That’s Andy Hays stomping Center Line this morning. Easily the most impressive line of the day! The landing zone below the Chimney slid creating a sketchy crown close to where you might want to touch down, but Hays sent Center Line first thing today, clearing the crown and stomping. He said it was smooth and he made it look that way, but the fact that it had slid earlier today left a few question marks as to whether landings would sound like a thwap or more like a KLAP! Thwap was preferable and the chalky snow that had blown in after the slide provided a few thwaps for the Chimney takers today. Easy Street and the Sweep were the other lines that went.
It was still on the firm side and if you cased the crown or landed in the back seat it was not very forgiving. There were few takers and a couple of egg beaters today.
The rest of the upper mountain was phenomenal on East to Northern exposures. No deep pow but plenty of cold wind buff to shred. Some of the best areas were Headwall Face, North Bowl, The Slot, Light Towers and Horse Trails. The upper sections of Silverado were prime and Granite Chief and the Attic on the Shirley side were also good.
Once you got down below a certain elevation the snow got a bit heavy but the wind blown chalk for the first pitch was just incredible.
A few areas slid as a result of avalanche control but the high winds out of the Southwest filled in a lot of terrain all day long.
It was windy on the ridges today. Props to Squaw for keeping the lifts spinning.
It’s starting to warm up a bit this afternoon but shaded areas on the mountain should stay good for tomorrow morning, especially with the wind today.
We should see continued warming into tomorrow afternoon and possibly some light rain in the evening, but the cold front will set in on Saturday and we could see another 10″ to a foot on the upper mountain during the day Saturday.
Sunday’s forecast – Partly sunny with a high near 35!
Winter is not done yet! Not by a long shot.
