West Mountain: 03/07/2012

With temperatures in the mid-50s and a late afternoon sun still above the horizon, the scene was quite a bit different from last week when I left work in Albany to head up to West Mountain.

At this time of year there’s always the danger that soft spring snow in the afternoon will transition to a frozen, gravelly texture for the evening hours, but that wasn’t the case at all tonight. Surfaces stayed soft and carvable right to closing time, for fun spring skiing under a rising full moon. Our pack of 10 telemarkers stuck mostly to the trails off the triple chair, switching over to the double chair for the last couple runs. Mach – always a fun trail when conditions are good – was probably the pick of the evening.

A mild 15-day forecast and bases that never got all that deep this winter will probably make for an early end to West Mountain’s 11-12 ski season. For those who are still holding on to 6-pack tickets, I’d look to use them by Saint Patrick’s Day.