Evening Storm

As I left work this evening, snow was falling heavily setting us up for another good morning tomorrow.

Upper East Wall Image

More Snow Coming

These are some fun pictures from Friday's powder day. Last week's snowstorm was quite good for us, bringing 19 inches making a total of 57 inches for the month. With good looking snow amounts forecast through Thursday, we should finish an already above average March with a bang. More good times ahead.

High Country Conservation Center

The High Country Conservation Center (HC3) is a local organization whose mission is to promote practical solutions for waste reduction and resource conservation in our community. This past Saturday we hosted our 8th Annual Save Our Snow Celebration. A-Basin and several other groups had staff on site offering sustainability ideas and messages. A portion of lift ticket proceeds went to HC3 raising nearly $7,000 for them. Check out their website at www.highcountryconservation.org.

Skiing Easter Bunny

This might be the coolest skiing Easter Bunny photo ever taken. Thanks Drew and Ryan.

Basin Friday - It Just Keeps Snowing

Another Powder Day

Today's 6 inches of new snow provided another special day of skiing. That is an understatement. The skiing is phenomenal. The weather broke enough that Ski Patrol opened the East Wall, including the hiking program. Powder skiing again with a few inches expected by tomorrow. Snorkelnose continues to ski nicely.

Powder Day

We only had 2" of snow at report time, but it snowed just about all day making for an excellent powder day. With the weather and road conditions, attendance was kind of light today. Those people that could make it here enjoyed plenty of open space making turns in the powder.

A Night In Spain

This past Saturday the culinary crew hosted "A Night In Spain" at Black Mountain Lodge. Despite the lift turning, many people chose to travel to BML on foot. The late day sun on The East Wall was particularly impressive.

The food was everything we have come to expect. I saw the largest pan of paella I have ever seen loaded with prawns, mussels, rabbit and numerous goodies. Personal favorites for me were the goat cheese stuff red peppers, roasted goat and lamb kidneys. Finished off the night with a beautiful, moonlit walk to the base area.

South Y

Another cool view looking Northwest from the top of South Y chute.

Into The Snorkel Door

I took my first trip of the season through The Snorkel Door. After a good hike up the Willy's staircase, we snuck into Snorkelnose. I was expecting some tough, wind packed skiing. Wrong. After a couple of slabby turns at the top, the snow softened up for great powder skiing the rest of the way down. There are not many places inside ski areas you can enjoy such a tremendous high alpine experience like this.

And the forecast looks pretty good starting Tuesday night...............

East Wall Hiking

The East Wall benefited tremendously from this past storm. Today the Ski Patrol opened up The Lower Wall first thing in the morning followed by hiking staircases in North Pole, Willy's Wide and The Tree Chutes. These photos show a pretty nice day out there. The premier snow was found in The Tree Chutes (middle picture). The views from high on The Wall aren't too bad. Another day of great skiing.

No Ski Pictures

On a day like today, the last thing I am going to do is stop and take photographs. The smiles on the chairlifts say it all. This morning I headed straight to Montezuma Bowl and skied Max, Groswold and Jump. Hardly crossed another track. Nothing but softness underfoot.  I heard comments like "that was as good as it gets", "world class", unbelievable", "doesn't get better than that" and many more. A few people just shook their heads and laughed. Yesterday was the best day of the year, except I think today was better.

25 Inches

Today's 5 inches makes 25" in four days. It just keeps getting better. I hope you get a chance to enjoy this snow.

Today Makes 20 Inches

Reporting 6" of new snow this morning brings our storm total to 20" in three days. And it is snowing right now. And more snow is expected tonight. And more snow is expected tomorrow. There are those who described today as the best ski day of the year. Pretty nice.

Forget about Spring. Winter is back.

Today's Skiing

I don't think I can adequately describe just how incredible the skiing was today. We reported 10" of new snow yesterday and 4" more today. It has snowed lightly all day. I hopped on Pali Lift with the intention on doing an all-mountain tour ending up in Montezuma Bowl. I took a lap on The Spine. It was so incredible I took another lap on The Face. And another. And another. And another.............. Never made it past Pali Lift. Guess I will have to visit Zuma tomorrow. Extraordinary.

10" Today

10 inches of new snow this morning with snow in the forecast every day through Friday. Tonight could be big. See you in the morning and enjoy this Dave Camara photo.

Snowing

OK, it is snowing heavily this evening. The snow really started to fall heavily late in the ski day and is still going strong. The forecast the next few days looks good. The skiing this afternoon was tremendous and, I am sure, will be even better in the morning. Tuesday and Wednesday could be good days to reschedule a few work priorities. 

End Zone (from below)

Here is a view of West Zuma and End Zone from below. The photo shows End Zone coming straight at you on the left and Zuma Lift in the distance on the right. It is another fun run with terrain variations and cool trees and boulders to ski around. Spring comes early to End Zone and it was very fun skiing Friday. That part of the mountain has good snow coverage right now. If this week's forecast comes true, this will be the start of an exceptional Spring back there.

Going To Work And Play

Even Rio is carpooling on Saturdays.

Spring on the Summit

Today was about as nice as it gets (excluding powder days). The snow was fantastic. We had blue skies. The BML deck was full. Today was warm. There is..........a change coming in the weather. Let's stay tuned for new snow next week. I think everyone here today was loving life.

Alpenglow Ascents Rando Challenge

This Saturday, after the lifts close, we will be doing another uphill ski race. This time there will be two different courses. The first, a "Try It" course, is designed for people wanting to either dabble in the sport or just race a little bit easier course. The second, "The Long Course with 2500 vertical feet of climbing," is going to be fun. Patio designed the course and in his fun and somewhat tricky and devious manner, has created a challenging course full of  skinning and skiing and climbing boot packs and other surpises. Come check out one of the fast growing segments in the ski world. Go to our website for details

Stories

You can always find someone at The Basin with great stories to tell.

Full Day

Today was another day of fun skiing. The clouds came and went. Much of the day was sunny. The Face and The Spine continue to ski just beautifully. The wind was certainly kind there. The Upper Mountain is in excellent shape and I had a great run on Columbine back in Zuma. Kay and I finished the day off with a skin to The Summit in a light snow storm. As we headed down the clouds broke leaving a 1/2 inch of new snow.  We enjoyed a colorful sunset and pulled into the base area just at dark. It was a good, full day.

Castle Mountain, Alberta

As much as Kay and I love skiing The Basin, we do sneak away for a couple ski trips each season. Last month we spent some time in BC skiing Fernie and Kicking Horse (phenomenal mountains). En route we visited a lesser known gem, Castle Mountain, Alberta. You won't get there by accident.

Castle has big vertical, 2833'. We skied a day after a 7 inch storm. The snow was light and soft and had been favored by the wind. The Chutes, in particular, were outstanding. They were long, wide, steep snowfields that must have had nearly 2,000 vertical feet. Overall, the mountain is quite steep although I never found anything that was scary steep, just great fun all around. This place is not a mega resort, just a great hill with a great vibe. I think most A-Basin fans would really enjoy this place. Put it on the list.

Spring in Zuma

Spring is in the air in Montezuma Bowl. That means longer days, warmer temperatures and lots of snow. MGD and West Zuma have become known for great long runs on powder days. Whether it is for a bluebird, sunny ski day or a socked in, face shot filled powder day, I look forward to spring in Zuma.