East Falls illuminated by brilliant sunshine

East Falls illuminated by brilliant sunshine

Today was probably one of the top 5 ski days of the season. Full sunshine, temperatures starting in the 20's rising to the low 40's and loads of beautiful snow. While not being a powder day, it would be hard to ask for better.

Mary and I got on the slopes at the crack of 10 today. Temperatures overnight got very cold, so we wanted ski surfaces to warm up a bit. I dressed in a shell leaving the inn, but after putting my boots on in the Bay 1 parking lot, I thought better of it and put on my normal winter jacket for todays outing.

After a sun soaked ride up the Snowdon Quad, we started our ski day by doing the trilogy in the Canyons. East Falls, with its eastern exposure, was medium soft. Shaded surfaces were firm. Sunny surfaces were creamy but not wet. Double Dipper and Cascade were covered very nicely with machine groomed packed powder. Their more northern exposure kept them out of the early morning sunshine, keeping surfaces a little firmer underneath.

By 11:00 we headed over to Bear Mountain. The Stash, as usual, was groomed perfectly. All of the upper trails were still machine groomed snow cover. Lower Wildfire was starting to turn into ice cream. Its southern exposure was taking a beating in the sun. Lower Sky Burst was a little firmer, as there is some shade on the trail. Also, there is a lot more snow on lower Sky Burst left over from last weeks Slopestyle competition.

Upper Dream Maker to Cruise Control was great. Skiers left on Upper Dream Maker was in full sun. It had softened up nicely, but due to the higher elevation the temps still kept the trail relatively firm. Panic Button to Needles Eye were also skiing well.

The only bit of ugliness to report was the upper Superstar Headwall. For some reason, it had been groomed very chunky, with very large "death cookies" every where. But, it was easy to avoid, and overlook, because everything else we skied was in great shape.

Shoulder Update: I visited with my orthopedist yesterday for a reading of my MRI. As it stands, 4 of the 5 layers of tendons connecting my arm to my shoulder are torn (They look like little fiddlehead ferns in the MRI). The doctor said this level of injury is 50-50, maybe 60-40, for surgery, but he wants me to do some physical therapy first before making that call. I start PT next week. We will see what happens... so it goes.....let it snow!