It was very warm on the peak this morning as the South Wind started winding up ahead of the approaching Front.  As I write this, the Trailer is rocking hard as the wind is pumping through the valley with some thunder to go with it.  Here it comes.  Mineral Basin was soft and smooth on the prepared lines and had a bit of Sun shining through the high cloud deck.  The front side of the hill was crispy only on the very highest elevations, but the pack softened just as you got down a bit, offering some sumptuous sorbet for the rest of the run.  I kept hitting those smooth lines to get as much as I could before it got too tracked out.  Over all the break was quick and ready to go in the first hour, and light traffic made the back to back pace easy to make.  After the last warm stretch, the hill is now beginning to show the signs of melt off, especially next to rock outcroppings, trees and South facing banks next to the Cat Tracks.  The Cat Tracks are still fully fat and do not have any areas to avoid, but off trail there are some spots that might be problematic if you get too close to the edges of things.  The Lower Primrose Path has just a few shrubberies beginning to show through, but they are obvious and easy to get around.  It is sad to see the pack begin it’s return to the Big Cycle, but time marches on.  Tomorrow, look for weather to have moved into the area.  Remember the smooth lines from the past few days if there is much in the way of accumulation, and remember the frozen crust that is sure to be significant as this system moves through.   Here is a shot of the meeting of the MINDS, as we discussed the direction to take on a Lewis and Clark sojourn.  IBBY!!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014 at 4:33 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.