The ski and snowboard community for readers of First Tracks!! Online Ski Magazine 2021-11-07T14:18:42-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/feed.php?mode=topics 2021-11-07T14:18:42-06:00 2021-11-07T14:18:42-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14440&p=84463#p84463 This link has tracked the details of ski areas' operation and restrictions since the March 2020 in nearly every country with significant ski resorts.

Mt. Baldy was not the only ski area open in April 2020. Sweden had a much softer lockdown than most countries, so Riksgransen remained open continuously in 2020 through the spring to May 24. It reopened for its famous midnight sun skiing only from June 18-21, no doubt due to lack of foreign tourists that are normally attracted to it.

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]]> 2021-11-05T12:25:10-06:00 2021-11-05T12:25:10-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14438&p=84456#p84456
Snowbird, UT, in the trees near Mach Schnell, 24 Jan 2017, this snow was good enough for me to remember the exact date :


Sunshine Banff, somewhere in the middle of this view is the border between Alberta and British Columbia, March 2018:


Jackson Hole, WY, my son dropping into Corbet's Couloir, March 2018:


Vail, CO, moi the back bowls, Feb 2015:


Sierra at Tahoe, CA, Castle Creek trees, Jan 2013:


Loveland, CO, Zip Basin, New Year's Eve, 2013:


Sunshine Banff, Delirium Dive, March 2018:


Snowbasin, UT, beneath the John Paul Express chair, Feb 2018:


Black Mountain, NH, summit lift line, March 2010:


Mad River Glen, VT, Chute/lift line, 2014:

That's all for now.

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]]> 2021-11-02T21:23:30-06:00 2021-11-02T21:23:30-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14436&p=84446#p84446 IMG_1913a.JPG

With a high clearance vehicle you can drive to the bluff overlooking the columns but I wasn't trying that with the Tesla.
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So we had a 2 mile walk on the road, before following the trail down to the shoreline.
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Closer view from above:
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The volcanic columns were buried in sandstone but are exposed by wind from above or the lake waters after the L.A. Aqueduct was built.

The normal lake level leaves a watermark in line with Liz' head here.
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View from inside the columns:
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There were maybe 10 other hikers, so easy to get someone to take this pic.
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Moving farther north along the east shore:
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Here the columns have been exposed from above but not much by the water.
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We don't know what the plants are.

We approach the last point visible from the trail.
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Column inside the cave:
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That column was actually attached to the wall behind it.

Around that point, the columns extend quite a bit further, but this is as far as we walked.
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On the way back, here's an overview of the columns mostly eroded from above.
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The trail ascends to the left of this wall.
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This cave was a short walk south.
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The beach was deserted just before we left.
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Leaving Crowley Lake, its spillway is visible here, well above waterline.
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It's rare to see fall foliage on the way home from a Mammoth ski trip.
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This was at the bottom of Sherwin Grade at about 5,000 feet.

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]]> 2021-10-31T02:36:33-06:00 2021-10-31T02:36:33-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14435&p=84439#p84439
On Thursday Mammoth finally announced that the top would open and that chair 2 would be available for transport but not skiing. Here's why not for skiing.
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We got to Main Lodge before 8AM. While waiting for the opening festivities I noticed the Plakes.
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I mentioned that this was my first Mammoth opener though I'm around for many for the closing weekends, where I've seen them before. They said that they don't make many openers because the Baja 1000 off road race usually conflicts with the normal November timing.

At 8:30AM the Opening Day banner is raised,
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And broken by the first riders.
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We were about 10 minutes back in the initial line so we went immediately to chair 3. By observation we could tell that the lower groomers were still firm, and even our warmup on Saddle Bowl was somewhat hardpacked. But the face of 3 had soft natural snow blown in.
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This was worth two encores before we rode the gondola to the top.
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In general most of the snow above 10,000 feet was winter snow but with variable wind effect. After a groomed Cornice run we skied upper Roadrunner to Scotty's.
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It was mostly windbuff to about where Liz is in the picture, but below that the wind crust was breakable. I could manage it with forceful up unweighting, but unfortunately I would be sucking wind and have to stop every two or three turns of that.

