riverc0il
New member
how do i describe this most excellent conclusion to my finest ski season ever? in the words of the lady the sold me my $26 lift ticket: "some trails are not continuous." (!?) <BR> <BR>well, almost. after a snow report stating 30+ open trails and three lifts (wildcat continues to demonstrate that they have THE LEAST accurate reports in the region), actual 'open' trails included three runs from the top, two trails mid-mountain, and three lower mountain for two routes down via various trails from only one lift. right. <BR> <BR>for the 'open' trails, they were mostly wet snow, which turned into mash potatos, which turned into all out slush by days end. what little snow there was, was easily skied off and dirt and grass begin to poke through everywhere by afternoon. open trails were all groomed and featured only occasion patches of grass, rock, and dirt until late in the day. upper pole cat rocked, upper catapult was okay early as was middle catapult, and the lower trails were crap all day. lower catapult having an especially hairy 4 foot wide by 30 foot long patch of snow surrounded by dirt (was roped before noon). kept things interesting. <BR> <BR>lift lion was it for 'open' trails with bumps. after a hairy entrance featuring a 'two-ski-wide' 5 foot long chute between rocks and dirt, the bumps were sweet. <BR> <BR>after 3-4 runs, i hit the lodge to re-assess the situation. why was mid-lower lynx closed? why was black cat and alley cat roped? they hold snow good and looked okay from the rope. i quickly found a willing an able ski partner, and proceeded to duck every rope i could find willing to accept taking the skis off to find excellent snow. hey, what's wrong with hiking for excellent snow? it people accross the notch in tucks could hike 3 miles, i could hike 3 feet. <BR> <BR>first up was alleycat. incredible. soft but not slushy perfect spring bumps. but why was it roped i asked myself? 1/3 way down it was inpassible for a 7 foot section. transported skis by hand over rocks and continued down sweetness. oh yea, there was something to this. the best snow was behind the ropes and the word was getting out. <BR> <BR>upper lynx was shot, but middle and lower? Hmmmmm... DUCK!!! perfection! lots of parts during the trail where only 3-4 foot wide section of snow on the edge of the trail had to be skied, occasionally a trail-width traverse on a two ski width track of slush. this was just a ton of fun i thought!!!! natural obstacles rule! and ski areas should have more of them. a few more narrow turns and the bottom presented a 'no snow' zone. simply walk the skis over the dry earth for a few feet and continue. i don't think grass effects bases that much, does it? who cares!? i sure didn't. <BR> <BR>next up was to duck wildcat's rope, but patrol dropped the rope on that one. and SURPRISE! it was AWESOME!!! i've never seen upper/middle wildcat looking better! occasional trail wide patches of dirt, rock, and shrub were easily (okay, 'easy' is kinda relative to the skier and their technique!) navigated by narrow ski width patches of snow/slush. traversing the entire width of the trail in places. several places where the only way down was a steep four foot wide section. incredible snow! fun! a 10 step walk on skis accross grass was included before hitting middle wildcat for half a trail full of bumps! incredible! <BR> <BR>for the record, i don't think i went down a roped trail without seeing at least 3-4 other skiers. patroler's were turning their eyes away. who cared. while standing in front of the rope on alley cat, a suspicious patroler came our way. we asked "are you gonna drop this rope?" - he replied, "no, there's no snow at the bottom." then after a silent inner dialogue with himself knowning full well our intentions, he skied on. i silently muttered "bull shit" as there was lots of snow on this trail, especially the bottom. just one hairy spot halfway down. <BR> <BR>i mean, hey! it's spring! wooo!!!!! i put a REALLY deep gauge in my bases, but that's what the off season is for... full ski tune up! one thing i learned this year about myself is that i LOVE natural and thin conditions. as much as the slushy snow was unpleasant on the 'open' runs, the natural features of the roped runs made for some excellent challenge, fun, and variety. i commented to my skiing partner that ski areas should let more of these natural obstacles grow on select trails. i can dream right. <BR> <BR>in any case, wildcat is now closed and the snow won't be there by the end of this week if the warm weather continues. the trails looked pretty ugly to start the day, but by the end of the day... the few 200-some-odd skiers had completely trashed the snow remaining on the mountain. <BR> <BR>this is it for me until nov/dec of 2003. my best season yet, ended on a really fun day. happy trails to all and to all a good night! <BR> <BR>ps. pics to come tomorrow!