There were few takers for the first Tram this morning after yesterday’s Powder fest.  As anticipated, the Groomers had been buffed perfectly, with 3 cm of high density frosting covering them wall to wall.  You could do no wrong with that perfection.   Powder Paradise remained closed for the first half  hour, but opened up shrouded in fog.  This cover of fog kept the traverse from being easily spotted from any distance, enabling a few folks to get lap after lap of fresh lines out on the North facing aspects.  That secret did not last long, but certainly long enough to make up for yesterday’s rapid consumption.   I much prefer the relaxed, no pressure access to great snow, as opposed to the frenetic La Mans start which I witnessed out in Little Cloud.  With a low and persistent cloud cover, the visibility was intermittent, though the  flat light was the main concern.  The Free Ride Competition began today, and Upper Silverfox and Baldy are closed for the competitors, so keep that in mind when choosing your lines tomorrow.   The Sun really heated up the South faces, which were tricky this morning if you ventured in that direction.  Now that we are well into March, the Sun is going to be a constant factor in line choice, as the season moves into Spring.  Warm temps. also were a feature today, and I found myself a bit overheated as I worked the high traverse.  Tomorrow, look for the Groomers to be exquisite for the morning session, though they will be deteriorating as the traffic works them over.  The off trail is still holding fairly soft snow on the North and West faces, with very approachable lines, and the exotic trees  are seeing a build up of traffic interference patterns.  The Harbor Chop rose up again after Noon, making the ride very staccato, so I was looking for the boarder lines to find relief.  It is good to know there are ways around most interference patterns if you just look around a bit.  With luck, there might be some Sun to light the path tomorrow, and you can bet I will be there early to get the best of the day.    IBBY!!!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 9th, 2011 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Snow Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.