It has been raining all week and since you could see that the trees at the top of Bear weren't exactly draped in white, there was little incentive to get out. However this morning it seemed to be struggling to decide whether to rain or snow and by midmorning it was definitely snowing.
As I headed out in the early afternoon, I ran into my neighbor Isabel who reported it was really good up top and just like skiing in ice cream.
Ice cream, eh? Now Is is a wonderful person, but she is afflicted with this nasty tendency to be enthusiastic and upbeat about everything. Her recent grandmotherhood has only worsened this condition. In contrast I seem to try and find the fly in any ointment, so as I headed up the hill my head was filled with disturbing images of what it might be like to ski in some of Dairy Queen's gooey finest.
I
needn't have worried for Is was right and it was downright delightful up top.
While the snow wasn't blowing in your face, it was about boot deep, soft and
cushioning enough to permit those sought after swooping powder turns.
It did get a little lumpy and bumpy after being used, but there were no crowds
and even here in the middle of Cedar Ridge in the afternoon there were lots
of soft turns available.
The
same was true of Linda's run, shown here from the top, and even Sunnyside was
able to serve up some fresh turns. I even took a run down Kangaroo and while
the snow was quite heavy down that low, it did help smooth out the unfriendly
bits. As always though it was better if you went a little further afield.
The
Face Lift was closed as was the traverse into Cedar from the top of Bear, but
even the low traverse from Boomerang to Snake Ridge was well worth it.
As you might be able to see here, it was certainly not hard to find freshies
over here and the snow stayed quite nice almost to the bottom, although the
last few turns down the KC chutes came pretty close to those images of banana
split skiing.
On my way out I did the hike up into Easter and was rewarded with an almost untracked
run all the way down in very nice snow. Even in the far Windows Chute I was able to
ski down one side in untouched snow that remained quite good until just above the Deer
Trail cat track.
The snowed stopped while I was skiing, but has returned now and again since then. It is currently overcast and 0C at the house just before 4:30 PM.
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