Crystal - 03/08 Ultra Early Report

Another day, another Pow day, started ultra sunny, ultra powie, ultra diamonds in the snow, ultra sunny ultra fun and cause every one could see in the ultra sun shine - ultra short in the core area around REX before everything was ultra cut up!  Snow quality early was cold smoke and deep - still could find the crusty stuff underneath in lots of steeper pitches, but it was no big deal.  Got a few early untracked nice runs, but areas that lasted untracked into the afternoon yesterday were hammered by 10am - maybe not really hammered, but definitely cut up...Like Exterminator which was still good and had nice big untracked sections, but a lot of folks had been through it - still found a nice line that was still mostly untracked for my last run, which was ultra early today - tired old and beat up! But it was fun doing it.  What groomers I did early going from one place to another were primo prime today.  Fuzzy high overcast moved in by 10ish, wasn't to bad, but by noonish light snow was falling. Snow quality is pretty prime now, but spring suns are impacting south facing slopes and lower slopes snow felt a little heavier.  Did I mention the Coombas yesterday? They were ultra happy again today - I do love my Coombas and they were ULTRA happy again today!

Other - CB lodge had an employee revolt today, so at 11ish there was no food and not many folks around to work?  Rumor was something by noon as they called in a lot of folks from their day off. Had two Wilcox hard boiled eggs (have you heard the radio adds? actually very good with pepper and salt and saltine crackers - crackers free kinda like Warren Miller at Sun Valley back in the day).  Pay lot was to big and to badly parked, a few buses, but most of C and a fair amount of B lots full of cars.  No lift lines (well REX and Chair 6 anyway). Didn't ever hear why CB lodge employees revolted, but did hear that Crystal is something like 50 or so employees short for normal staffing?  Hhhhmmm?  Drive up was the best of the year (and ultra early), drive down was ultra early and almost as nice.  Another ultra fun day and I'm ready for ultra sleeping in... at least tomorrow...and probably Sunday with day light savings time kicking in... Have a great weekend all!

I give today a 3 out of 5.

As ddk stated, the day started off nicely sunny. But by 10am, the skies turned overcast and by noon puking snow with impacted visibility. 1 out of 2 for weather today. The 8 - 10 inches of new snow over the last 18 hours was a 3 out of 3. Except, the underlayment was ice hard. Get all jazzed with the top layer of powder only to get kicked pretty hard by something lurking underneath. 2 out of 3 for snow. Finally found the goods on old dependable (at least this season) Employee Housing where the snow was deep enough and the base layer less damaged. Close seconds for Exterminator, GV chair line, and Mr. Toad's (our name for the trees on the far right side of the lower half of Snorting Elk. It's a reference to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland. You know, put your money in the slot and hang on. Feel more beat up than I should after taking most of the week off. Won't do that again.

Maybe it was Blizzard of Oz playing in the lodge this morning. Nothing like a hit of Plake and Schmidt to get you pumped. Best day and felt the strongest of my abbreviated season. What wasn't a pump up was the amount of sun damage under the new snow of the last few days. Or, maybe it was the pockets of pow that made Memorial to Bear Pits seem like too much of a soft, no hard slam, no soft, no slam fest. When Short North opened at 10, all that changed. Shin and knee deep untracked powder changed everything. Found some new lines off CD's entry into Short North that no one's skied for about 24". Untracked almost to the bottom of EH. After we'd put some powder wear on the legs, the incoming front moved thick fog over the top and it started snowing. Skied some GV trees where soft and deep could still be found. Then back to Rex for some blind cut lumps over sun crunch. And it was time to go. Maybe if I'd had more Ultra... nah.

Ken

Just did endless loops into A basin and Silver all day. Fresh lines every run. Even when it was dumping in the afternoon Silver basin had a wonderful glowing light and bottomless cold pow. Lots of walking but worth every step. Love it back there.