After yesterday’s romp (which was my first open to close day of the year), I was rather tired and a wee bit sore. I opted for a late start and desired to leave early when my legs inevitably gave out. I ended up skiing from approximately 9a-1p which was about what I had expected.
What I had not expected was how bad the conditions would setup over night on the mountain. Temps dropped and the snow froze up a bit and got some wind buff. I skied a few open trails before ducking back into the woods and did not like what I saw. Northway and trails in that drainage were total skating rinks and the upper section of The Jet and Haynes did not look so good (I didn’t ski either, but after seeing a few slides for life from the lift, you kinda get the feel for how things are skiing). Natural trails were obliterated. They opened up Kitzbeuhel today but it was just nasty.
Out of a dozen runs I think I ended up in the woods about 10 times picking out trusty powder shots where I suspected base levels would be adequate and dangerous hazards would be minimal (relatively). I found way more pow than I had expected. Each run featured about 25% untracked or barely tracked in places I suspected had been trounced yesterday. It was slim pickings though… pick a line, get six turns, stop, reassess, likely traverse, repeat. By noon time the fresh lines were gone but sloppy seconds were still available. After a few more desperation runs for safe shots, my legs had enough and I called it a day. Pictures will be posted later.