Got up to the mountain at about 8:45. There were *maybe* 30 cars in the lot at Mid-Burke.
Headed up the chair for my first run down Willoughby. On the way up the chair did I first realize how little natural snow there is up at Burke. The Upper Training Slope is unskiable. The ledges on The Ledges are showing through. Yikes!
Got to Willioughby to find fast, groomed, & hard snow. Had the trail to myself the entire way down. Second run I met up with a friend of mine and we wanted to see what Doug's looked like (it's closed), so we headed down Dipper to PowderHorn to the intersection of Dougs, Lower Dougs, and McHargs. The upper part of Dipper was just like Willoughby-groomed, fast, and hard packed snow. Powderhorn was pretty sketchy-some grass poking through and some ice here and there. Got to the intersection of Dougs/Lower Dougs-youch! Dougs Drop is hurting for snow. Lots of exposed rocks, grass etc. We decided to head down McHargs to the Training Slope. McHargs was very thin cover-lots of grass. Luckily I didnt see any rocks. Then a fast couple turns down the Training Hill (best run of the day) to the lift. Took about 10 more runs yo-yoing between the east and west sides.
The Good:
-Weather. Beautiful day of skiing. 40 degrees and sunny.
-No crowds. Ski on the lift all morning.
-Snowmaking trails had excellent cover and were well maintained.
The Bad:
-Weather. We need snow. Bad. It's mud season in the beginning of February.
The Ugly:
See the last picture-shot it on my way home. Very little snow left in exposed areas. The higher in elevation, the more snow (but not much).
Headed up the chair for my first run down Willoughby. On the way up the chair did I first realize how little natural snow there is up at Burke. The Upper Training Slope is unskiable. The ledges on The Ledges are showing through. Yikes!
Got to Willioughby to find fast, groomed, & hard snow. Had the trail to myself the entire way down. Second run I met up with a friend of mine and we wanted to see what Doug's looked like (it's closed), so we headed down Dipper to PowderHorn to the intersection of Dougs, Lower Dougs, and McHargs. The upper part of Dipper was just like Willoughby-groomed, fast, and hard packed snow. Powderhorn was pretty sketchy-some grass poking through and some ice here and there. Got to the intersection of Dougs/Lower Dougs-youch! Dougs Drop is hurting for snow. Lots of exposed rocks, grass etc. We decided to head down McHargs to the Training Slope. McHargs was very thin cover-lots of grass. Luckily I didnt see any rocks. Then a fast couple turns down the Training Hill (best run of the day) to the lift. Took about 10 more runs yo-yoing between the east and west sides.
The Good:
-Weather. Beautiful day of skiing. 40 degrees and sunny.
-No crowds. Ski on the lift all morning.
-Snowmaking trails had excellent cover and were well maintained.
The Bad:
-Weather. We need snow. Bad. It's mud season in the beginning of February.
The Ugly:
See the last picture-shot it on my way home. Very little snow left in exposed areas. The higher in elevation, the more snow (but not much).
