April 9, 2009 Crystal Mountain

Thursday - Spring has sprung.   

Really felt like Spring skiing.  Very thin crowd.  No... not a crowd.  Imagine that ski season was over with and that they opened the lifts for a handful of folks.  Yea, like that.  Parked in the A lot.

A couple of days ago there was still snow piled up on the trees - gone now.  However, the trees were kind of frosted at the top of the Rex.  Cold in the morning.  Groomers were groomed, cold and crisp.  Off groom powder was frozen in place.  Ungroomed, like Cmac seemed frozen.

Steady temperature change as the day progressed.  Foggy and cold in the morning.  Sunny and warm by the end of the day.  About 11:00am Snorting Elk Bowl - frozen moguls at the end of the Snorting Elk cat track, the rest of the old Snorting Elk run was smooth and crisp.

Green Valley Bowl was smooth and crisp, softening after lunch.  Iceberg was smooth and easy, not a lot of sluff.

Every thing was variable according to time of day and sun exposure.  And even though we had some fog, we also had plenty of full sun. 

Base area got plenty sucky towards the end.

All the backcountry, Kelly's Gap, High Campbell, Bear Pits were closed until about 11:00.    Late in the day, I actually heard a blast coming from the Kelly's Gap area.

The snow pack is still there, but things can change rapidly.  Yes, definitely Spring.

NOOOOOO!
I'm grieving over the end of winter and have passed the denial phase and am now in the bargaining phase.
JUST ONE MORE POWDER DAY PLEASE!!!

NOOOOOO!
I'm grieving over the end of winter and have passed the denial phase and am now in the bargaining phase.
JUST ONE MORE POWDER DAY PLEASE!!!

Bargaining is a two way deal. What's your (latest) offer?

I made it up to East peak and Scouts pass for a predawn tour the skiing was horrible.
Foot deep mank with a Ice crust on top. Not so fun !

Kyle, nice pic. Thanks, Kkz