How could it possibly be better than this past Sunday? Even Jay was supposed to get rain before the minimal backside snowfall. Thanksgiving morning, I went to Jay with low expectations. Half a foot of dust on crust was still more fun than not going at all. The Thanksgiving Dinner plan was a quiet meal at home, a late dinner for two. So why not see what Jay had to offer?

My fitness level was suspect during the uphill, I required frequent stops and had shortness of breath. The wind was blowing like crazy, the snow was falling horizontally, and the base area temperature was only ten degrees. It should not have been a hard fought skin to the top of the Jet, but it was. While changing over, I noticed that my feet were extremely cold, especially my left foot which was losing sensation.

I returned to the trail that did me so well on Sunday. And I dropped into something beyond words. It was deep. It was really deep. Deeper than Sunday. Deeper than anything I’ve skied in at least two years. Knee deep minimum with even deeper drifts. Thigh deep. Balls deep. Explosions of snow. Gobble. Gobble.

At the bottom of the pitch, I slapped my skis on my pack and started climbing. The opposite side of the trail was just a few inches deep of climbable ice and crunchy snow. I needed more and I wanted it again before anyone else happened upon it. Not that competition is very high on Thanksgiving morning.

After topping out, I flung my skis off my pack and clicked in, ready for round two. But it would also be the last round. Curling my toes, I couldn’t feel anything in my left boot. Game over. I needed to warm up my feet ASAP despite only being halfway through my planned itinerary. Who knows what deeper secrets might have been found elsewhere on the mountain but it was not to be.

I dropped in for a second time and my mind was blown just as much as the first time. I may not experience better powder all season or perhaps even for many seasons to come. At the bottom of the steep pitch where I first had turned around, I kept skiing without stopping or glancing back. The lower trail was better covered with deeper snow than this past Sunday when more careful and exacting skiing was required. This time I opened up the turns and surfed back down towards the base area.