bigwavedave Posted March 8, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2022 4 hours ago, rwmaron said: Thursday, March 8 Flat light and icy groom at the 10am open were far from ideal. Gradually brightened and softened over the next hour, though traffic was a bit heavier than usual for a Tuesday morning - I sense that folks are feeling to get out before the season winds down in a few weeks Fellow patroller@D Dett joined me for the last hour. Russ Hey, it's Tuesday! Can't trust you to take over the Spirit blog for one day? Or, retired people...don't even know what day it is. I hope to be back on the snow Thursday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 Hey….At least I got it right 50% of the time! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted March 10, 2022 Report Share Posted March 10, 2022 Thursday, March 10 5F at the open today; brilliant blue sky, but a brisk NW wind that kept chair rides invigorating. A thin layer of groom over the typical bullet-proof base made for quick rides….and despite the bright sun and mid-day temperature of 16F the surface never softened. Typical mid-week concentration of snow sports enthusiasts. Today’s crew…. @D Dett, yours truly, and @khoward. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted March 11, 2022 Report Share Posted March 11, 2022 Beautiful bluebird day, but this is the longest January I remember. However, it does keep the masses away. No lift lines and clean runs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 11, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2022 On 3/10/2022 at 6:35 PM, khoward said: the longest January I remember. Ain't that the truth. I get the feeling it could all come to screeching halt, so get it while you can. Of course, I get this feeling every year around this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted March 11, 2022 Report Share Posted March 11, 2022 I do love January. Was out for about an hour this morning. 8F and 35 mph wind down the hill for a refreshing chairlift ride. Wind-scoured cord and our trenches from yesterday still engraved in ice. Crowds were light, but typical Friday with people not knowing how to load or unload from a chairlift (or get off the landing zone if they fall) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted March 12, 2022 Report Share Posted March 12, 2022 Bluebird last day of January 0F. Rode from first chair for an hour till it got busy. Good firm groom. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 15, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2022 Tuesday Looks like we're going headfirst into spring. Temps well into the 40's everyday for the foreseeable future. Great carving conditions today with a soft surface groom. Kinda busy for a Tuesday morning, but still easy to find an empty run to make big turns. Snow started getting sticky/sucky after a couple of hours. Time to bring out the spring wax's. Straight paraffin seemed to be good in the past, but I've got some warm weather Fastick wax to try out tomorrow. Russ and Ken were there. Heard Chasing the Sun on the drive home, reminded me of this video from March several years ago.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted March 15, 2022 Report Share Posted March 15, 2022 Started out with nice soft groom, but tricky sticky spots developed in about an hour. Called it a day. Carl's wife's old Oxygen boots are 25.5s. Happy to bring them by the Ski Patrol office Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 Thursday St Paddy's day day 71 (I just counted them all up. Better get out there @bobble I still have a few more days to go! Catch me if you can) The hill is holding up nicely despite the rain yesterday and above freezing temps day & night over the past several days. The groom was soft like buttercream frosting and 1st tracks were surfy & sweet! If you carved hard you would cut down 4-6 inches and find the ice base. It was more fun to maintain light pressure in carves keeping it soft & surfy. Rode with @rwmaron most of the morning. After trenching up the express side we made some turns in relatively untouched groom on SkyHooker and then into the park, which of course allowed for the deepest trenches. It was a bit busy for a weekday morning. Must be spring break and there seems to be a lot of folks up from the cities. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 Spirit spring hours posted. One more week for sure, then...? https://www.spiritmt.com/hours We're plotting a day at Giant's Ridge (open til the end of March) and possibly Indianhead (open til mid April) depending on conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted March 19, 2022 Report Share Posted March 19, 2022 The morning started with freezing fog, but burned off by first chair for a bluebird day. Groom was buttery smooth, and traffic was about normal for a March Saturday. Cinder Snapper was in good shape today. Everything was pretty beaten up after 1-1/2 hours and getting very soft. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2022 Sunday Sunny and 46° at the start and up to 50° by noon 30. 