We were at ABasin in the afternoon Tuesday and found soft snow everywhere we went. Which was the Pali, BMX, and Lenawee blues and the East Wall Traverse. Had a deep run myself dropping off the traverse past Willie's and beyond the gate that sometimes closes off Land of the Giants. Maybe it was different elsewhere but better is hard to find.
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Colorado 2020-2021 Colorado Weather and Stoke (and beer)
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We were at ABasin in the afternoon Tuesday and found soft snow everywhere we went. Which was the Pali, BMX, and Lenawee blues and the East Wall Traverse. Had a deep run myself dropping off the traverse past Willie's and beyond the gate that sometimes closes off Land of the Giants. Maybe it was different elsewhere but better is hard to find.
A Basin reported 2" in the last 24 hrs. Winter Park reported 7" in the last 24
(and 14" in 72 hrs).
It is what it is.
(and 14" in 72 hrs).
It is what it is.
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Another day of dense fresh snow in changing states from temperature, sun and clouds.
Being able to hop, jump and carve snow that was resistive yet conforming was a lot of fun. I was skiing lines/ridges of krumholz and willows that form the trails on Peak 7 today as well as the clear runs like Powder 8s, George's and CJ's
This guy was on the bus to Peak 8. I didn't see him on the hill with his skateboard rig.
Debbie's, Vertigo, Y and CJ's. The lines through the krumholz were exciting.
Accidental shot of my Rangers on the T-Bar.
The north 10 Mile Range.
Refreshment.
Sky.
Being able to hop, jump and carve snow that was resistive yet conforming was a lot of fun. I was skiing lines/ridges of krumholz and willows that form the trails on Peak 7 today as well as the clear runs like Powder 8s, George's and CJ's
This guy was on the bus to Peak 8. I didn't see him on the hill with his skateboard rig.
Debbie's, Vertigo, Y and CJ's. The lines through the krumholz were exciting.
Accidental shot of my Rangers on the T-Bar.
The north 10 Mile Range.
Refreshment.
Sky.
The temps were forecast to be high but the wind was, too.
I skied with Patty and CJ at various times during the day while enjoying the great groomer conditions. I took a hike on Peak 7 which yielded some fair turns as did George's, but anything ungroomed and lower than about the top half of T-Bar was just too crunchy underneath. I can say I gave it a serious effort.
The final run from the summit of 8 down to the base of 8 was a delightful winter to spring ride.
Thanks for the energy disk, CJ.
I didn't take any pictures on the hill. So my backyard shot will have to do.
It is looking pretty good to squeeze another 18 days out of the mountain.
I skied with Patty and CJ at various times during the day while enjoying the great groomer conditions. I took a hike on Peak 7 which yielded some fair turns as did George's, but anything ungroomed and lower than about the top half of T-Bar was just too crunchy underneath. I can say I gave it a serious effort.
The final run from the summit of 8 down to the base of 8 was a delightful winter to spring ride.
Thanks for the energy disk, CJ.
I didn't take any pictures on the hill. So my backyard shot will have to do.
It is looking pretty good to squeeze another 18 days out of the mountain.
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I'll be at the Jane today. Green pants, who knows what on top. PM if anyone wants to ski some slush bumps!
Pretty good chance of afternoon thunderstorms and very warm today. A little windy with some high clouds, so maybe not too sloppy. Thunderstorms even earlier and more wind tomorrow at Mary Jane:
Pretty good chance of afternoon thunderstorms and very warm today. A little windy with some high clouds, so maybe not too sloppy. Thunderstorms even earlier and more wind tomorrow at Mary Jane:
Hourly Graphical Forecast for 39.88N 105.78W
forecast.weather.gov
It was getting sloppy at the Jane today. Similar weather to when I was there last Friday, but the snow was much softer. The bumps were super fun in well-worn lines, but breaking trail in the bumps was a lot of work. Also getting hard to get around. The coverage is still very good.
Fun weather today. Beautiful morning. Those sweet little clouds have other ideas.
Spike:
Storm #1:
Bye-bye to storm #1. Have fun in Denver:
Railbender:
Storm #2 goes boom boom boom as I'm on Boiler. I barely finished my goal of skiing all the open blacks West to East:
See ^^^ it doesn't rain on Colorado ski areas! It went from 55 to 35 degrees 3 in minutes.
