On the heels of VT last weekend, I’m off to Colorado to chase what seems to serve as a “storm” in this pathetic winter. The stats say the Colorado snow pack is pretty close to normal, but around the Front Range they are on about 200 inches for the season. Seems low. Not that it seems to be much of a problem. The mountains I’m targeting (A Basin, Copper, Winter Park) are all at or near 100% open.
There was snow in the forecast last night, there’s more snow in the forecast (4-8) tomorrow, with a little more on Monday. Not deep, but I’ll take it. Latest runs are pushing tomorrow’s snow a little further south (Copper/A Basin) than they were yesterday (Winter Park). As I did today, I’ll see who reports the most snow with tomorrow’s early reports and head there. Met a couple locals at the bar tonight who swear by Copper, so maybe that.
Today A Basin reported the most (only 3 inches), so there I went. Snowed in varying intensities throughout the day, putting down another couple inches. Conditions were good, at least from an East Coast perspective. Mid-week they had 40 and 50 degree temps on the hill. With temps in the 20s today and new snow I wasn’t terribly optimistic, my East Coast mentality had me fearing dust on crust. I suppose it was for them, but it wasn’t that. Fortunately they do not seem to know the words “loose and frozen granular” out here, with conditions posted as powder/packed powder. I’m no snow scientist but I suspect the lower water content in their snow is what results in a firm edgeable chalk, where we’d have granite below the “powder”.
I’ve been to A Basin a few times, but the Beavers and Steep Gullies are new the last few years so I spent the day getting familiar with the 40+ degree trees and rocky chutes leading to their “hike back” terrain. At least I got to put my newest touring setup to use, rather than hiking the 30 minutes back.
Three to five inches on the chalky base wasn’t exactly a powder day, but it skied great.
The vistas are amazing out here. This is the backcountry across the road from A Basin, on the back side of Loveland.
Other than one run I spent the day on the Pali chair. I’d put that one up there with KT-22, Castlerock, and the MRG single at the top of the best chairs list. Nice that they replaced the old Pali chair with a double, as opposed to a triple or quad.
East Wall is in play, so another day at A Basin is in the cards to hike that. We’ll see what tomorrow brings…
There was snow in the forecast last night, there’s more snow in the forecast (4-8) tomorrow, with a little more on Monday. Not deep, but I’ll take it. Latest runs are pushing tomorrow’s snow a little further south (Copper/A Basin) than they were yesterday (Winter Park). As I did today, I’ll see who reports the most snow with tomorrow’s early reports and head there. Met a couple locals at the bar tonight who swear by Copper, so maybe that.
Today A Basin reported the most (only 3 inches), so there I went. Snowed in varying intensities throughout the day, putting down another couple inches. Conditions were good, at least from an East Coast perspective. Mid-week they had 40 and 50 degree temps on the hill. With temps in the 20s today and new snow I wasn’t terribly optimistic, my East Coast mentality had me fearing dust on crust. I suppose it was for them, but it wasn’t that. Fortunately they do not seem to know the words “loose and frozen granular” out here, with conditions posted as powder/packed powder. I’m no snow scientist but I suspect the lower water content in their snow is what results in a firm edgeable chalk, where we’d have granite below the “powder”.
I’ve been to A Basin a few times, but the Beavers and Steep Gullies are new the last few years so I spent the day getting familiar with the 40+ degree trees and rocky chutes leading to their “hike back” terrain. At least I got to put my newest touring setup to use, rather than hiking the 30 minutes back.
Three to five inches on the chalky base wasn’t exactly a powder day, but it skied great.
The vistas are amazing out here. This is the backcountry across the road from A Basin, on the back side of Loveland.
Other than one run I spent the day on the Pali chair. I’d put that one up there with KT-22, Castlerock, and the MRG single at the top of the best chairs list. Nice that they replaced the old Pali chair with a double, as opposed to a triple or quad.
East Wall is in play, so another day at A Basin is in the cards to hike that. We’ll see what tomorrow brings…
