A dry cold front moved through the area overnight, which dropped the temps. significantly. The last of the cloud deck was moving East as the Tram hit the peak, leaving the Mineral Basin bathed in Sunshine. With the late start on the warming, and the colder temps., the timing on the break was over 2 hours later than yesterday. Nice tenderizing efforts on all sides of the hill gave ample tooth to the prepared runs and made top to bottom laps fun and fast. Here is a shot from the peak looking down Canyon with the cloud deck moving off. It has some nice high contrast elements in this shot. After breakfast, I went in search of the off trail conditions, where I found wide spread rumble that made an aggressive line a difficult choice. It was not until full softening had occurred that the consistency came up to speed. Regulator broke around Noon, and had a nice feel, especially on the right side of the machine work. I also came across this beautiful Spring Chicken ripping up the hill. I just had to stop get a shot before she flew away. That is Mr. Scott photo bombing the shot. At this very moment, this pitch was offering some of the nicest sorbet of the day. What a treat it was to dig deep into this sweet frosting. Only these conditions offer this rarity, which only comes after the freeze thaw. Tomorrow, look for another cool morning, with bright Sun, excellent Groomers to rip the morning laps, and a light turn out for the morning session. The off trail will again soften and become workable sometime after Noon. The High North is still holding up with dry chalk, but is becoming a bit more affected as the ambient temps. are beginning to get to the pack on those aspects. Here is also a shot of Alexa, a Euro Girl who I have know for aeons. She rips this hill on no uncertain terms, and she is sporting some very fashion forward mittens that speak to her elegant style, both on and off the hill. It will be a great day so be there to get the best of this early spring fling. You never know when it will turn back into Winter, but then you know it will. Syrup won’t stop ‘EM!!
COLD FRONT
3-18-15 by dave