I think that's the most work I've ever done for 15 K of vertical. Sticky snow and piles of slush are lots of effort.
I wore my chest strap HRM. Skiing slush bumps is good exercise!
Get there early and leave early if you can. That was like 10:00 to 2:15. Would have been better if I got there for the first bell, obviously.
Have a fun closing weekend at the Jane! Back to A-basin next week for me.
Fun weather today. Beautiful morning. Those sweet little clouds have other ideas.
Spike:
Storm #1:
Bye-bye to storm #1. Have fun in Denver:
Railbender:
Storm #2 goes boom boom boom as I'm on Boiler. I barely finished my goal of skiing all the open blacks West to East:
See ^^^ it doesn't rain on Colorado ski areas! It went from 55 to 35 degrees 3 in minutes.
I think that's the most work I've ever done for 15 K of vertical. Sticky snow and piles of slush are lots of effort.
I wore my chest strap HRM. Skiing slush bumps is good exercise!
Get there early and leave early if you can. That was like 10:00 to 2:15. Would have been better if I got there for the first bell, obviously.
Have a fun closing weekend at the Jane! Back to A-basin next week for me.
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Sunday - Last Day for Pali, Molly and Beavers
Sunday will be the last day of the season for the Pallavicini, Molly Hogan and Beavers Chairlifts. The conveyor lifts will also be closed. I...
arapahoebasin.blogspot.com
Well, that was quick. I thought we'd have another week. Doesn't seem like they are trying as hard to keep at least some of the terrain open off as long as possible rather than just shut it all down.
The Beavers Area was getting thin.
I just hope Zuma can keep open for a few more weeks. Good news: snow storms are forecast for this Sunday night and Monday night for A-Basin...
I just hope Zuma can keep open for a few more weeks. Good news: snow storms are forecast for this Sunday night and Monday night for A-Basin...
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I was on the Beavers Saturday. Wonderful, run after run, with few there til 10:30 or so.
Yes, a bit thin by 11 there, but didn't hit a rock - clean edges, and skiing until noon. Monday forecast at A Basin is for 5" fresh, so the Beavers area at least would have been more than good tomorrow. Rats. Oh, well. (Pali I can see closing, because of the face slide danger.)
Guess for tomorrow I'll pull the slalom turn skis (true slalom and wider soft snow) from the car and replace them with soft snow chargers. Adapt.
A Basin rocks, especially this time of year.
Yes, a bit thin by 11 there, but didn't hit a rock - clean edges, and skiing until noon. Monday forecast at A Basin is for 5" fresh, so the Beavers area at least would have been more than good tomorrow. Rats. Oh, well. (Pali I can see closing, because of the face slide danger.)
Guess for tomorrow I'll pull the slalom turn skis (true slalom and wider soft snow) from the car and replace them with soft snow chargers. Adapt.
A Basin rocks, especially this time of year.
Well, went to A Basin today, Monday, and no fresh. Slalom skis and good edge skis best early. And no new snow still.
(It was still great, though. Laps on Zuma, and some front lower down.)
Partly cloudy, so no glue while I was there.
The soft bump folks were at work here and there, a good time too.
(It was still great, though. Laps on Zuma, and some front lower down.)
Partly cloudy, so no glue while I was there.
The soft bump folks were at work here and there, a good time too.
It isn't over yet.
Yesterday's rain didn't get much of a chance to freeze up overnight so there was a lot of dense snow today. Above treeline there was an inch or so of fresh where it wasn't groomed. Lots of runs on Imperial and T-Bar with plenty of fairly smooth snow.
I made one run down the wiggle. Being the first of the day with fresh blown in snow as a challenge as light was poor. You can see the wiggle on my Strava track.
Yesterday's rain didn't get much of a chance to freeze up overnight so there was a lot of dense snow today. Above treeline there was an inch or so of fresh where it wasn't groomed. Lots of runs on Imperial and T-Bar with plenty of fairly smooth snow.
I made one run down the wiggle. Being the first of the day with fresh blown in snow as a challenge as light was poor. You can see the wiggle on my Strava track.
A-Basin was in good shape on Tuesday morning after an overnight helping of 3" or so of cream cheese snow. Didn't get to the mountain until 9 am, but very small crowds meant I still pulled into the second row of the Early Riser lot.
