Thursday, March 17, 2016

change in the weather

More like changes as the weather on Sunday just couldn't decide what it wanted to do.  From what we read, we thought it would be overcast, with maybe a few flurries, and getting worse as the day went on.  It was overcast when we started skiing; it started snowing - more than just flurries - mid-morning through lunch; and then it cleared to mostly sunny skies in the afternoon.  This made it very difficult (for me) to figure out what to wear but also made for a pretty nice day conditions-wise.

Spring skiing always means variable snow but the later start to the warming meant that conditions didn't get too sloppy.  The groomers were not nearly as firm as we had feared and were very skiable, although the light was very flat until after noon.  It was a little crusty off-piste in the morning - covered by a scant inch that had fallen overnight - but if you stayed off the areas that had gotten really wet Saturday, you'd be okay.  Challenger and Sleepy Hollow were not at all good but Catherine's Area was, especially after lunch when the lower portion had softened.  By mid-afternoon, all of Collins had softened nicely to mashed potato consistency at the top and corn snow at the bottom.

Supreme chair selfie

H and I skied together for a couple of hours in the morning .. until I had to go back to the truck for some layering adjustments.  After lunch, we did a few runs together at Supreme ... until I felt the urge to check out Catherine's.  He has improved his telemark skills so much this winter, to the point where now he feels like he needs to go off the groomers to work on quicker turns.  A different pair of tele skis will really help too, I think: the ones he has are pretty wide, good for deep snow but more difficult to turn; a pair that have some side-cut to them will make a big difference.  Time to start shopping the sales and second hand shops!

With the changing conditions, there was something for everyone, and that made for a fun day.  We were happy to be back on our skis after last weekend's less than successful showing and we were very happy that the conditions turned out to be so much better than we expected.


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