foreshortened

Sunday brought with it no new snow, and started clear and sunny and cold (3-6 F to start, and would warm up to 18-20 F after lunch), with no wind.  As H felt he was making progress with his tele practice, we again made plans to ski separately and then meet up at Alf's for an early lunch.  It was quite cold in the shade so I only did one run on Collins before switching over to Sugarloaf where the sun was out from behind the mountains.

Looking across at Sunnyside from Yellow Trail

I didn't plan all that well, however, because on my first ride up Sugarloaf, I glanced over at the Backside and, seeing no one out there, decided that I should probably take my first East Greely run of the season.  So, I got off the lift and around the EBT, dodging the skiers clustered at the top of Collins, and then out the traverse into Yellow Trail.  I was fortunate enough to have the traverse to myself, which was great because it was pretty bumped up with whoop-de-doos - I'm pretty sure a bunch of tourists have gotten bucked off it.  Yellow Trail and East Greely actually skied better than I expected them too.  Although they looked super-skied out from down below, there was actually a fair bit of soft, fluffy snow there.  The Glitch and Glatch chutes were not so fun, however, with big bumps and scrapes in between.  On the plus side, I was pretty well warmed-up by the time I got back to the lift.

Looking up at High Notch and Low Notch

I made it over to Supreme around 10:30 a.m. and did a run in Catherine's Area when there was a break in the crowds trudging in there.  Again, I timed it pretty well and got out to Sunset/Snowshoe Hill without having to share with too many other skiers.  It hasn't been very windy so the trees have retained their coat of snow - it is just so beautiful out there, especially with the blue skies above.  I squeezed in a couple of flyers before heading to Alf's to meet H.

Pretty morning in Catherine's Area

After lunch, the clouds started to move in again, just like they had done on Saturday, although I don't think they had been expected to this day.  I rode up Sugarloaf, watching the long line of people traversing into Devil's Castle.  The Castle hasn't been open yet this season and ski patrol had been shooting the heck out of it all morning.  As I watched the hordes heading in there, I realized that meant Catherine's Area would probably be abandoned - perfect!  I eagerly headed back to Supreme, only to be disappointed when the lift was closed for a mechanical.  Rats!  I went back up Sugarloaf, which was even busier than before, with people wanting to get into Devil's Castle.  On my way back down, I paused to look across at Supreme.  The lift was turning but no one was on it so I decided to do a Cabin Run.

When I came out at the base of Sugarloaf, H was waiting there.  We quickly summarized the situation - Supreme down, Sugarloaf a madhouse, rapidly decreasing visibility - and decided to cut our losses.  We'd had the best of the day already - can't complain about that.