BigSky - 03/04

Sunny again today and a little warmer. Only zero degrees on the top of Lone Peak today. So, up we went. skiing off the top of the tram is similar to getting off the top of C6 at Crystal Mountain...rocky. But once around into Liberty Bowl, the snow was good. What a great continuous steep fall-line run! As the day went on, the temps warmed on the lower part of the mountain, but still a colder kind of day. But, it's a dry cold here. I think the best surprise has been all the awesome bump runs in the trees. Long, continuous, fall-line bumps. Most notable are the Ramcharger chair line, Ambush Glades, Congo into Congo Line, and Wolf Den. Also found Bears Lair on the last run down. Bumps, bumps, and more bumps. What a day!

There has been a lot of talk about BIG days on TAY. I won't use BIG to describe today although it would be fitting. However, I'd like to note that the trail maps here state the "Biggest skiing in America" on them. Biggest day? No, but a darn fine one.

20 degrees warmer today mid-day at mid-mountain was much appreciated. Wall to wall blue sky helped as well. Had a great time finding more gladded bump runs in-between the monstrous groomers. An even better time as the four of us tradded zipper lines and got comfortable hitting the wood that shows through the low snowpack. (wood has about the same amount of traction as the firm snow and doesn't seem to do much to my edges). It would be awesome to ski some of the lines under the Lone Peak Tram, but with the low snowpack they looked really dicey. The backside is incredible once through the rocky top, like the upper steep part of Powder Bowl that goes on for 4-5 PBs. Adrenaline helped my wimpy sea-level lungs get enough of the 11Kft oxygen.