The annual Christmas week rain/freeze event was followed by significant snow and extreme wind. The Jet did not run the day before. So, I was hoping for a “day after” powder day.

I assumed the trees would be great. But untracked snow was significantly wind packed, grabby, and challenging to ski (perhaps the densest snow that I have ever skied). Turns alternated between boot deep bottomless and an icy base.

After the untracked was cut up, it became easier to ski. I abandoned my normal off-map trees routine and skied Timbuk proper for the first time in years. Timbuk had enough traffic to break up the untracked without being completely tracked out.

After two hours, Kitz Woods was proper packed powder and skied great. Given the rain/freeze and extreme wind, the groomers skied better than expected but were still not great (firm, fast, and scratchy).

Overall, I cannot complain about how things have rebounded after the rain/freeze event. The base remains deep and the full mountain remains skiable (albeit after someone else has broken up the cement).

While at work yesterday, I received a notification that the the building would be closed today due to construction. Employees were not allowed to report to work for safety reasons. Okay then, I guess I’ll go ski some more powder.

I was not expecting much. Jay reported 2-4″ overnight and 4-6″ during the past 48 hours. I figured I might be able to find the full half-foot Tramside since no upper-mountain Tramside lifts spun the day before.

Ironically, I found the deepest snow in off-map woods that were accessible from the Bonnie. A small patch yielded the full bounty, not just from the past 48 hours, but from the past 5 days! A short but sweet 200′ vertical of very unexpected knee deep.

Traffic was very light, mostly tourists and non-regulars. So I skied Staircase for the first time in years. It is a glade that I rarely ski as it gets side-slip scraped due to its pitch. It was well covered (except its steepest pitch), but yielded only a few inches of untracked.

After going back to the Tramside trees for a few runs, I figured I might as well check out the OOB from the Jet. Surely, the two feet from last week’s storm has been chewed up by now, right?

Wrong. Boot to knee deep. What? Fresh lines were limited, but they were available. It wasn’t just knocking down a few random piles, but rather legit lines of untracked lasting a dozen turns at a time. This season just keeps on delivering.

My inability to take time off from work for powder days continues. A major upslope event hit Jay Thursday into Friday. Friday was a no-go for me. I assumed Saturday would be a packed powder day.

Thankfully, the wind went hard on Friday and the Jet never opened. So, the full untouched and drifted storm total was untracked from the Jet for Saturday. The trails were picked clean by the wind, which meant that the woods were loaded.

Adding to this good fortune was the time of year. The two weeks preceding Christmas are great weeks for powder days. Even die hard powder hounds fail to show up due to family obligations and gift shopping.

The result was boot to knee deep untracked without competition. The Flyer has yet to debut this season. That pushed more traffic to Stateside than usual. But even with the extra skiers, lines were not too bad and untracked off map snow lasted longer than normal.

After going hard on Saturday, I decided to take Sunday off. It was supposed to snow Sunday. But it was not an overnight storm. The new snow would be skied in throughout the day on Sunday without accumulating, so it wasn’t worth going back-to-back.

However, when I checked the Sunday afternoon snow report, I discovered that the Bonnie never ran. Monday would be an unexpected bonus. The grand total was “only” seven inches. But with strong winds, seven inches can feel like double or nothing.

After an extended wait, patrol finally gave the thumbs up. I had the fourth chair. I couldn’t help but take a rare untracked run down Deliverance. The snow was soft, dense, and supportive. A delightful bonus on top of Saturday’s excess.

I rode the Bonnie all morning and, after several runs, I continued to find plenty of untracked. Patrol had Goat roped off (I assume it was a sheet of ice from the wind), so I accessed the goods via a short sidestep up from the Goat/Quai intersection.

The crowd was minimal, a complete non-factor. I rode the Bonnie solo more often than not. Even after a 20-minute delay, there were less than 100 people at line up. It was old-school low-key, (adjective style rather than adverbial).

The untracked would last all day. But my legs were shot from Saturday and I wasn’t going to kill myself for “only” seven inches. I could have put more in the bank (you never know how long the good times will last). But I got my fill and left before noon, more than satisfied.

Even one lap of untracked was more than I had expected today. It was all just bonus.

Down the Haynes I went, first tracks on a clean canvas. Eight inches felt like eighty centimeters. My favorite snow condition, even harder to get than knee deep untracked in the woods.

Almost a foot of supportive, springy powder on top of groomed. Just enough to not bottom out, but not too much that you can’t rip huge, high-speed arcs. Effortless and amazing.

The energy transfers automatically from turn to turn. I don’t yell nor cry out in joy. I am speechless. It has been years since I’ve felt this perfect layering of powder over groomed.

After that, I went into the trees, where I skied untracked every run until I left. Lifts were ski on all morning and untracked lines stayed fresh all day.

December powder days are always amongst the best of the season. And day-before-Christmas powder days are always exceptionally notable for the lack of crowds.