spring has sprung

We got a nice midweek storm - 19.5 inches Monday into Tuesday - and H was lucky enough to have planned to take Tuesday off to ski with a coworker.  They had storm-skiing all day, much to their delight.  H skied on his Blizzard Cochises and came home with a grin on his face, having enjoyed skiing on his alpine gear for a change.  He's still motivated to improve his telemark skills but alpine is really so much easier.

Looking at Superior from Catherine's Area

The storm moved out and the temperatures warmed up for Saturday.  Well, they didn't warm up that much at first: it was 20 F at the top and 26 F at Wildcat base when we rolled in for first chair.  The morning corduroy was firm, therefore, but things did soften as the sun came over the mountains.  Rather than messing around with the frozen corduroy on Collins, we went directly to Sugarloaf, where the sun hits first.  Both Extrovert and Razorback were pretty good.  Mid-morning, we split up: H, on his tele skis again, went back to Collins to give the Ballroom a try while I scooted over to Supreme.  Supreme is the first Alta lift to close and so I am trying to get as much time in over there as I can.

The Ballroom, with Baldy's chutes above

I stuck with the groomers for the most part, as things warmed and softened; I did one run in Catherine's Area right before lunch and the bottom third was still crusty from having baked in the sun Friday afternoon and then frozen up overnight.  After lunch, however, as we both skied Supreme, the sun softened things up so that my last run through Catherine's was quite good:  soft at the top, where it doesn't get direct sun, and soft at the bottom, where the sun loosened the moguls into nice corn snow.  I also did a run through a chute from East Castle to the Apron; there hadn't been too many people in there and the snow was light and deep.

Still soft and deep if you know where to look

H and I met back up at the truck at 2:45 p.m., where we had cleverly remembered to bring a beer.  Spring skiing is fun for lots of reasons, not the least of which is tailgating in the sun with the snow-covered mountains looming overhead.