Lower St. Anton had been skier packed but complete grooming was not possible with the thin base. View back up from there:
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From chair 1 here's the late morning traffic on Broadway.
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We went around the back to Powder Bowl, then took the gondola back up. We heard that Dave's Run had the best snow, so I went to check that out.
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I noticed unusual coverage on Rockgarden, which I had also seen after the October storms in 2004.
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After the long traverse from Dave's, I skied Christmas Bowl back toward McCoy Station.
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Liz and I took a much needed lunch break at 11:30. After lunch here's the view of the upper mountain.
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Coverage is more than I expected and there's a good variety of skiable lines up there. Some people hiked up to ski Drop Out 1 from the top even though chair 23 was not running.

We skied Andy's and Fascination, which were now in the sun and loosened up from the morning hardpack. There is some vegetation poking through at the bottom of those runs.

Back up the gondola Liz and I dropped into Rockgarden.
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Rockgarden is often a wind tunnel which strips the snow or polishes it firm. On this warm day around 1PM the snow softened to pleasing spring conditions all the way down to the traverse back to the face of 3.

From the traverse, here's the view back across Rockgarden and Dave's beyond it.
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I've marked the 3 lines I skied, #2 being the one with Liz that started in the bowl in the second picture above.

From the next gondola I traversed from Cornice under Drop Out 3, which nearly always collects blown in snow.
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It was soft but the upper steep part had been skied enough to start forming moguls. The apron had quite a bit of windsift dropping toward St. Anton, and I was able to cut across Gremlin's to World Cup on the way down. Liz had skied skier's left Cornice on this run, which may have had more variable snow, so she decided to call it a day with 16,600 vertical.

At this time around 2:30 about 3/4 of the mountain had spring conditions, and I concluded that Saturday morning with predicted 25mph wind might not be that great. So even though I was tired too, I thought it best to persist for the rest of Friday but not ski Saturday. First I cruised pleasantly softened World Cup to Fascination, then went back up top.

This time out Dave's I was able to navigate a line in Mammoth finest windsift nearly the entire run. Some other skiers provided ample evidence.
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After lunch I had noticed a skier in Gravy Chute so I gave that a shot.
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Snow was excellent but it was confined which is why I let other people go first to show where the rocks were.

Last season these 4 action figures appeared overlooking Gravy Chute, but this is the first time I got all of them in one picture.
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I finished up with some cruisers, totaling 23,700 for the day. There was a benefit to being on daylight time that World Cup and Powder Bowl were still illuminated on my last run about 3:45.

Obviously this was impressive skiing for October 29. But it's not the overall winter conditions I saw during the first half of November in 2004 and 2015. There was another wet October storm in 2009 when Mammoth opened for 3 days (I did not ski that one) but then had to close for almost 3 weeks. This year was better because the rain came at the beginning of the storm vs. the end in 2009. However the high water content snow and warm temperatures in the 40's have created widespread spring conditions.

It would only take a few nights of snowmaking to secure the lower runs on chair 1, but low temps are predicted no lower than 31F for the next week. Nonetheless I think Mammoth will hang in there and stay open continuously, though opening day may have had the best skiing for at least a week or two.

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]]> 2021-10-22T06:46:51-06:00 2021-10-22T06:46:51-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14434&p=84410#p84410 https://www.skimag.com/news/powdr-fast-tracks/"

How many ski mountains have 'fast pass' lines for pay? I have seen them at Northstar and Flims-Laax, but I guess they are going to become a thing.

Seems really expensive - $49/day. You really would only need them on weekends/holidays, and on a few core lifts. But a little crazy.

With $200 lift tickets and a $49 fast pass... two people could almost have lift tickets and a guide in Europe.

Although they could be useful on a weekend powder day at Jackson Hole....

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]]> 2021-10-11T14:47:44-06:00 2021-10-11T14:47:44-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14431&p=84390#p84390
Where, when, and how has being retired affected your skiing?

For me it's been pretty dramatic. I spent over 40 years primarily skiing small resorts in the Mid-Atlantic US. While there were a few years in my 20s when I skied 40-50 days, I usually averaged about 10-20 each winter over the decades. I was lucky if I escaped the Mid-A one week per winter to ski New England or US West.

In early 2015 I went from full time to half time working hours (semi-retired) and started doing 2 or 3 one-week or longer western trips per winter. This coincided with my adult son (avid skier) moving to Utah in 2015 and most of my skiing being redirected from the Mid-A to Utah and CO. In early 2019 I fully retired and started doing 3 or 4 month stays in Utah with my average ski days per winter increasing to 40 or 50. I might have been tempted to ski even more, but my non-skiing wife accompanies me and I take quite a few days off to be with her.

