spring has sprung

yep, it is official. at least until it is not. spring is here. super warm sunny days sunday -wed. made for great spring bump skiing on the hill, and likely some good southern and eastern descents in the BC. but was it too warm? not just because the meltdown has begun and is already too fast, but because the skiing was just getting sloppy.

i skied until 4pm yesterday, and runs that were totally packed out, with bumps or grooming were fine all afternoon, some other areas were getting too soft. chair four trees were sloppy, sticky and sketchy, as was anything lower mountain that wasn't totally skier packed. this is something we can see mid winter, if we have some rain events, but rarely see this early due to warm temps and sunshine. as the snow throughout the valley quickly fades, and lower mountain snowpacks begin to add to river run-off, i wonder how much longer the resort can hold up.

after catching a late chair, i skied by a group of folks hanging on for the last run of the day. most of this group of 10 or so were over 40 year old males. and many of them had mustaches. do we guys, as a group, think this is a feature to ensure our youthfulness? or do so many of us want to look like cops? i don't know, but am glad i still can only grow peach fuzz, even as i near 50, and don't have to make that decision.

so then i went down to ski the abandoned nordic course. a few people continue to get in some skiing or snowshoeing, but again, by 4:30, it was too soft. there was no kicking, gliding or skiing to be had. it was a mushy walk on skis. even the dogs were troubled.

and now with the golf course done, and stillwater just about done, even nordic skiing is limited. sounds like blacktail is holding up well, and i imagine issak walton is as well, but they have reported in to the glacier nordic website in some time. besides some snow, we could just use some cold weather.