ExcelsiorTheFathead

Wednesday-Thursday April 5-6. Day 76. No new. Two days of cold mornings with excellent firm, tight snow. Variable clouds with good light. I rode from 10-12 on both days with all runs on Engen. Some guy behind me in the lift line said to his friend: "Hey, look at this weirdo." Few people on the hill.

Tuesday April 4. Day 74. Trace of new. On the hill at 10 AM. Mornings are still plenty cold. I got around 7 laps on Engen in 90 minutes. The snow is good as ever with fine groom that is a little soft. The resort is near deserted.

Monday April 3. Day 73. 3" of new snow. The summit temp was only 10 at open so I waited over an hour to go up. Weather is variable from sunbreaks to light snow. I stayed low on Bear and did laps there because I figured that's where the firmest groom was. Forgot to mention that yesterday I met a monoski guy riding a Coda. He said that is lives local and is a regular, but that was the first time I ever met him.

Sunday April 2. Day 72. I took two more days off because of intolerably crappy weather that brought over 10" of new snow. Sunday morning has no new and soft groom. Weather is cool and variable but ok. Only one week left.

Thursday March 30. Day 71. I took two days off because of intolerably crappy weather. Thursday has barely tolerably crappy weather so I went up. The hill is socked in with clouds and it is snowing lightly. Alpine and Main Street have reasonably good soft groom. Engen has a full 3" of new on it and can't be carved.

Monday March 27. Day 70. Sunny blue sky today with firm, cold, good groom. I went up an hour late for more direct sun and it was gooood. All runs on Engen from 10-12. My body is wrecked from consecutive days of riding. Snow is in the forecast for the next week at least.

Sunday March 26. Day 69. Up at open. It is quite cold again with clouds above the summit and some fog in lower elevations. It is snowing lightly and there was 0-1" of new. Main Street and Alpine are firm enough for good carving and the groom is only a tiny bit stripey. Engen was flat, wide and firm with anywhere from 5/32" to 25/32" of fluffy new on top. It was excellent-amundo. Out at 11.

Saturday March 25. Day 68 A few inches of new fell Friday during the day, then a further inch overnight. I was up at open Saturday morning and it was socked in with a chilly summit temp of 9. Most runs were softish. Engen was weird cuz the left third had an inch of new over it while the rest was bare groom. Alpine was kinda firmish but the vis up there was bad. I ended up tearing up Bear. Out at 11.

Thursday March 23. Day 67. 1-2" of new and the mountain is socked in, at least on top. I went up at open with the short board and first tried green Bear which was groomed well with no new on top. It was pretty firm and had some of that frosty-gritty feeling so I went up and tried Main Street which had maybe an inch of new over groom and was generally carveable and pleasant. I tried Engen and Alpine but they had 2" or more of new and trying to carve them was a hassle. I went back to Main Street and stayed there until 11. Another snow cycle is coming in now.

Wednesday March 22. Day 66. Bluebird with no new. Up at open and got first tracks on Engen. Despite this being essentially its first day of groom since the snow fell late Monday night, the run is pretty darn flat and groomed wide. I went over to AM groomed Main Street for 2 runs to let the sun rise on Engen. Main Street is softer but not bad. The lower parts have a little bit of that springy gritty crushed ice effect going on from high afternoon temperatures. I went back to Engen and tore that place up. The snow here is also a little soft and carving it leaves some big ruts. Eventually I strained my back (again) and left a little before 11. Brundage has winch catted a few runs for the first time but I don't think these are good carving runs. Normally, nothing here is winched.

Tuesday March 21. Day 65. It snowed most of the day Monday and into the night. On Tuesday morning there is 7" of new. Everything is too soft and I spent a couple of hours sluffing around. It isn't snowing anymore but the mountain is socked in and vis is poor.

Sunday March 19. Day 64. Nice weather continues but afternoon base temps are way above freezing. I rode both Saturday and Sunday at open for 2 hours, mostly on Engen which was smooth and firm with excellent grip. Good times.

Friday March 17. Day 62. I got on snow at 10:30 to let the sun come up and around on Engen. There is a bumpy ridge on the rightmost groomer pass that is a big annoyance but the run is wide enough that I can avoid it. PM groomed Engen is the firmest run by far but it still starts to come apart once enough people have been down it. Some good turns made on a bright sunny day. Temperatures start cool in the early morning but are getting quite warm. Base temp is 40 today in the late afternoon.