I was never a super strong skier, but it's possible my abilities have actually improved a bit since retirement. This is basically because of more slope time, but also skiing in the Rockies (mostly at Snowbird) instead of the Mid-A tends to force you to raise your game or die.
Perhaps the best thing about skiing while retiring is that I now in the position to mostly ski partial days. I don't have to ski bell to bell to feel like I'm getting the most out of my precious few ski days. I can ski when I feel good/strong, rather than ski because it's the only chance I can. A quality over quantity thing. 40 half days is definitely more fun than 20 full days when age 65+

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]]> 2021-10-10T08:37:24-06:00 2021-10-10T08:37:24-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14430&p=84388#p84388 ]]> 2021-10-02T07:05:53-06:00 2021-09-29T09:02:39-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14429&p=84358#p84358

What are some of your better/worse/most memorable air travel stories while on ski trips?

I probably have more ski-road trip stories than air travel stories, but there is one airline situation I take tightwad pride in... about five years ago I flew Frontier for a ten-day ski trip from the East Coast to Utah. My skis, poles, and a few personal items were already in Utah and I was determined to avoid baggage fees. I made everything else for a ten day ski trip fit into a smallish backpack (at no charge) OR I wore it on my body. I carried my ski helmet in my hand and was ready to put it on my head if questioned. Had a good time on that trip.
My ski boots took up most of the small backpack!

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]]> 2021-09-05T23:29:15-06:00 2021-09-05T23:29:15-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14427&p=84301#p84301 IMG_3248.JPG
Likely MVP Shohei Ohtani lived up to his billing with walk, stolen base, double, triple, home run, 3 runs scored and 3 RBI in Angels' 6-4 win.

Before leaving Florida Liz wanted to see the mermaid show at Weeki Wachee Springs.
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As scuba divers we found this impressive neutral buoyancy. We asked if they carry weights in their clothes and were told no, it's all by breath control. I suspect very low body fat is another necessity.

Northern Florida has the largest concentration of fresh water springs in the world. Weeki Wachee also has a couple of water slides into a swimming area and the spring empties into a river for kayaking.

We were not allowed to kayak there, but we took a portable kayak Liz had bought to Honeymoon Island north of Clearwater. I'm paddling into a stiff breeze here so staying close to shore.
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When I turned around, water sloshed in from the rear and sank the kayak. This was two for two, as Liz had taken another one of these to a "Boatstock" live music event in Boca Ciega Bay where it took on water and sank. The first kayak was lost but mine was in only three feet of water so we recovered it and packed it up to return to the manufacturer. We now believe that kayaks need to be made of material that floats!

We planned to leave July 3 but it took us all day to get everything done plus it rained intermittently and we were transporting furniture on the car roof to Pensacola for one of Liz' friends. The week I was in Florida it had rained every day, 11 inches in total, so we decided to drive all night with that furniture, delivering it successfully at 5AM. We needed a break after that so were fortunate to be allowed to check into the Hilton Garden Inn in Orange Beach, Alabama at 7:45AM.
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We hit the beach, slept most of the afternoon, went out for dinner, then back to the beach for July 4 fireworks.

Gulf State Park decided on this unusual speed limit to draw drivers' attention.
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After another morning on the beach we drove the entire length of Alabama to reach the historic music studios. We didn't read the fine print at Fame Studios that tours are offered only at 9AM and 4PM,as it's still a working studio most of the day.
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Fame was founded by Rick Hall in 1959. A decade later the Swampers musicians left Fame to found Muscle Shoals Studios.
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Though both Hall and the Swampers are white, their 1960's greatest successes were with R&B artists like Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin. Later on, artists such as the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon came to Alabama to record with the Swampers.

We did get a tour at Muscle Shoals Studio.
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We also visited the nearby Alabama Music Hall of Fame, where this was the most entertaining exhibit.
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Muscle Shoals is on the Tennessee River and is just a short detour for music buffs visiting Nashville and Memphis, but it was a 6 hour haul from the Gulf Coast.

