Stevens, 1/22 (and 1/21) 2020

My better half joined me on Tuesday for what was looking like one of the likely last two days of this weather cycle for some decent skiing. There was some new light-ish snow atop the warming-affected but not rock hard snowpack from the big storms of the past week+. Back side was not so awesome in its usual warmed up way especially the ungroomed but well skied and slightly crusty areas, but front kept us well entertained including many nice lines of intermediate leftover ungroomed but well skied powder piles. A bit of afternoon snow gave nice refills for some buttery groomering to finish the afternoon.

She decided to pass on yesterday's forecast so I got up early enough to be on the lifts just after the opening bell. With telemetry showing ~8" since Tuesday's 4PM closing (and facts on the ground seeming to confirm the telemetry) there was the usual powder frenzy occurring, though that 8" had clearly come in windy and warm, so anything other than decent steeps were just kinda wallowy. So on the lift rides up, one could watch fun being had as well as people bogging down or flipping over in unexpectedly deep and slow and heavy powder. After a few runs to sample the front side I decided to take advantage of the still-decent-visibility-before-the-front weather to check out the back side - probably should have moved over there first thing but it's all good. My first run from the Tye Mill down the fall line from the power lines knolls was better than expected, with few tracks and consistently nice turning if heavy powder. And a few long-enough fall lines to help me retune my nervous system for fluidity in the heavy powder. That served me well on a run in the more chopped up snow (albeit still with some nice if shorter untracked lines) off Southern Cross, which had no line despite the gaggle waiting for a stopped Gemini lift. By the time I got back up topside the fog had fully moved in and I decided, being alone, to forgo the visibility afforded by the treed areas on the backside for some areas I know better off of Tye Mill. I was finding a mix of super fun pushed around powder and fairly long untracked shots through at least noon over there, including just above the chair's loading station! Clearly a lot of lift skiers who seek powder nonetheless aren't super comfortable skiing through decently spaced trees. Bonus! I noticed during a pit stop or two that the snow around the tree wells seemed to have largely firmed up btw - the were not the "lion trap" style wells that often present soon after big snow dumps. I nonetheless gave them a decent margin of error as I skied past, being solo. I was suprised at how many untracked turns I was still getting at mid-day. On toward 1PM, the snowfall had picked up and the snow underfoot was feeling even a little heavier and in well skied places firmer. I transitioned to a mix of skied bumps and groomers for a few runs to rest the legs before heading into the lodge for a snack (had eaten my sandwich in stages on 4-5 lift rides...) and some drying and a handwear change. Yikes! It had seemed like a super quiet country club sorta day our on the lifts I was riding and even more so on the slopes, but it almost felt like a weekend down in the lodge!! I praise all those who spend most of their ski day in the lodge!!!

I did not notice what soup was being served, but did hear a customer at the cash register respond in shock when being informed what her soup was going to cost. As an aside, in their quarterly report, Vail mentioned year-over-year quarterly declines in dining and lodging revenue, primarily from crappy early seasons at Stevens and Whistler. I think they'll see revenue in these areas closer to normal for the remainder of the season if yesterday was any indication. After a short regroup seated at one of those window bars with a radiator at shin height, I swapped on the spare mitts and headed back out to see if the new snow was making it nicer or mankier. The answer was a bit of both, but nicer was mostly winning so I kept at it until the legs started informing the brain that they'd been rather well used. The refills from the increasing snowfall were creating a very nice though somewhat firm buttery consistency on the groomers over on Skyline and Brooks. I decided to do one more run on Brooks before skiing the ramp to my car, and wouldn't you know that's when Brooks decided to crap out for about 15 minutes. It was a good opportunity to notice which parts of my clothing had become a bit soaked. But there was little wind and I managed to get only slightly hypothermic by the time the lift started again. The run down to the lot plus a short skate in the very snowy lot warmed me back to normal by the time I got to the car.

What a fun way to wrap up what's been an excellent couple of weeks of skiing locally.

The snow was turning to rain by the time I was driving by the hairpin by the dirt road that goes up toward Tunnel Creek, which made for an easy drive home.

Well said Jim, a nice day had