Thursday March 16. Day 61. There was 9" of new on Wednesday which drew all the powder weirdos out, but a power failure in the morning screwed up the lifts. Bluebird ran on diesel for a little while but eventually shut down. Centennial and Bear never ran on diesel. Power came back a couple hours later but it is weird that Brundage is so bad at switching to diesel. Thursday is cold in the morning with no new and clear skies. Main Street and Engen were groomed around 9-10 PM last night and should be the most firm. Engen was disappointingly stripey so I did all my other runs on Main Street which was groomed pretty well flat. After the first hour the top layer started to come apart and it got sluffy in places. Out at 11.

Tuesday March 14. Day 60. 4" of new today, 6" the day before. New snow continues with temps just below freezing. This morning there was a break in the weather so I went up just after open. Main Street and Alpine were groomed on the AM shift but it was hard to see any cord. At least an inch of new fell on it after grooming and both runs were highly masticated by the time I tried them. The green Bear runs were soft but groomed well so I stayed there with my short board. The new snow is on the wetter, heavy side. Down in McCall it rained all Monday, the first time I've seen rain since I moved here in November. In my residential neighborhood there is so much snow plowed up on the shoulders that roads are effectively single-lane. Right now it is snowing again and it is supposed to continue into tomorrow morning.

Sunday March 12. Day 59. No new snow. Daylight savings time is the dumbest thing ever. I'm up at open after the time shift and the hill is an hour darker than it was before, here on the far, far darkest edge of the Mountain Time Zone. The weather isn't bad but there are high clouds and flat light. Grooming is meh. Not bad, but stripey in places and annoyingly narrow on mid-lower Engen. Some good turns made here and there but minor sluffiness continues. More snow is in the forecast for the next couple of days.

Saturday March 11. Day 58. Over 12" of new since Wednesday. 1" overnight. MORE OF THE SAME.

Wednesday March 8. Day 57. 3" of new overnight. SLARVE SLARVE SLARVE. SLUFF SLUFF SLUFF. BUMP BUMP BUMP. FART FART FART.

Tuesday March 7. Day 56. Sunday and Monday saw over a foot of new snow. Tuesday had only a trace of new but I suspected soft conditions so I took the short board and did laps on green Bear. Nice grooming but the snow is sluffy. There's too much new snow recently, just about every other day and the runs never get firm. It is bumming me out.

Saturday March 4. Day 55. Friday had about 4" of new and was too soft to ride. Saturday has no new and is cold with variable clouds. I went up at open and made my first run down AM groomed Main Street which was a little ridgey. PM groomed Engen was wide and perfectly flat. The snow is a tiny bit sluffy, not quite firm but the carving is pretty good and the ruts are deep. Around 11 the next system came in and it started snowing. Lift lines at Bluebird reached a couple of minutes. Not too bad.

Thursday March 2. Day 54. No new overnight and the beginning of a snow system is coming in with cold and wind. I got up there around 10 and the top of the mountain was socked in with clouds. It is already snowing. I stayed low on Bear and did laps there with the short board. Excellent groom.

Wednesday March 1. Day 53. Tuesday was too snowy to ride. Wednesday had a trace overnight but it is pretty windy and cold. The grooming is good but the snow is a little soft and won't hold fast, tight turns. I started on Engen but Main Street was better for making bigger, slower turns. Occasional sun breaks made for a really nice morning.

Monday February 27. Day 52. 2" of new during the day Sunday, followed by another 1" in the evening. Monday morning is barely tolerable cold and a little cloudy with increasing winds. I up at open with my shorter Coiler skwal and made my first run down Alpine. This board doesn't like big, fast turns on steeper runs and my heelsides were full of awful chatter. Something is wrong with my technique maybe. I went down to Bear and did the rest of my runs there since I was out of the wind and this board is great for pumping turns on green runs. Despite the new snow, the groom was buttery and firm enough to hold most turns. I did some research and I think that Brundage is likely to close on April 10. Time is starting to draw short.

Sunday February 26. Day 51. No new snow overnight. Mostly cloudy with flattish light and summit temps in the low 20s. Engen groom is the best ever. Wide, absolutely flat, firm and fast. I did a bunch of runs down Engen when I ran into Madd Pete at the base then took some runs with him down Alpine. Not at all crowded compared to yesterday. Just before noon it started to snow and goggle icing ensued so we bailed.

Saturday, February 25. Day 50. Some new snow fell which made Friday too soft to ride. Saturday was bluebird and cold at open with good grooming. Engen was groomed wider than I have ever seen before, especially the lower part. The light at open is still a little flat, but by my 3rd run the sun had risen enough to enable a good read of the cord. I did all runs on Engen until I got tired of the lift line and having to wait for a clear run. Out at 10:45.