The Sky is Getting Darker

I had a fun little wandering ski tour around mid-day. Spent some time on The Spine, in the Beavers and skiing Northern Spy / Columbine in Montezuma Bowl. As the day progressed, the clouds rolled in and the sky got darker and darker. Looking at the forecast, Friday might be a really good day to go skiing at The Basin.

East Wall

The Ski Patrol has continued to work on the East Wall. There have been a couple of limited openings focused on skiing some of the powder lines in the gullies. The forecast for snow Thursday night and Friday is starting to look a little better. The Wall is the last big chunk of terrain yet to be opened regularly. Let's hope the next 2-3 storms get it open.

Bluebird

Yesterday was a gnarly, tough, windy A-Basin kind of day. We had some lift wind closures. It snowed fairly consistently and heavily for a while. The wind was from the W-SW and was ideal for much of the ski area. I skied for a few hours finding great snow near the woods. Really, really fun if you like to hang out in that kind of weather.

Today was the polar opposite. With bluebird skies, calm winds and a new snow report of 3 inches, the day was a Colorado "Stunner." It was absolutely perfect and so much fun to be out on the hill.

A Little Snow and a Little Wind

Kay and I spent a few hours skiing the North Side today. The storm spit out snow off and on throughout the day. Our webcam shows that maybe an inch fell. The beauty of the day was the wind. It was blowing with the right speed and from the right direction to buff out much of the North Side. The snow had that buttery, velvet texture. We took run after run loving the conditions. It was another perfect Sunday afternoon.

.......And The 4th.

The 4th Steep Gully was a treat today. Similar to the 2nd, you have to gently work your way in through some tricky conditions. Once in, Steep and Beautiful. Extreme Terrain all the way.

You can ski all 8 of the Steep Gullies without encountering a mandatory air. If you veer onto the flanks, micro side gullies or cliffs, there is plenty of air to be found. Each proper Steep Gully has plenty of rocks and is plenty steep, but there isn't mandatory air. 

AHHHH.......Steep Gullies

The Steep Gullies opened Wednesday. I had the pleasure of skiing The 2nd SG. The upper quarter was extremely difficult. I had to tip toe through some very challenging and steep snow and rocks. The lower three quarters were absolutely beautiful, steep skiing. To finish it off I had a quiet skin back to the bottom of Pali.

The Steep Gullies are the most difficult terrain at The Basin. Extreme Terrain is defined by the Colorado Ski Safety Act as:

"Extreme Terrain" means any place within the ski area boundary that contains cliffs with a minimum twenty-foot rise over a fifteen-foot run, and slopes with a minimum fifty-degree average pitch over a one-hundred-foot run.

The Steep Gullies definitely meet this definition. Extreme Terrain is not about moguls or trees or rocks. It is about steepness and cliffs.

Last Hoorah - Snowmaking

Today the snowmakers will be shutting down their system for the season. It has been a good one. December 31 is the last day we are allowed to divert water. The diversion point to the reservoir has been plugged and we are just finishing off the last little bit water remaining in our reservoir.

Despite a dubious start, we ended up with a great snowmaking season. With last summer being so dry, we were very concerned with the amount of water that we would have in the North Fork of the Snake. That awesome November snowfall was a tremendous help, raising stream flows and putting snow on the ground. On top of that, the snowmakers did great work and really spread the man made snow wisely. They made "just enough" snow in the places we needed snow.

The snowmakers will spend the next few days putting all their gear away and will be ready to do it all again next September.

Happy New Year

A lively crowd welcomed in the New Year at Black Mountain Lodge. To keep most of us from staying up too late, we actually celebrated Manhattan's New Year, 10 PM our time. Chef Vlass served a brilliant dinner with lobster, filet mignon and a Mexican chocolate mousse. A great band rocked the house and the dance floor was full. Fun was had by all. Best part - I was in bed by 11:00.