December 30, 2010 Summit Central

Finished a doctors appointment early and Jill and I spent a couple hours cruising at Central.  Conditions were powder and packed powder.  They groomed a section of Triple 60 and Parachute and the surface was pleasant for cruising.  Cool temps, no wind and sunshine. The lift lines increased around 11:30 when we decided to leave.  The 3-6"of powder off the groomers was pleasant and with a wide ski the crust was barely noticeable.  The snow squeeked just like ski days  in Vermont and NH when it was clear and frigid.

We drove to Hyak and there were a few folks skinning up.  Did not see anyone descending during our brief visit so I couldn't tell if the crust layer was still an issue. 

Saw a couple of newbie splitters trying their hand up the slopes of Alpental, that would please Scotsman.

Got up to Silver Fir for opening at 9 and that was a day worth getting up there. Blue skies with scattered clouds out on the horizons. Temps c-c-cold at 17F to start, and another 5 inches atop yesterday’s made for some VERY fun runs at Silver Fir. Hit up Inspiration, and even out in some of the tree stashes in the upper half of the hill for mega fun. Scored a few knee-tap turns too. By noon some scraped out spots were starting to get glazed, but easy to avoid. TomK & Chad

Good day albeit crowded at Alpental. You could still find the rain crust if you tried, but in the areas where it had been broken up by previous skiers it was just like little fish biting at your ankles. Int'l entrance got quite bony by the end of they day. Not quite enough coverage for the lower Shot Six glades; there were a few holes. Still overall great. A few pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/koelle/