John's Report - March 08, 2005

A Marshmallow Day

I said I wasn�t going to write another report until it snowed or softened up. Well it hasn�t snowed. I was up on Sunday but I found only ice. So, as my mother said, �If you can�t say anything nice...�. I'm pleased to report that the Hill met with my approval on Tuesday afternoon, if one over looked the all of the mud at the bottom. The snow was semi-marshmallow: soft & gooey without being sticky.

The first few runs were confined to Shakey�s Acres (13) below the White Pass Chair and Highline (14). The moguls while deep, carved easily and there was no ice in the folds - and no traffic (I hear it was deadly icy in the moring)! It was a lot of fun bouncing down.

After three runs I needed a new challenge and decided on Concussion. However the allure of unknown enticed me to follow the ridge and do Decline (34). The top 2/3's were amazingly good. The corn snow was silky smooth and moguls, while again deep, were wide open, which allowed for sweeping turns all the way down. Well, nearly all the way down. The bottom third became quite an adventure but there was always enough snow to avoid mud skiing (although not so much so as to avoid a few rides on alder rails).

Next was a descent down Boomerang Ridge (67). The upper Ridge was dreamy. Much like Shakey�s Acres & Decline. However the bottom half was another story. Towards the end, mud skiing was the order of the day. My guess is that Boom Chair will be closing very soon.

Boom Bowl (66) was the only place I found any ice at all, which was thankfully sparse and easy to navigate.

Upper Lizard was equally good, with good tree skiing between the Arrow (53) and Bow (52) runs.

If you are planning on skiing better get your butt in gear because without new snow there isn�t much time left.


Nostalgia - FSV: Fernie Snow Valley - the old name for FAR.

A view of Upper Currie Bowl where the conditions are very good.

Bouncing Down Decline

On Lower Decline things started getting sketchy

Upper Boom Ridge was Just Fine - Too Bad about the Bottom

An example of what is to be found at the Bottom of the Boom Chair