Mark Renson
New member
Certainly, we would see some snow this weekend, I thought to myself ??
On Friday, I figured we would endure a bit of rain at the end of the day, which would be followed by some over night snow!
Ahem. Friday was actually a very good day. There was edgeable hardpack with kind of a sleety granular surface, which made for great and interesting skiing 8) . Fall Line/Creamery had some exposed rocks and brush but also had great snow and fun and intriguing turns. Beaver was sweet. Birdland lift was not running 
. We did do some 1st Aid practice in the afternoon and I am getting more dialed-in to the Kendrick Splints (used for femur injuries), though for now I still like the Sager Splints better.
I still have yet to go off-piste this year. Word has it that Golfing stunk.
Sweep was down Gazelle. Rising temps and some very light showers in late afternoon softened the snow and after some tricky negotiation of the headwall, I found some especially sweet steep turns and bumps down Gazelle.
On Saturday ??..CLUNK! Apparently, some steady rains had fallen during the night and then temps dropped. The 6:00AM report announced that 30+ trails would be opened ?..and then at a little after 8AM, the word was that only the Practice Slope would be opened with the exception of EatMe?s Run. A year prior, I went ice climbing and I was wishin? that I was doing just that on Saturday. Well, some of us hung around and did some minor chores. Then after talking with the PD and Ski School Director, I took advantage of a Patroller bennie? and got some instruction on technique and snowplowing on the Practice Slope. I actually got a lot outta? it and was able to mix these with bull sessions I have had with Christian (he?s a Certified Patroller) and came up with ways to sharpen my skiing. We also discussed some stretching exercises ? a new stretching regimen has paid off for me, lately.
Around noon, the lift closed for about half an hour to enable some BRUTAL GROOMING to be performed. This made for some palatable (barely) conditions for a while until the granular sugar snow was scraped down to porcelain. I spent much time bs-ing with a lotta folks (a surprising number of people showed up and the Kids Programs were rocking) and getting out to work on techniques/new bag of tricks I learned. I had Chris Greenwood do sweep. Well, it was crap skiing, but I did get something outta? the day. At the end of the day, Frozen McSludge :twisted: was triumphantly vomited into the skies from both snow cannons.
For today ??.hoo-boy. Main Mountain was opened with a number of BRUTALLY GROOMED trails. Canyon, Moody?s and Quacky were opened without grooming and you would not have liked ?em. We wrote in some amusing comments on the whiteboard for the public :twisted: . We closed Cat Bowl ? just too brutal, period. As I went down trail check on Fox, I checked out an ice climb that patroller Brennan had done that was in. I also noticed some possible mountaineering routes that included several ice bulges that draped the ridge ? yup, there?s plenty of ice to be had ??especially on the trails. Robin/Wren in the Brave Green World of Birdland was more ice than snow in the lower sections and required much attention to ski between the frightening ice patches. Porcupine stunk. Fox/Vixen, Upper Antelope actually skied very nicely.
After a noon time stint, I stepped outta? the Patrol Shack at the top of The Double and noticed that the weather had become dramatically humid. Weather was moving in and rather than snow which had been forecasted for Sunday afternoon a few days earlier, sleet lightly fell. I did my Birdland stint and found nice conditions on Duck and Upper Periwinkle ??but after a while, sleet and freezing rain fell hard. I swept Birdland with young Wesley a Student Patroller and headed in to check the weather in preparation for a miserable drive home. A little while later, a decision was made to shut down at 3:30 and I headed over to the Practice Slope to perform sweep there. Things got crusty and nasty in a hurry.
The drive home coulda? been worse, but still no picnic.
There is coverage on the mountain, but we cannot have another thaw. You know The Drill for this week: Bedtime=pajamas followed by bedtime prayers, which absolutely MUST include snow.
On Friday, I figured we would endure a bit of rain at the end of the day, which would be followed by some over night snow!
Ahem. Friday was actually a very good day. There was edgeable hardpack with kind of a sleety granular surface, which made for great and interesting skiing 8) . Fall Line/Creamery had some exposed rocks and brush but also had great snow and fun and intriguing turns. Beaver was sweet. Birdland lift was not running . We did do some 1st Aid practice in the afternoon and I am getting more dialed-in to the Kendrick Splints (used for femur injuries), though for now I still like the Sager Splints better.I still have yet to go off-piste this year. Word has it that Golfing stunk.
Sweep was down Gazelle. Rising temps and some very light showers in late afternoon softened the snow and after some tricky negotiation of the headwall, I found some especially sweet steep turns and bumps down Gazelle.
On Saturday ??..CLUNK! Apparently, some steady rains had fallen during the night and then temps dropped. The 6:00AM report announced that 30+ trails would be opened ?..and then at a little after 8AM, the word was that only the Practice Slope would be opened with the exception of EatMe?s Run. A year prior, I went ice climbing and I was wishin? that I was doing just that on Saturday. Well, some of us hung around and did some minor chores. Then after talking with the PD and Ski School Director, I took advantage of a Patroller bennie? and got some instruction on technique and snowplowing on the Practice Slope. I actually got a lot outta? it and was able to mix these with bull sessions I have had with Christian (he?s a Certified Patroller) and came up with ways to sharpen my skiing. We also discussed some stretching exercises ? a new stretching regimen has paid off for me, lately.
Around noon, the lift closed for about half an hour to enable some BRUTAL GROOMING to be performed. This made for some palatable (barely) conditions for a while until the granular sugar snow was scraped down to porcelain. I spent much time bs-ing with a lotta folks (a surprising number of people showed up and the Kids Programs were rocking) and getting out to work on techniques/new bag of tricks I learned. I had Chris Greenwood do sweep. Well, it was crap skiing, but I did get something outta? the day. At the end of the day, Frozen McSludge :twisted: was triumphantly vomited into the skies from both snow cannons.
For today ??.hoo-boy. Main Mountain was opened with a number of BRUTALLY GROOMED trails. Canyon, Moody?s and Quacky were opened without grooming and you would not have liked ?em. We wrote in some amusing comments on the whiteboard for the public :twisted: . We closed Cat Bowl ? just too brutal, period. As I went down trail check on Fox, I checked out an ice climb that patroller Brennan had done that was in. I also noticed some possible mountaineering routes that included several ice bulges that draped the ridge ? yup, there?s plenty of ice to be had ??especially on the trails. Robin/Wren in the Brave Green World of Birdland was more ice than snow in the lower sections and required much attention to ski between the frightening ice patches. Porcupine stunk. Fox/Vixen, Upper Antelope actually skied very nicely.
After a noon time stint, I stepped outta? the Patrol Shack at the top of The Double and noticed that the weather had become dramatically humid. Weather was moving in and rather than snow which had been forecasted for Sunday afternoon a few days earlier, sleet lightly fell. I did my Birdland stint and found nice conditions on Duck and Upper Periwinkle ??but after a while, sleet and freezing rain fell hard. I swept Birdland with young Wesley a Student Patroller and headed in to check the weather in preparation for a miserable drive home. A little while later, a decision was made to shut down at 3:30 and I headed over to the Practice Slope to perform sweep there. Things got crusty and nasty in a hurry.
The drive home coulda? been worse, but still no picnic.
There is coverage on the mountain, but we cannot have another thaw. You know The Drill for this week: Bedtime=pajamas followed by bedtime prayers, which absolutely MUST include snow.