Thursday - Good day for groomer spring skiing.
Well, we haven't had any new snow for a while. The off groom stuff is crusty, hard and heavy.
The groomers are smooth with a basic frozen base. Some of the more heavily used runs had skier shaved, granular sugar... about an inch and a half. so skiing was pretty smooth. My impression was that the air or wind was sucking the moisture off the suface, creating a dry granular sluff, although it seemed less dry at the end of the day.
Carver-bombers would have a field day on these fast runs. But, I am not a carver-bomber.... I optimistically ski my semi-pow PR's - ok on the groomers, but... I sure would like some real snow.
Some of the steep runs presented slick boilerplate. I really need to sharpen my edges. Lower CMAC - boilerplate with a big bare spot developing right in the middle. I have some carver skis that I haven't used for a couple of years.... I probably should have had those on the boilerplate.
Surface conditions depend on skier shaving and whether the surface had been in the shade or had sun exposure. So, multiple conditions can be had on a single run. After 2:00pm, even as the air was cooling, the snow was less crisp and more mushy on top, frozen underneath.
Weather was blue sky nice which made for a fun ski day. Very few people - ample parking in Lot A. I am wondering if the economic situation is cutting into the willingness to pay for a lift ticket (I bought my season pass last spring). But normally there would be more folks up there. High Campbell and Northway were closed.... I don't know if for ice or not enough of a crowd.
New snow should be around the corner.... wooo hooo.
