that's more like it

The second day of 2016 was, at least for me, much more successful in the skiing department.  It wasn't as windy, it was warmer and I got my legs back.  Happy New Year indeed!

The Saturday forecast was for party sunny skies, light winds (as opposed to the "moderate" ones we'd had the day before) and temperatures in the mid-20s.  Surely, we thought, today will be super-busy because it's the last day of the Christmas vacation week.  Nope.  Still not busy.  Weird, unusual and yet we were not complaining.  Fewer people on the hill means the snow lasts longer - and since there isn't any significant snow coming anytime soon, we need what we've got to last as long as possible.

Tele-guy

We did three or four runs at Collins to start.  H was again on his tele skis and was reporting definite cumulative fatigue in his legs.  But he has improved a lot and I'm proud of him for sticking with it.  We then moved over to Sugarloaf, looking for a little sunshine for warmth and better visibility.  As we rode up the chair the first time, I looked closely at Extrovert and decided that I would give it a try, to see if my legs would behave any better than they had on Saturday.  I timed it just right and didn't have to share the trail with anyone else, and I actually skied it pretty well, going slowly so I wouldn't hit any rocks but feeling like I was taking the bumps decently.  It felt so good that I did it twice more, each time feeling better and better about how I was skiing.  The snow is all skied out but it is still soft and not skied off or scratchy and as long as the bumps weren't too big, I could ski them.

After a bit we shifted to Supreme for a couple of runs.  It was starting to get a little bit busier at that point: to the point where the lifty was running the lift line but the corral was never completely full.  We decided to do an early lunch just in case the crowds were arriving but again, Alf's cafeteria was never overrun.  With the pleasanter weather, we didn't linger quite so long over lunch.  It felt warm when we went back out (20 F at the peak, 30 F at base).

Sunset section of Catherine's Area

A Cabin Run was in order - what a change from Christmas when we were the first ones in there and got stuck - and then back to Supreme.  I was feeling bold after a run or two and hiked into Catherine's Area, traversing into Sunset.  I skied it really well (I thought), enjoying the beaten-down but soft low bumps.  I was over-dressed at this point and pretty warm when I met H at the lift.  He cried uncle, the tele skiing having taken a toll on his legs, and while he skied out, I went back up and did one more Catherine's Area run.  I skied it well again - hooray! - and decided to end the day on a high note, skiing out to find H waiting for me at the truck.