Pretty, but a Harsh Mistress

First a grump alert. I have been up since four this morning (don�t ask). I am not a morning person at the best of times and I don�t have a dog to kick and the cat fights back. Thus all opinions should be considered in that light.

It was warm Monday, but due to high winds, the hill was all but closed with only the Deer chair and, for a while, the White Pass chairs running. This meant if you weren�t already up on White Pass, and I wasn�t, then Deer would have been your only option. It remained very warm yesterday (I couldn�t get out) and today dawned as a beautiful clear day. This meant the helicopter was finally able to do its Apocalypse Now trick on the cornices and everything is now open except for the Face Lift and the Saddles. Alas that high wind had the expected effect on the un-skied snow and the hoped for powder pig out became a lesson in crust skiing.

The crust was a long way from carefree skiing, but it wasn�t horrible. That was reserved for the places where previously melted stuff had frozen into chattering death cookies. Other options available included nice spring like sun softened snow, more or less grippable hard pack, pretty decent soft pack moguls and just about anything else you could imagine including the odd powder turn tucked away in unexpected places. Generally in the sun and/or high was good, while shade and/or low was definitely not.

Coverage remains excellent pretty much everywhere on the mountain and despite the clear skies, the Weather Elf and others are predicting a return to snowy conditions tomorrow.