March 26, 2018 Kirkwood

We read that it was sunny, 15 degrees, and 10-20mpg winds with a few gusts at 30. OK! We arrived early and the parking attendant let us park upfront - he remembered us from our visit on February 11. We started the day on the Solitude lift which is only about two thirds of the way up to the Crest. The Crest was blowing with snow flying and not many riders on the Cornice Express to the top. I asked Jill if she wanted to go up and her respond was "NO, but you can go". We have skied that lift for years, but we have never seen the winds at that speed. I made the right decision and we skied lower terrain. The Reut lift provides a great view of The Wall lift terrain. We only saw a couple of folks riding The Wall. It is a great lift and run under the right conditions. OK, lets go to the Backside and ride the Sunrise lift. We rode the Caples Crest lift and at the top a ski patroller met everyone telling them/us that the Iron Horse lift which provides exit from the backside will be shutting down for some maintenance for a half hour. OK, but I see the winds hitting the Crest? How is it? The top is windy, but should subside quickly. Sure? We rode the Sunrise lift which is a 4 seater, but not an express. By the time we are about 100 feet from the top the winds were vicious. No one is standing around at the top of the lift! It is blowing like stink! There 2 groomers, one under the lift and the other a bit further down the ridge. Well, this is where it gets really terrible. You can not stand in one place and the winds have created small frozen drifts that do not move when you try to ski over them. We skied down about 20 yards, and I see there is no groomer in this area. I made a 180 degree turn and headed back towards the lift and the groomed run. I broke trail and Jill followed my track. When we reached the groomer we saw that it was a good choice because just below our turn spot there was a collapsed cornice and debris. Also the other groomer that we could see from the lift only went partially up the slope! The wind was still blowing, and by the time we got back to the Iron Horse lift it had just restarted. We got back to the front side, had a nice run on a trail through the trees, and rode the lower lifts. At noon the winds were still blowing and we decided it was time to head back to the campervan.