ExcelsiorTheFathead

Thursday April 18. Day 81. The week has been sunny and warm. Well above freezing during the day and just below freezing at night. On Thursday I went up for the 9 AM Rose side open. KC Bowl was groomed well and had good grip despite being firm. Nice turns were made. The view of Northwest from the chair showed a bunch of tears and rips so I didn't go there. Slide Bowl at 10 AM was already soft. KC Bowl was getting soft by 1030.

Saturday-Sunday April 13-14. Day 80. Saturday was sunny and warm, just above freezing at open. The bowls were smooth and firm. Carving was possible if you went slow and deliberate. Sunday morning is cloudy and 17F cold with 1-2" of new snow. Even with the new snow the surface is way firm and not good. I finally got my Oxess back from the shop. The tail repair looks pretty good. The next possible riding day is Thursday and there is a long warming trend in the forecast.

Friday April 12. Day 78. I was at the Rose side for 9 AM open. Temp is 34, mostly sunny and windy. KC Bowl is a little firm; not good carving, but not raspy firm either. The lower Ponderosa and Galena runs are turning to mush right from the start. I hit the Slide bowl at 10 AM. It was soft but big carves could be made. From tonight it will cool down and there is a chance of a tiny amount of snow. The resort will close on Mon, Tues, Wed for the next two weeks. Closing day is Sunday the 28th.

Wednesday-Thursday April 10-11. Day 77. I went up for the Rose side 9AM open on Wednesday and found things to be too firm for enjoyable carving. I mostly cruised the greens. Sunny and warm. Thursday I waited until 11 AM but things were already soft. The Ponderosa collector trail was a vacuum table so I stayed on the Slide side which was softer but less vac-u-sucky.

Monday-Tuesday April 8-9. Day 75. Relatively cool temperatures with nice weather and reasonably good groom. Turns were made. Tuesday afternoon temps went into the mid 40s with lots of sun so I expect things to get firmy firm. After 10 years the tail bumper piece of my Oxess skwal fell out so I have it in the shop getting kludged up. Riding the Coiler skwal for now.

Sunday April 7. Day 73. Saturday morning had 3-5" of new. Sunday morning starts at 13F with generally smooth groom and clouds with flat light. Even with the new snow, the runs are still a little on the firm side from the very hard frozen underlayer. I made some good turns but it isn't optimum. A warming trend is in the forecast that will bring lots of springy thaw-freeze.

Friday April 5. Day 72. Another 1-3" overnight with only 11F at open. This is cold for April. A little breezy with thick clouds just above the summit and light-to-modest falling snow. The light is very flat and I fell twice on the Slide side from losing my horizon. Slide runs are very firm. The KC bowl had a little more of the new mixed in with the groom and was somewhat carveable.

Tuesday-Thursday April 2-4. Day 71. Tuesday had excellent grippy smooth groom at open, but afternoon temps were slush. Wednesday was too firm everywhere. On Thursday the temperature has plummeted and there is 1-3" of new with high winds. I went to Slide and put all my gear on but when I got to the lift it had gone on wind hold. I had to get out of my gear and drive to the main lodge. The groom is very firm, covered with a thin layer of new, with patches of windblown at least 4" thick. While it was sunny at open, by 10AM a cloud bank socked in the mountain and is bringing more snow.

Monday April 1. Day 68. Saturday had 10-12" of new. Sunday had 11-13". Monday had 1". Monday morning is 16F at open with bluebird wx. The groom is pretty good with slight stripeyness in places. It is on the soft side and cuts up by the end of the first hour. Some good turns made.

Friday March 29. Day 67. It snowed 8-10" Wednesday night into Thursday. Thursday had high winds that kept the summit lifts from opening until the afternoon. On Friday morning there is a small break in the weather. I had overslept so I went up an hour late. The snow is soft and the groom is cut up. Flat light, cloudy, bad viz, snowing lightly. Not good for carving. I rode the chair with 3 monoski people all riding Codas built by THE CHAD. They all admitted to being friends of MonoDude. The weather was deteriorating rapidly as another storm approaches so I didn't stay long. Significant new snow is forecast for the weekend.

Tuesday-Wednesday March 26-27. Day 66. Good firm groom. Tuesday had nice weather and was very enjoyable all around. Wednesday had high winds from an incoming storm but was still mostly sunny. Northwest lift was closed due to wind so I got trapped on that side and had to take a shuttle back to Slide. It was pleasantly uncrowded because many people were scared off.

Monday March 25. Day 64. The weekend brought maybe a foot of new. Monday morning has cool nice weather with good groom everywhere but it is a little on the soft side. Hopefully tomorrow is more hero-ish.

Tuesday-Friday, March 19-22. Day 63. A week of springy conditions. The Slide Bowl side has been icy and awful. Kit Carson Bowl has had reasonably ok conditions depending on the time. A refresh is forecast for the weekend.

Monday March 18. Day 59. A Monday after a warm sunny weekend. Temp is 30F at open with sunshine. The Slide Bowl at 0830 is firmy firm and unpleasant. KC Bowl at 0900 was much better; firm but with grip. I tried Northwest and Waterfall with James but they were unevenly groomed with loose snow from scrapy skiers. I hit the Slide Bowl again on the way out at 1015 and it had improved quite a bit. Thaw-freeze is here in a big way.

Some skier on the chair this morning at Mt. Rose asked me if I know Steve from Ohio at Heavenly. I guess maybe I do?