chance on the map. Snow was of course much less consolidated and fun skiing, but we still skied deliberately because there are some cliff bands, and with the overcast the light was pretty flat, like the infamous Whitehorn area at Lake Louise.
If you like the steeps, Kicking Horse has them in abundance, and while it would be nice if the place got more snow, what they get holds up quite well, especially midwinter. Current conditions are not the abundance of my 2002 and 2008 visits, but are far superior to the difficult 2005 season. Coverage is well below 2007's, but the day I was there that season it had not snowed for a while and the snow in those steep chutes was firm. So overall today was better than 2 years ago due to softer surfaces. 18,400 total.