We had dinner in Jackson, MS on the way to Vicksburg. At Vicksburg we stayed at the Duff Green Mansion B&B, built by a successful cotton merchant in 1857.
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The mansion survived the 47-day siege in 1863 by being used as a hospital while residents lived in caves to shelter from Union shelling.

After breakfast we got an informative tour.
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The guide described the extensive entertaining done there, conforming to elaborate Victorian rituals copied from the English aristocracy.

This bust of Jefferson Davis is here because he visited once.
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There were 20 slaves to support the business and household. However, the merchant class in Vicksburg opposed secession because they knew war would destroy their Mississippi River commerce.

We then toured the Vicksburg National Military Park.
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The Illinois Monument is in the distance.

The Civil War saw the first rifled cannon barrels.
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Their accuracy made brick forts like we saw in the Dry Tortugas obsolete.

Missouri Monument:
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This honors Missourians who fought for both sides.

The partially restored ironclad gunboat Cairo was installed in Vicksburg National Military Park in 1977.
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It was sunk in the Yazoo River in 1862, discovered in 1956, but it took a long time to recover and restore piecemeal.

The drive south to the gulf in Mississippi was punctuated by intense thunderstorms just as the drive north in Alabama had been two days earlier. We fortunately had a break in the weather when we passed by the Lynyrd Skynyrd memorial.
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We spent three nights and two days at the home of one of Liz' friends who had moved there from NYC. They were on vacation in the Northeast but their hospitable neighbors gave us some tips.

View towards city center from Crescent Park:
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Barge in Mississippi River viewed atop levee a couple miles east:
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Ninth Ward in opposite direction from the same spot, definitely lower than the river:
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We followed advice and spent the evening on Frenchmen St.
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We had a nice Italian dinner at Adolfo's between the two music club stops DBA and Maison.

The next day we went to New Orleans' noted World War II museum.
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Most exhibits are fairly recently designed with excellent multimedia presentations.

Liz wanted to see the Treme district of New Orleans.
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Treme is primarily residential, and we had to leave for our Commander's Palace dinner before most of the music venues there opened.

When we left New Orleans, we visited the Whitney Plantation on the way to an overnight stop in Baton Rouge. Whitney is noteworthy as it documents plantation life from the perspective of the slaves. There is a nearly complete genealogy due to Catholic Church records and that Whitney continued to produce sugar as late as 1975. Main plantation house:
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Slave quarters:
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Large pots used for successive boiling of sugar cane:
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This was the most dangerous and labor intensive process on sugar plantations between October and December.

There were several art sculptures at Whitney. This one was a memorial to the German Coast slave uprising of 1811.
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With 500 people involved this was the largest slave revolt in U.S. history.

We had another thunderstorm at Whitney, so some of the pictures have water spots. The entire summer has been rainy in the Southeast, but of course it's gone to a new level in the past month. Liz' friends in New Orleans are OK but without power for 10 days. Her friend Kelley in Naples, Florida was without power for a week after Hurricane Irma in 2017. Liz' mother lost the roof off one of her Florida houses to Hurricane Charley in 2004, but she was at her summer home in North Carolina at the time.

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]]> 2021-08-31T09:25:00-06:00 2021-08-31T09:25:00-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14426&p=84268#p84268
https://gizmodo.com/surreal-photos-show ... 1847586021

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This feels a little similar to my experience at Brian Head and its Bark Beetle pandemic - all of its major Spruce trees are now gone and you are skiing through a weirdly denuded landscape.

“It used to be a big, beautiful, thick green forest,” says mountain manager Mac Hatch, who’s worked at the resort since the mid-1980s. “Now there are just patches of spruce.”

https://www.skimag.com/ski-resort-life/ ... i-country/

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]]> 2021-10-26T19:32:59-06:00 2021-08-20T11:07:18-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14424&p=84224#p84224
Red Lodge is also on the Indy Pass. Given the daily rate is $90, a Spring Indy Pass for $199 quickly pays for itself. However, the day I arrived was an intra-state ski club race so lines for lift tickets were long since everyone had a free lift ticket voucher. Also, lift lines were long in the AM with all the racers and spectators on the hill. There was also a decent amount of day skiers from Billings. Still, the definition of a line is maybe 5-10 minutes.

