Day 74: Better than dust on crust.
I'm a bit late getting this one out, it's been a hellish week. Q flew halfway around the world from Scotland and put hundreds of miles on a rental car just to get here. The least I could do is drive up and meet him for a few runs.
The temperatures dropped overnight and a few inches fell upon the newly solidified base. I therefore didn't place high expectations upon the snow conditions. When you do that, however, you're often pleasantly surprised.
It was all about low angle. We caught the Ballroom opening on first run, and as long as you took lower-angle routes you didn't punch through to the base and it actually skied surprisingly well - thick, creamy and consistent. On steeper stuff you'd feel the base, but the new snow provided enough of a cushion to make it tolerable. And there was absolutely no one there -- we were able to board one of the many empty chairs coming up Collins into the angle station for our second helping.
Other low angle spots like Greeley Bowl skied just as well. One lift rider, a regular at Mt. Hood with a cabin there and a daughter on the race team, wouldn't stop beaming on the chairlift, proclaiming Wednesday to have the best snow that he's skied all season. I had a bit more jaded perspective, but again I was surprised at how decent the skiing was on Wednesday.
I'm a bit late getting this one out, it's been a hellish week. Q flew halfway around the world from Scotland and put hundreds of miles on a rental car just to get here. The least I could do is drive up and meet him for a few runs.
The temperatures dropped overnight and a few inches fell upon the newly solidified base. I therefore didn't place high expectations upon the snow conditions. When you do that, however, you're often pleasantly surprised.
It was all about low angle. We caught the Ballroom opening on first run, and as long as you took lower-angle routes you didn't punch through to the base and it actually skied surprisingly well - thick, creamy and consistent. On steeper stuff you'd feel the base, but the new snow provided enough of a cushion to make it tolerable. And there was absolutely no one there -- we were able to board one of the many empty chairs coming up Collins into the angle station for our second helping.
Other low angle spots like Greeley Bowl skied just as well. One lift rider, a regular at Mt. Hood with a cabin there and a daughter on the race team, wouldn't stop beaming on the chairlift, proclaiming Wednesday to have the best snow that he's skied all season. I had a bit more jaded perspective, but again I was surprised at how decent the skiing was on Wednesday.
