Our gamble with a dicey weather forecast paid off Sunday morning as we were greeted with sun and blue skies. By the time we booted up and boarded the gondi, warm air aloft (the summit was a good 10 degrees warmer than the base) and the strong March sun had already worked their magic.
Ungroomed trails seemed to have the best snow with soft, medium-sized spring bumps. Some of the groomers held on to their icy sub-surface, but light traffic kept things from getting too skied off. Thanks to winter storm Stella, coverage was great everywhere, with nearly the entire mountain open for business (the Slides and Lookout Mountain being the main exceptions). Clouds moved in by noon, but the snow remained soft all day.
We fell in love with the bumps on Mackenzie on our first run, and skied it three times straight before touring around the rest of the mountain. Up at the summit, Paron’s was a bit scratchy but Skyward was in great shape, especially the soft moguls on Lower Sky. Back over on Little Whiteface, Parkway was another favorite with excellent conditions.
If there was any disappointment in the day it was not getting one last run off the summit chair. Our friend Collin caught one more lap (Cloudspin?), but the kids and I had to return to the base to meet back up with Beth. No worries though, as it looks like Whiteface (and Gore too) should be able make Easter weekend (4/15) with a little cooperation from Mother Nature. Great coverage for late March (thanks again Stella!) should hold up to anything short of a double gully washer or blow torch heat wave. After not skiing in April last year at all, we’re looking forward to a few more weekends of sunny skies and soft snow.
Here is too hoping that Mother Nature will give us an April dumping!
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