On a final note, Red Lodge is not exactly in any snowbelt located far from the Continental Divide, and snow bases were the lowest I experienced on my trip. Mostly this was not an issue. However, there is a peculiar situation going on at Red Lodge. The main runs on the front side of the mountain - Miami Beach, Triple and Grizzly Peak lifts - are all covered by snowmaking and had good snow bases.

But Red Lodge expanded in the 1990s to their backside - Cole Creek and Palisades lifts - and installed high-speed quads yet neglected to add snowmaking to any of the runs. Therefore, coverage was really sketchy on the main runs in this zone. In the Cole Creek zone, all the intermediate runs had such low bases and exposed obstacles, they no longer could be groomed. Worse yet, the entire Palisades sector is referred to as "Bonus Terrain - Open Weather Permitting". WTH?! (This sector closed about a week before I arrived. But it reopened a week later after more snow so they want to open it.) I assume Red Lodge is trying to set expectations that this sector is rarely open - or less than 50%. I don't get it - you put in 2 multi-million $$$ quads in the 90s but do not install the supporting infrastructure of snowmaking ... and you have had 20+ years to correct this issue? There is snowmaking on the front side - why not just extend it? And if it's water rights - acquire more or just ration your current use? It's a shame because there are beautiful sandstone spires in this zone.

This debacle must have served as inspiration for Discovery Basin's expansion into Silver Chief Basin. Both places - Let's install a lift lower than the rest of the resort - places with already modest NW snowfalls - and just pray for snow? Oops - does not work.

Anyways, I do not want to detract from Red Lodge overall. There was plenty of snow on the front side -- all the expert runs up high with low traffic. With the arid air of the plains, the snow was quite dry and remained packed powder. However, I recommend monitoring snow reports before committing to a visit to Red Lodge.

OK, onto the skiing.



My phone lost power before the end of day...



I arrived from Livingston, MT in the morning ... Red Lodge is very noticeable in the distance.



The actual town of Red Lodge serves as a gateway to Yellowstone National Park as well. Again, another Montana gem.



The lower mountain and early race preparations.





The upper mountain Grizzly Peak.





Views off the summit towards the Absaroka-Beartooth wilderness.




The Cole Creek sector. This area was surprisingly steep with lots of narrow canyon runs, bumps, and glades.









A few more Grizzly Peak photos. It's quite austere looking out to the Plains.









Finally, it was time to drive back across Montana to Spokane. Incredibly scenic. A week in the inland Northwest - practically without a cloud or any precipitation.

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]]> 2021-08-19T15:07:41-06:00 2021-08-19T15:07:41-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14423&p=84219#p84219
The snowfall up at Lost Trail was significantly more than other resorts I visited - even more than Lookout Pass. The weather was more of the same for...Cloudless, temp around 20f....warming to about 50f by mid-afternoon. The place was remote. It also has a very curious layout where rope tows play an integral role in connecting parts of the mountain.







Since things were still a bit hard in the AM, I headed to the Saddle Mountain groomers.











After the groomers which were softened by the morning sun, I tried the off-piste the White House zone. Decided a north-facing run might be good, but still too early.




Therefore I decided to move to the south-facing runs served by Chair #2. Again another funky tow is required. Lots of untracked corn.





Lost Trail sometimes gets the rap as a more intermediate hill, but I did not necessarily think so. I found some decent steeps. However, they are a bit out of the flow.

Some great packed powder on the north-facing steeps here off Chair #1.








Finally, it was time to get scout the White Room chutes - specifically the ABC chutes. I think I skied A and C.












Closed out the day with a few more runs off Chair #1.





Afterwards, I had an epic drive across the state of Montana to stay with a friend in Livingston, MT. What a cool town! I understand why he lives there versus Bozeman.

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]]> 2021-08-19T10:17:54-06:00 2021-08-19T10:17:54-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14422&p=84217#p84217
I just put a bunch of deposits down on a Powder Highway trip to Canada in late January, and I hope the border does not close again.

It's substantial since we will be cat/heli-skiing - the same group I went to Japan with. Of course, we could not get into any of the multi-day lodges, so it will be a road trip with a bunch of single days at various operations.

