The last time I played hooky to go skiing, it was pretty cold and definitely snowing the whole time. Not what I had had in mind. This time, when I needed to get a day in for not skiing on the weekend when it was dumping snow, it was much more what I wanted. Bright sun, bluebird skies, no wind and hardly any people.
Going up midweek is just so decadent-feeling, compared to having to get up at 5:30 a.m. to catch a 6:30 a.m. bus. This time, I slept in until the sun was up, had breakfast, took Milton on a halfway decent walk, and then hopped in the car to go up to Alta. The drive took me fifteen minutes and I still got up there fifteen minutes before the lifts opened. And got a dang good parking spot too.
The thing to do this time of year - when the snow freezes up overnight from being slushy the afternoon before - is start off on the Sugarloaf chair, which gets the most sun and thus softens up the fastest. When conditions start getting sticky, move to Supreme and then, in the early afternoon, head to the front side. That's exactly what I did. Everything was open: there were a good number of folks schlepping up the East Castle traverse; and there was a line of skiers hiking up Baldy.
Since it wasn't crowded (no little kids and most people seemed to be 60+), I skied right onto the lifts every run, meaning that I made a lot of runs even though I'm pretty slow. I even ventured into Catherine's Area but should have waited just a little longer before doing so: it was softening but still stiff in spots, making it difficult for me to push through.
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