What a great ski day we had today – Silverado is finally open, and the skiing is very fine. Lynn, Larry, and I went out this morning for a great session. We had a babysitter for Elena today (we’d forgotten she was booked and were surprised when she showed up at the door). So we had a rare opportunity for an all-adult session. We started off in the Funnel, which was in good shape. The rocks in the middle are still not completely covered, but the Elevator Shaft to skier’s left had some nice, chalky, wind-blown/consolidated snow. Then a few laps on Granite. Magoo’s was also in nice shape although I wasn’t happy with how I skied it. Readjusting to bumps after the heli trip I guess. Then a trip over to the Nose and out. I love the terrain in Granite but I have to confess I hate the chair. It’s slow and popular, meaning there’s just too much time spent either in line or in the seat.
From there we headed over to Silverado. We started in gate 3 and worked right a bit. I went over to Bailey’s Cirque while Lynn and Larry stayed a bit more to skier’s left. Bailey’s had a good 4-foot jump to enter where it looks like it slid almost down to the rock. The snow at that point was not great – it was a bit icy since the good stuff was in the avi debris field down below the run. Larry and Lynn had better luck and reported fine chalky snow. Then Larry headed in. He was dealing with the morning after the night before if you know what I mean. I know it’s not nice, but I think other people’s hangovers are just funny. So Lynn and I stuck with Silverado for 3 more runs. We headed over to gate 5 and did Tram Bowl. if you know the runout there, you have two non-cliff options. One to the right through some trees and one to the left that threads the cliffs. We took the left option and the snow was fabulous. So good we did it 2 more times. We started the second lap in Bungee Bowl, which was not in terribly good shape. A bit heavy and choppy (still fun, don’t get me wrong). The Silverado lift is slow and unpopular, so at least there’s no waiting in line like at Granite.
After that we headed over to Headwall. The wind was picking up as we got over there. Our first run was North Bowl, far skier’s right (where it’s steep, of course!). I skied over to see if the small chute right at the nose was working. Too many rocks so I headed back towards Lynn. I got into a tough spot right above a chocolate chip factory but managed to find a semblance of a clear spot to get down. Superb snow right there although I was still a little shaky after the exposure. Then we did Slot-to-Classic. I almost always go far skier’s right in the Slot because the snow’s better there and I like the pitch. That’s often rough to get to and today was no exception. A couple of spooky turns and then all was well. We headed over to Classic to finish off the morning.
Sushi for lunch (I love Mamasake!) and then I went in to get Elena ready to ski. She and I had a wonderful time. We always do! I tried to get her off of the harness but she was having none of it. Oh well, she is skiing with slack in the harness most of the time anyways. We got about 5 runs in and then she was ready for a snack at Wildflower.
Looking forward to tomorrow! There’s a big storm moving in, supposedly a bit warm and very windy. So we’ll see how much skiing gets done tomorrow. Not looking forward to the drive back with holiday traffic and a blizzard.
