Calm Before The Storm

What an incredible few days. Fantastic. Still winter, but warm. I continue to find all kinds of treats everywhere I ski, Bierstadt, 13 Cornices, The Nose, and on and on. Although the mild weather was nice, it looks like winter will be back in serious force Monday and Tuesday. Stay tuned.

"Pre" Spring

All kinds of stuff going on today. I wouldn't call it a spring day, but it was a beautiful warm mid-winter Friday. Just perfect.

For you terrain park junkies the Jump Line is open in the Treeline Terrain Park. This year we have a big start ramp with a very nice progression line of jumps. I am hearing very good reports. Sorry, but I don't think that I will be personally testing them for you.

Lastly, we do have some East Wall hiking open. You will find a staircase in The Tree Chutes, Willie's Wide, and North Pole. The main North Pole gate is closed The ridgeline and upper portion of North Pole got a little beat up by last week's wind. The best skiing is in Willie's and North Y. Look for more to open with snow and good wind.

12 Straight Days of Snow

We just completed 12 straight days with measureable snowfall. The skiing is phenomenal unless you love moguls. Almost everything is smooth and soft. There is a mogul competition on Slalom Slope in 10 days and the officials are worried about having big enough moguls for the event. For the rest of us, that means really nice skiing. Enjoy the sunrise photos I took this morning.

Buried

In a skiing, riding, dumping, powerdy, beautiful sort of way, we are buried. This is extraordinary. The skiing everywhere is tremendous especially the North Side. All those funky lines like Hot Wheels, Gravitational, and Miami Beach are filled in nicely. We had a wind delayed opening in Zuma today. By sheer luck (and listening to the Ski Patrol and Lift Crew chatter on my radio) I happened to be unloading Lenawee just as Zuma opened. Northern Spy was the ticket. Looks like the sun will pop out some tomorrow. Look for a lot of avalanche work and a late opening in West Zuma. Once open, MGD, Schauffler, and Jump should be sweet. The wind this afternoon was filling those babies up.

Snowing Heavily

The storm came in early. Didn't expect much overnight, but we had 4" new. The forecast is for 4-6" more during the day. Snowing heavily right now. Hope you can make it today.

WOW

I am back and spent a few hours skiing this afternoon. All I can say is WOW. The skiing is as good as it gets. The Spine, North Glade, High Noon, Wrangler, Zuma West Bowl, you name it.....it is awesome. I highly, highly recommend a visit soon. The forecast says 3-7" during the day tomorrow. Any snow on top of what we already have is simply frosting on an already delicious cake. Leave home early tomorrow, take your time, drive safely, and enjoy the best riding around. See you tomorrow.

A couple of last quick thoughts. The Bonus Passes (unlimited A-Basin and 5 days at Keystone or Breck) are almost sold out. The April Full Moon Dinner, "An Evening in the Pyrenees" only has a few spots left. If interested in either of these, go to the website and make your purchase soon (like today or tomorrow).

I hope we see you soon. You won't be sorry.

Avalanche and Webcam

I'll put together some thoughts on avalanche work for future blogs. We have a lot of good photos I can share. It would be nice to more clearly communicate our strategies and tactics. There is definitely a method.

Also the Zuma webcam has arrived. We have to build a mast for it and its installation is a little trickier than screwing it to a wall like the other webcams. To quote my favorite four letter word, "soon."

More Snow

16" the last 3 days. Forecast: 3-5" today and 3-5" tonight. That outght to work for most of you. I am out of town missing this one. It kills me missing a storm like this. Please enjoy it for me.

12" New - 61" Base

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.........................................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dynafit - Randonee - German Feast

OK we have a new dinner January 19. A full moon feast again but, no chairlift ride. This one is for hardy folks only. You have to hike, skin or snowshoe up to Black Mountain Lodge. Chef Rybak's German menu includes trout rouladen, sauerbraten, chef carved pork with sauerkraut and spaetzle, apple strudel, and a pear tart with caramel sauce. I am pretty comfortable saying it will be good.

That night is the full moon. Should be spectacular. We had a small event at Black Mountain Lodge Thursday night. I rode Black Mountain Express down at about 9:30. Even though the moon wasn't full, the lighting on Grizzly Peak and Black Mountain and Lenawee Mountain was extraordinary. Our German feasters are in store for a quite a show.

For more details, a complete menus, and to make reservations go to www.arapahoebasin.com

Best 1" Around

Where else can you get 1" of new snow, drop off the cornice into the pillow in Max and Groswold and the first 3 turns have faceshots. Definitely my favorite inch.

The Wall

Nice to be skiing the East Wall today. Another favorable storm or two and we might get the hiking open. Had to go to a marketing meeting so only "2 Last Runs" today. I can be late to those.

Skiing is great everywhere. Slalom Slope, The Nose, Standard and International were fantastic. One person described Columbine as the best grooming they had ever skied. I agreed.

A Lot To Smile About

Weather is great. Really cold weather is over. Snow in the forecast again. East Wall is Open. Works for me.

East Wall Really Opens Wednesday

It's ready. Leif tells me the patrol has a few tasks to clean up in the morning and The Wall should be open mid-day-ish. It looks very nice. As always be very careful out there. The East Wall is a beautiful and rugged mountain environment to say the least. As always, there will be variable conditions with hidden and unmarked obstacles. If talk like that appeals to you, you will have some fun tomorrow.

Illinois - A-Basin

I think I'd like this guy.

A Little Bit of East Wall

The Ski Patrol opened up a little bit of the East Wall today. Mostly along the closure in the Land of the Giants. It was controlled skiing focused on compaction and a little bit of fun. Looks like a decent storm the next 48 hours. Once today's impacts are covered with some more snow, the Wall should be very close to being ready. It looks good. I meant to take pictures, but ended up driving the shuttle bus all day. Lots of people having fun.

Skiing in Zuma

Had a great morning skiing in Montezuma Bowl. It took a while for that sun to pop out. Conditions were good all around. The grooming was great on Larkspur and Columbine. Had a lot of fun skiing powder in Bierstadt, Lightning Trees, and Elephant's Trunk. Also found some good and variable chowder in Groswold. A lot of people were back there enjoying sweet conditions and a beautiful day.