3 carvers on the hill, @khoward, @jolson and moi. With only 2-3" of slushy snow over the washboard ice base, it was a rough ride and the surface groom got chopped up pretty fast. Started out on the 8rw, then the 175 f-plated Rev and finally the Gecko plated 166 ice (extra rubber) Coiler . The snow went through a metamorphosis from creamy soft slush to granular corn snow. As it got wetter, it packed down under the board and cushioned the ride on the ice. Got 1st tracks in the park at noon...and the groom was perfect... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted March 23, 2022 Report Share Posted March 23, 2022 Wednesday, March 23 Missed my usual Tuesday morning outing due to yesterday’s closure so I thought I’d give a go today, though to be truthful, my expectations were pretty low. Flat light, scattered patches of fresh snow on top of the half frozen cord from the weekend’s warm spell, sloppy grooming, and 32F at the start…..a few turns to be had on the fresh snow patches, but they were few and far between. Gradually softened up a little when I left just before noon. If you stayed home today you didn’t miss a thing! I’ll be back for my regular patrol day tomorrow. Oh yeah, did I mention that the light was pretty flat today? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 23, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2022 38 minutes ago, rwmaron said: Wednesday, March 23 If you stayed home today you didn’t miss a thing! I’ll be back for my regular patrol day tomorrow. Oh yeah, did I mention that the light was pretty flat today? I'm so relieved that I didn't miss anything. I did stop by the hill on my way home from the Chiro & Y and it looked very quiet...and very flat. Maybe 1-2" of wet snow so far here. Looked like the hill was turning full granular corn snow. I'll be out tomorrow. Slarve on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 24, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2022 Thursday We had about 3-4" of wet snow since yesterday, enough for the groomers to schmear into a 4" layer of buttahcream frosting over the ice base. Started out above freezing and got up over 40° by early afternoon. Slarving turns with @rwmaron all morning til noon 30 or so. If you kept a light touch you could slarve the top layer and avoid the ice. Always in search of the path less trenched. Tool of the day was the 166 Contra "Ice" with Geckos. Man, I wish I had a big tanker spanking slush slarving board! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2022 Sunday day74 Looks pretty nice, right? Wrong! It's just 1" of loose granular sugar over a chunky and rutted ice base–a very unpleasant ride. At least it was sunny and 6° at the start this morning. It was a good day to do back to back ice board testing. Rode my recently acquired and well used Kessler 168 with sidewinders for a baseline. Then I rode my favorite ice boards–a Geckoed 166 "ice" Contra and the F-plated 175 Rev, each a bit better than the previous. Lastly, I transferred the F-plate to the Kessler and this turned out to be the mellowest ride on this rough ice base. The Kessler definitely pairs well with the F-plate. The Kessler feels more compliant than the Rev, and has about 7cm more EE than the Contra, ultimately making it the more comfortable ride on ice. They all made a horrific noise carving the ice today. I only took a couple more runs, as chunks of the ice base were breaking away under foot making potholes on the hill. @jolsonwas there. I think it's likely we'll get one more weekend at Spirit with more snow in the forecast this week. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted March 27, 2022 Report Share Posted March 27, 2022 Jane and I are now at Copper. Did a few runs today. Nice conditions, but a bit warm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2022 46 minutes ago, khoward said: Jane and I are now at Copper. Did a few runs today. Nice conditions, but a bit warm more pictures please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted March 27, 2022 Report Share Posted March 27, 2022 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2022 That's great, thank you! That board was way ahead of its time. Best of luck to Jane. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted April 4, 2022 Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 Having a great time at USASA Nationals. Bluebird day and mild temps. Jane competes tomorrow in Slalom if the weather holds up. Forecast calls for 70 mph winds on the mountain. Perfect groom for carving on the Blue Runs off of American Eagle lift 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted May 17, 2022 Report Share Posted May 17, 2022 On 3/15/2022 at 1:13 PM, bigwavedave said: Tuesday Looks like we're going headfirst into spring. Temps well into the 40's everyday for the foreseeable future. Great carving conditions today with a soft surface groom. Kinda busy for a Tuesday morning, but still easy to find an empty run to make big turns. Snow started getting sticky/sucky after a couple of hours. Time to bring out the spring wax's. Straight paraffin seemed to be good in the past, but I've got some warm weather Fastick wax to try out tomorrow. Russ and Ken were there. Heard Chasing the Sun on the drive home, reminded me of this video from March several years ago.... vaguely familiar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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