Big Red Cat Skiing1/22/2022
Valhalla Cat Skiing1/23/2022
Eagle Pass Heli Skiing 1/25/2022
K3 Cat Skiing 1/26/2022
Stellar Heli Skiing1/28/2022

We will be adding some days at Whitewater and Revelstoke. I could not convince them to ski Red Mountain where none of them have been

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]]> 2021-08-22T12:45:28-06:00 2021-08-19T09:28:48-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14421&p=84214#p84214
However, some things are the same: access road is horrendous, the lifts are ancient and not keeping up with local population growth (hate to ski it on a popular day) but the front face trails are as steep and bumpy as ever. This really is one of the tougher resorts in skidom. And it has a great friendly local atmosphere.

By March, Snowbowl adjusts its schedule (closed on certain weekdays) and moves its opening to 10 am (to 4:30) to address Daylight Savings Time change. My primary goal was to ski the long front side bump runs - West Ridge, West Bowl, East Bowl, Far East - and the new lift Snow Park. The laps take almost 45 minutes so your ski day is limited. Awesome to see some kids around 5 ripping it up!







Entrance to Snowbowl





Initially, I gravitated to the new terrain on the Snow Park lift since surfaces were still frozen - but that was not a smart move since it faces west. The trail map does not really show that orientation. I had to return later in the afternoon to take an additional run when the snow had softened. But it's a pain to get out to the Snow Park lift....the slated 2 new lifts really need to get installed (liftlines are cut). Great views though....



I took a few laps on the LaVelle Creek chair groomers - which retained their packed powder surfaces - until the front side expert runs softened.




I started with West Bowl (think it's my favorite)






West Ridge - overview and run










East Bowl







Grizzly - starting to lose cover at base





Overview of East Side Runs



Funky base lodge



Overall, Montana Snowbowl is one of the most exhausting areas to ski due to long bump runs. I retreated back to Missoula to one of the local breweries...and a nap.

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]]> 2021-08-19T09:27:04-06:00 2021-08-19T09:27:04-06:00 https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=14420&p=84213#p84213
First up was Discovery Basin about 1.5 hours away...and I had some high expectations given the reviews on this list and others.

It was interesting that the Philipsburg area had the coldest temperature readings of the trip (nearly single digits) - but some of the lower snowfall totals up in the mountains. Definitely a place of consistent gradual snowfall accumulation with cold preservation - and to wait to ski later in the season.











Spring skiing was a little different than other places on my Northwest trip. Due to cold temperatures, the south side of Discovery Basin did not really soften until almost 11/12pm. Therefore I skied the Granite lift groomers in the AM. It's not really a place to get out of bed early on a spring day since the Granite/Limelight lifts open a bit later.

Discovery Basin also has a weird policy regarding grooming on the Granite lift - no grooming over the weekend March 13/14 - but groomed steep cruisers for a Monday and Tuesday, March 15/16. The result was Center Stage and Truefisher were freshly groomed - and Orphan Girl the previous Day. These runs are on par with the best steep groomers in the US. (A groomed Center Stage compares quite favorably to Telluride's Plunge, Sun Valley's Warm Springs, Vail's Riva Ridge, etc.)

Pics of scenic Rumsey front side and Granite sectors:












I soon moved over to the Limelight zone but then realized some of the terrain faces East and could be sun impacted. In particular, runs like The Fingers and The Pitch are better saved for the afternoon. Assumed everything was north facing. Anyways, spent the rest of the day skiing each line in the Limelight Bowls with a few south side corn groomers/bumps mixed in. The best snow and coverage were on Guns And Roses -to- Spooky Hollow sector.

Important note: Reached the Limelight lift at 11am - the liftie said I was the first rider of the day! You could make a full lap in about 10 minutes really racking up the vertical. (Minor issue: I wish Disco could groom a runout from the east bowl, but it does not look possible. It remained frozen crud all day.)

Tried to document all of the various Limelight runs over the day to entertain myself since roundtrips are so quick. Here are a series of runs:






































I skied some of the main face/south side runs over the course of the day, the corn stayed good/untouched in places to almost 1-2pm. Surprising.





Visited historic Philipsburg at the end of the ski day. Fun town reminiscent of the remote ski towns of Colorado (Crested Butte, Telluride) in the 1980/90s. Had a beer at the local brewery - quite busy on a sunny weekday.



Really enjoyed Discovery Basin - the corn on the Front Side, bowls of Limelight, and north-facing groomers of Granite. However, not sure how they ever made the decision to develop the Silver Chief section on the mountain. For a place with few skiers, developing terrain almost no one can use due to lack of snow seems inexcusable.

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