Minus
22C said the thermometer this morning and nothing new on the ground. Hmmm, turns
out I had some stuff to do this morning. It is always a gamble when you wait
for warmer temperatures at this time of year since the sun sets behind the mountain
about 1:00 pm. When I headed up about then, the mercury had risen to -14 C,
but there was obviously a wind up top. Here a snow plume is blown off of Polar
peak above Sky Dive.
With
face running and a limited time to freeze up I decided to start with a shot
over to Fish Bowl. The traverse was spooky with many little and one not so little
sluffs having left snow on the cat track. Looking up a Griz Face you could see
more spilling off of the rock towards you and at the far end was a contemplative
pro patrol considering the situation. I stopped and just managed to get this
shot before the camera got too cold and would go no more. You should just barely
be able to make out the cat track, the patroller and some snow coming off of
the rock bands.
Fish Bowl was very pleasant indeed and while tracked it was not yet chopped and plenty of fresh lines were available. Like yesterday this was not overly deep, but was very light and quite enjoyable. Next I gave Cedar Ridge a try and found it mogulled with just enough fresh chopped to disguise the lumps and bumps if you were a little imprudent with speed. I rode up the Boom chair with a friend who is partial to cruising so I took a screamer down Bear with him. Like all the cruisers, this was well groomed, firm but with great edge hold. A general invitation to unhealthy speeds. <g> Sunnyside proved to have very friendly moguls again with great edge hold, so I decided to ignore my grumbling toes and head back up the T-Bar and Face. At the top I wasn't surprised to find that everything on the Cedar side of the lift was now closed.
Since I didn't have to sweat for my vertical today (far from it in fact) I bypassed my usual favorite Easter tree chutes to check out Sky Dive. To my delight I found only modest moguls with a nice chopped or even undisturbed powder between them. It was a treat, but I have decided it is far too long for mortal legs. <g>