Temp was about 30 degrees for the first run from the Black Mountain lift and several degrees colder by the time I got to the rope tow to Zuma. Laps in that bowl for the next hour were nice. Coverage is very good for the middle of May. Looking out to Columbine and Northern Spy in Zuma.
The foundation under that cream cheese easily took an edge---I was on my relatively new Laser AX demos I acquired last month, and it was of interest to me to fine tune my technique with these skis on both the groomed Zuma sections and the fresh terrain that was plentiful in the trees. I was surprised that patrol this morning had opened up absolutely nothing west of the Larkspur fences in Zuma (e.g., Black Bear, Long Chute, the Zuma wiggle), as the coverage over there looked just fine and really inviting.
Did a couple runs off the Traverse below Eastern Wall into various areas of the Land of Giants, which had still not seen much traffic by 11 am.
The steeper sections coming through the rock bands in Land of Giants were holding deeper reserves of cream cheese and my Laser AXs were maybe not the perfect choice-of-the day for me in those sections. Usually I would be on wider (106) and more pivoty skis in that terrain. But is was fun for me to see what the AXs could do in those off-piste conditions.
By Noon the fresh terrain areas were beginning to get heavy and a bit grabby, so I finished my 1/2 day with arc-to-arc carving runs on firmer Norway and Powerline runs.
It was great to experience the Black Mountain Lodge returning to a more "normal" and relaxed feeling for the lunch hour with no masks.
Temp was about 30 degrees for the first run from the Black Mountain lift and several degrees colder by the time I got to the rope tow to Zuma. Laps in that bowl for the next hour were nice. Coverage is very good for the middle of May. Looking out to Columbine and Northern Spy in Zuma.
The foundation under that cream cheese easily took an edge---I was on my relatively new Laser AX demos I acquired last month, and it was of interest to me to fine tune my technique with these skis on both the groomed Zuma sections and the fresh terrain that was plentiful in the trees. I was surprised that patrol this morning had opened up absolutely nothing west of the Larkspur fences in Zuma (e.g., Black Bear, Long Chute, the Zuma wiggle), as the coverage over there looked just fine and really inviting.
Did a couple runs off the Traverse below Eastern Wall into various areas of the Land of Giants, which had still not seen much traffic by 11 am.
The steeper sections coming through the rock bands in Land of Giants were holding deeper reserves of cream cheese and my Laser AXs were maybe not the perfect choice-of-the day for me in those sections. Usually I would be on wider (106) and more pivoty skis in that terrain. But is was fun for me to see what the AXs could do in those off-piste conditions.
By Noon the fresh terrain areas were beginning to get heavy and a bit grabby, so I finished my 1/2 day with arc-to-arc carving runs on firmer Norway and Powerline runs.
It was great to experience the Black Mountain Lodge returning to a more "normal" and relaxed feeling for the lunch hour with no masks.
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My last resort day in May was Monday afternoon at the basin. The long drive back to PA starts Friday for some family time. I've never seen basin farm so much snow, they might actually make it into June. I hear Breck is calling it early. East wall is still skiing great. Enjoy your your spacin Pugs!
@Doug Briggs .......As a flatlander living in exile in Minneapolis I've enjoyed reading about your excursions and looking at the pics of the good times in your "backyard". Thanks for taking time to post.
It paid to start early today. While there weren't puddles, the trails were soft and wet as soon as things opened. Imperial opened pretty early so I started there with the wiggle, again with fresh snow. Soon on to CJ's and pretty soft and deep spring snow. It took a lot of attention to stay on top, figuratively, of the snow. Hop turns were of frequent use. It reminded me of spring skiing in NH in the Whites.
The Wiggle. I did it three times. With fresh and a single ejection, once while still fresh - fast and complete, the last time I stopped twice.
George's and right of Debbie's were home runs every time.
The upper lifts were closed for weather before noon to reopen for about an hour when everything stopped turning. I don't know if the lower lifts resumed operation at all.
The Wiggle. I did it three times. With fresh and a single ejection, once while still fresh - fast and complete, the last time I stopped twice.
George's and right of Debbie's were home runs every time.
The upper lifts were closed for weather before noon to reopen for about an hour when everything stopped turning. I don't know if the lower lifts resumed operation at all.
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