Conservatively we got at least 14" overnight and another inch today. The snow that fell after midnight last night...maybe the last 5 inches was ... total blower. It snowed lightly all day, even when the sun was out. It was 10 degrees when I started the car and headed to the mountain. My new plow guy was nowhere to be found, last night or today before I left for the mountain. No problem really I put the car at the top of the hill, and blasted my way down.
The plan was to meet Adk Keith at the Gondi's opening. Plans were left loose for a possible meeting with PDQ and her friend Amy. Almost hour early, I pulled up into the parking lot and parked right up front. I see a Subie with a woman in a yellow coat herding some doggies. I introduced myself to Powderqueen. We got on the second or third Gondi and went to the top. With the summit roped off we hit Showcase:
Next time up a crowd had gathered at the summit rope...and down it went. As 50 skiers pounded Pine Knot...we hit Uncas...which was being ignored, for some unknown reason. After controlling my glee...and with a little encouragement, I did conserve some untracked for those who followed. Down to the Straightbrook Chair, Up to Chatiemac into the Glades. It was deluxe. For a skier like me...to be in the trees, driving forward...straight down the fall line, without a care in the world...it was a total blast.
We got first tracks on both the Chatiemac Glade and Mineshaft. We did (Red Dog?) and that was great — everything was basically open.
We met Amy at the saddle for a break. When we headed back out we hit Tahawas trees...and we rode the North Chair with Amy. We never got to the Dark Side. We did make our way over to Burnt Ridge. From the Saddle...Twister, Twister Glades, Echo to Gully and down (over?) to the lift. It is flat. I walked it in the summer and thought it had some pitch but I guess I really misjudged it. When conditions are normal Eastern fast....it will be fine but today it was a trudge.
Sagamore...the black trail on Burnt Ridge is epic...long...tons of pitch...in big steps. It's like Showcase on steroids...these huge steps down, maybe four of them. It was big fluffy cut up bumps. We got to the top again and ran into Jeff the Skipatrol. He's the guy who gave me a permit to hit Tahawas last weekend. He told us that the coverage in the Cirque glade was thin and there were "rivers" to cross...but we gotta go for the view.
In we went. It is beautiful. I took a few pics, but you really need a wide angle to get it. We did get our skis wet in the crossings and had to take a break to scrape the ice off everything. Down to the bottom and we called it a day around 1:30. There is more powder to slay tomorrow. One of my best days in a long time.
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