SLOW MOTION

3-22-17 by dave

Very heavy rain pounded The Trailer in the early morning hours, but with the warm temps. anything up on the hill was possible.  I must have been asleep at the wheel, as I never saw that weather coming,  so having fresh cover was a treat.  It was raining in the parking lot as I made my way to the locker, but I could tell that the higher elevations were seeing some white product.  First Tram sent the morning crew working the Regulator side of the hill, where we found ultra dense accumulation that, while not deep, cushioned the ride with only the most marginal interaction with the old layer.  Making turns was like moving in slow motion, where time slowed down and you could adjust to the variations with plenty of time to make the move instead of being spit out of the arc.  Here is a shot of the line Tramrat and I took under the Zoom Chair after scoping it out on the ride up.  I rarely ever hit this line, but today it was excellent.  You can kind of make out the tracks on the right side of the shot, and the slow motion effect made working those interference patterns a breeze.  Gad 2 was offering great soft lines as the pack had not frozen overnight, making each turn a delight .  Even the lower elevation runs had a skiff of super wet but slick velvet that let you make hero turns with no effort.  What a treat.   After the daily Forklift recon. meeting I checked out the Peruvian side of the hill, which had frozen underneath the new product and was quite difficult up high and did not break until the lower third of the hill.  Tomorrow, look for more accumulation, as the system has moved in and is here to stay for a bit.  How much is up in the air, but the cooling temps. promise a bit better quality going forward.  That last blast will go a long way to mitigating the old layer, but those interference patterns will still be in full relief.   My good friend Jack has left for his long tour of the country.  He has an action packed itinerary for the rest of the year, which includes quality time on the ocean.  He was killing it on the hill this year and it was a treat to have him on the Morning Crew sojourns.  Fair winds Jack!!  IBBY!

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