If you’re not here yet, you should be. Fresh powder doesn’t wait ’til tomorrow— it demands first tracks. We received nine inches of fresh pow within 24-hours and, until late morning, the snow continued to flurry across the slopes.

With clock outs near 8 am, a handful of the night shift crew made the quick transition from snowmisers to skiers and riders. Last night, the first trails groomed accumulated the greatest cover of fluff. So where to first? Midway, Chute, Widowmaker, and Switchback.

Lower Main.

Snow white.

It’s incredible how quickly the mountain changes face. This past week, the transition of temperature and weather made for a flip flop of conditions.

RECAP:

Last Wednesday and Thursday: Machine groomed packed powder with the slightest hint of slush. Sunny and beautiful. Temperatures near 60 degrees.

Friday and Saturday: Oh, the cold wind and rain. Within a few hours time, the temperature dropped from high 50s to mid 20s. Warm rain to freezing temps caused conditions to get a little rougher, icy and hard packed slopes.

Saturday to Monday: Make it snow, make it snow, make it snow. Wet-bulb temps were set for continuous snowmaking to revamp trails and enhance conditions.

Tuesday and Wednesday: Let it snow! Nine inches of fresh pow within 24 hours atop machine groomed packed powder. Yesssss.

Chairlift sunset.

“I believe you can get me through the night…”

Temp fluctuations affect more than the snow surface. Again, extreme changes (read: negative degrees, rise to sixty degrees, drop to twenty degrees) cause the frozen ground to thaw and freeze again, creating earth shift and movement. Saturday was more than a snowmaking showdown, but the start of a 48-hour haul to locate and repair a water pipe that burst beneath five feet of snow and five feet of ground on Razor’s Edge.

Add to the mix two 6″ water and air pipe leaks in the parking lot (located and repaired within 24-hours), maintenance and light repairs on Sidewinder, plus so much shoveling, plowing, shoveling, and plowing again. We continue to thaw out guns and hoses, after additional rain and the big drop to freezing temps, as we play by the hand and hold of Mother Nature.

Maintenance & repairs.

Chairlift view.

But today, back to the slopes. Roads are clear, trail conditions are prime, and there’s nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.

See you on the slopes,

the snowmisers