Craig's Report - March 01, 2004

Five Outta a Fernie Ten

Only five out of ten? I know some folks are going to take me to task for that, insisting the skiing was just fine today, which indeed it was. However that is a Fernie ten and when it is really good here, it is a whole lot better than today, just as it can also be a lot worse. I think it was somewhere between those extreme and I'm sticking with it just being a so-so day for Fernie.

The snow pretty much came in two flavours today - groomed or moguled. Even Papa's Run in out of bounds Fish Bowl had an abundance of moguls, although up high a little tree weaving could still produce some nice powder turns. The groomers were generally in good shape and although slick spots were evident in some high traffic areas, there was usually enough loose stuff lying around that it wasn't a problem. Similarly there were often slick backs on moguls, but with enough soft stuff to cushion things. Steep sided mean mutant moguls were not uncommon though.

I recently received an email from a fellow who had become concerned that we might be running out of snow, apparently as a result of reading my comments about rain and sludge . If anyone else shares these concerns, please rest assured that the coverage is excellent! Indeed the Morrissey Ridge snow pillow data is running right around the long term average - which is of course very good.

At 4 PM it is 4 C at the house, with a mix of cloud and sun