February 11, 2018 Kirkwood

We arrived early and had a parking attendant point us to a parking space nearby that was not charging the $10 parking fee. Jill gave him a big "thumbs up" as we walked 60 feet to the base of the Cornice Express lift and the Solitude lift. The forecast was for freezing temps and high winds arriving in PM. We rode the Solitude lift to try the groomers of Lower Zachary -- firm but edge-able. The only groomer on the upper ridge was the Sentinel expert run -- firm with areas of "ice/super firm". Jill and I have skied the whole mountain for years, but the areas below Glove Rock, Sentinel Bowl and Palisades Bowl are not person-friendly this season. The Wall lift had very few riders for good reasons - super firm, ice and no grooming. The Reut lift had 3 groomers that were nice, BUT do not ski the Caples Crest Traverse. This run is an icy, moguled run that takes you to the Caples Crest lift. The better option is to ride the Snowkirk lift to get to Caples. We skied to the backside to the Sunrise lift for some corn snow, but the cold temperatures and high wind made it another firm place. The upcoming cold front and high winds are arriving. We skied the groomers, but there was "flat light" off and on. A great destination with our backcountry gear is Melissa Corey Peak (which we've done in the past), but this is not the day for it.

We drove to Kirkwood from Minden, NV, and checked out all of our backcountry skiing areas. We can say that there are no readily accessible goals in this area at this time. But a Miracle March or April could change this, or we go North or East....