The week before Christmas is always uncrowded. Even when Christmas falls immediately after a weekend. Even when a foot and a half of snow falls in the past forty-eight hours. Call it the Christmas shopping effect: sleeper powder days when uninspired skiers and riders are busy prowling the malls instead of prowling for powder.

This time of year also has a large quantity of reserved trails. But there wasn’t much that was reserved today as ropes were dropping left and right. Smuggs reported ten inches but there was much more than that up high leading to Catwalk, Doc Dempsey’s, and FIS making their debuts today. The lucky bastards standing at that rope drop will be telling some amazing stories for some time to come.

The best part of early season rope dropping powder is skiing trails without their normal massive bumps, all of the natural terrain features show through. Rock drops into pillows of powder abound off the steep headwalls of Doc’s and FIS.

Despite missing those rope drops, I got more than my fair share of boot deep untracked throughout the morning and early afternoon. You just gotta keep prowling and you’ll make those great finds. Kinda like finding the perfect present… except that present is for yourself and it is something no one else could ever find for you.