sunday fun-day

It was a very different day on Sunday.  For one, I didn't lose H.  For another, it was much warmer: 20-30 throughout the day, with clouds first thing in the morning and lovely blue skies later.  Alta got another five inches overnight and the winds had continued through the afternoon and evening so that the snow was all wind-buffed, still soft but denser, not fluffy.  H deemed that enough snow to bring out his Blizzard Gunsmokes - powder skis that he picked up three years ago and hadn't yet taken out on the hill; I went with my Rossignols as I had on Saturday.

Nice light on the Backside

This time we did a warm-up run!  Our second run was similar to our first from the day before, going in around Sunspot/Racecourse.  H flew through it on his new skis.  I like skiing on wind-buff because I don't sink in like I do blower powder, and so I don't fight it.  But from the first turn off the groomer I could feel the lactic acid in my quads and knew that I would need to ski at my own pace.  When H and I regrouped, I told him that I wanted to ski separately because I wanted him to put those Gunsmokes through their paces and not have to wait around for me.  Off he went, with a plan to meet up at lunchtime.

Not too many tracks in this part of Catherine's Area

I did a couple of pretty good runs down Extrovert, which was all chopped up but still soft, with a groomer run in between to give my legs a break.  I went slowly, taking my time and trying to work on technique.  The longer Rossignols don't turn as easily and thus go straighter and faster; this makes me nervous when my legs are fatigued so I try to slow down to remain in control.  I got over to Supreme around 11 a.m., with enough time for a couple of runs through the Erosion Gullies (still soft and a little easier for me to ski with being beaten down a bit).

Catherine's Pass ridgeline view

After lunch, I went back to Supreme and did three runs in Catherine's Area, interspersed with some groomers.  The first time in I went out to Snowshoe Hill, this time managing to ski without leaning into the backseat.  The second run was as recommended by H at lunch:  down the So Long rope line and then into the trees in Back Forty where the snow, protected from the wind by the trees, was still deep and soft and hardly skied.  My third Catherine's run was to Sunset and although I found some nice deep snow, my legs were so tired that I had to stop several times.  I only saw a couple of other skiers out there which was amazing, given how good the snow was.

Soft and deep

H had a very successful day on his new skis.  Some notable runs included the above-described Back Forty trees, Yellow Trail to Glory Gulch (where he had to break trail for some tourists who had no idea what they were doing) and a hike all the way out to Catherine's Pass where he had our favorite glade all to himself and nearly untouched.  He really liked those skis although they will need to be for very specific conditions: they run like crazy through powder and chop but are difficult to turn when things get bumpy.

Being the middle of a long holiday weekend, it was a little busy.  Liftline waits were in the 5-10 minute range, however, which isn't bad.  And the best thing is that we both have Monday off - which means another day up on the hill.