Couldn’t make the powder day Brodie had on Saturday
which left about 10 – 12” of fresh stuff, and the
powder hounds were there as Kelly’s Glades had no
fresh powder left. But, it’s really only a difference
between dream-like conditions and absolutely fantastic
so I was more than happy!  KG was somewhat bumped up
making it an ideal practice run for me.

The snow was lighter than I expected, and riding the
chair I noticed quite a few tracks in the woods. It
was tempting, but was also beyond my skill level. .
.especially while alone. I have noticed that there are
a lot of markings in the trees that one can follow.
This is awesome, but it’s too bad they can’t find a
better way to mark these as it is a little bit
destructive. . .but natural so I’m not downing anyone.

As I was skiing one of the green runs I made a pit
stop in the woods and discovered a good 16 – 24” of
very skiable powder! I almost fell just standing in
it! Then I noticed that the grade was not steep at all
and there were areas where the trees were a good 10’
and more apart. “A practice tree run?” I thought.
“Hmmm. . .I have time to play today”, so into the
woods I went and created a decent EZ wood run. Since
there were none of the usual markings designating an
off-map run, I have to guess that I was in completely
uncharted territory! I am only now realizing that the
“brush” at the end of my tree run is really the tops
of some small saplings! I measured the snow depth to
be over 46”! I also hit one of the unmapped runs that
was really awesome in that it was more of a very tight
trail than a tree run. I think I shook up some kids I
met on this trail with my green jacket. (Same color as
Brodie Ski Patrol) When I told them the impression I
got from the Ski Patrol was that the “closed” trails
were more to keep out the general public they seemed
surprised and said that I was mistaken—that they’d be
real PO’d if we got “caught”. Hmmm. . .guess I’ll have
to ask point-blank some day.

Ryan’s express was bumped up enough for more skill
development, and I found myself starting to really
enjoy it. Maybe I’m somewhat masochistic because I
kinda’ like the burning sensation left in my legs
after a run through bumps.

It began in the early afternoon, then the snow started
falling heavy around 2:00 and there was at least an
inch on the ground by 3:00. Reluctantly, I took my
last chair at 4:00 to finish the day on some of the
bumps and it was just about raining (ugh) at the base
by that time.

Shortly after arriving home my daughter Morgan asked
“Daddy it looks like you have a cut on your nose. How
did that happen?” I looked in the mirror and saw a
dried clot of blood on the side of my nose. Not
wanting to scare the Mrs. who doesn’t ski, I pulled
Morgan aside an proudly whispered “Oh, I cut myself on
a branch that I hit while skiing in the woods today!”
But also added “I’ll be getting a helmet and maybe
even safety glasses real soon!”

Now, these past few weeks beg the question; “If you
had to take memories of only one “best” ski day in
your life to a deserted mountain, which day from this
year would it be?”


=====
Jimme

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