We spent a good deal of the morning on lower mountain cruisers, all in excellent packed powder condition.
Later, after picking up Daniel from his program, we skied a variety of trails and glades on the upper mountain. Some trails like Hawkeye and Chatiemac were beginning to show wear from skier traffic by mid-afternoon, but piles of fresh snow, including some untracked, could be found in out-of-the-way corners of the glades all afternoon.
Light snow had been falling off and on all day, but around 2pm an intense squall blew through that dumped between one and two inches of snow in just a half hour, freshening up skiing surfaces nicely but just about eliminating any visibility in the whiteout. For some reason, I thought it would be a good time for a run down Rumor. Rumor was in top condition, with soft snow and well-formed bumps top to bottom, probably my pick of the day for trails.
As quickly as the snow squall hit, it lifted and the sun came back out at the end of the day to illuminate Open Pit, below, which Beth skied while Daniel and I made a final run through some glades.
As for the Hickory Telemark Festival, we stopped by the apres ski party briefly on our way home and found out that ticket sales and participation had exceeded expectations by a wide margin. Good for Hickory!
You know what's great? Even though I was there and skied all the same things you did, I read every single one of your Trip Reports. It's great to relive the day, see what someone else thought, and see the mountain through another person's eyes (pics are fantastic).
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!
I dig the whiteout pic. Bluebird days are for spring or when the temps are above freezing. That was an intense squall (or wandering band of lake effect?) that came through on Saturday, and I loved it.
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