The first four runs made today look like a blow-away for my 5 star day
this season.  This ranked right up there with the Duffy tour of Smuggs and
the MRG day I got in with some of the plaid in early Feb. except
deeper,deeper,deeper and untracked.  The 163 cm Elans were grossly
inadequate but after a little getting used to, Greg and I modified technique
enough to do fairly well.  The snow had settled somewhat over the week so
that it wasn't fly-away fluffy for the most part and face shots were not
prevalent.  The telemarkers were getting some when they blasted a drift in
the crouched position. However, while skiing in the fully upright position
we found snow getting caked up to our ribs under our loosely snapped jackets
because of the warmth factor.  It was a full body effort to move through the
snow. We would attempt to straight line the fall line and simply get stuck
up to our thighs.  On the slopes facing the sun it got a little packy but
for the most part in the trees and shady trails it remained colder and
dryer.

    Right off the bat we ran across several lurkers from the list.  For the
most part our conversations were limited to crossing back and forth in the
poma lines since the "there are no friends on a powder day" rules were
definitely in effect.  Greg and I got three runs on the lower poma and one
on the upper when the whole thing came to a screeching halt. The conditions
were so unreal that we opted for a complete top to bottom run and found the
lower poma line empty.  It was broken down, gonna be a while, drive chains
went bad or something.  No problem, head for the T-Bar. Wrong, T-bar is
going down for emergency repair for 15 min. or so.  Hang out in the lower
line for a long time, finally the T-bar is back up and running, so
immediately a huge line forms there but they can only load every third bar
to minimize strain on the ailing apparatus.  Finally we get back up to the
upper poma just about the time some hiking skiers also got there.  This one
is now broken down also.  Back to the bottom one and get an estimate, it's
going to be a while for both.  Time for lunch much earlier than anticipated.
Finally the bottom one gets going and a really huge line forms.  It
continues to break down several times before we finally get up.  Many are
splitting and getting return vouchers.  It took us close to an hour to get
through the line this last time.  We milk the best run we can to get back to
the upper and it's still down and going to be a while longer.  Greg scowls
and says he would rather be home doing work and shoveling snow.  His first
impression is not good with things the way they are.  List member Jerry O
teams up with us for a plan to do one more run off the lower poma milking
the best lines and do one more trip up the T-bar to see if the upper is
running and if it isn't we split.  Well we luck out and it is running
except, you guessed it, there is a huge line. We figure this will be the
last run and decide to check out the blue cruiser around the top and find
remaining untracked lines that we can successfully do while still keeping
momentum.  After this taste of powder we decide to try one last run and
Jerry remembers a glade entrance from a couple of years back we did the
first time I got there.  Lo and behold it is virtually untracked with plenty
of lines left.  This run is as good as anything I have ever done at MRG,
Stowe, Jay or Smuggs.  We hollered with joy so loud they probably heard us
all the way up to Gore.  This line came out above the T-bar and we crossed
the trail to the other side and got excellent powder and some fresh lines in
a second glade.  We stopped and looked at each other at the top of the T-bar
and we all knew what we were thinking.  Up we go for our third-last run of
the day and do a duplicate. Special thanks goes out to Mapadu for the
patient training runs he put Greg and I though at Smuggs.  We are finally
getting the hang of this.  Greg notes that these last two runs were more fun
that any he did at Whistler/Blackcomb during his recent trip other than it
being his first venture out west.  He also notes that this is definitely
more powder than anything he encountered out there.   It's now 3:45 but we
all look at each other and head for the upper poma again.  It's not running
again but the last person in line tells us they said  they were going to
keep running longer to give all the patient customers a break.  Alas, it was
not to be as we were soon informed that the cable had jumped the wheel and
that was it for the day.

    Today will not take my five rating for the year but it sure wasn't the
conditions fault.  We got in a total of eight runs that exceed the
experience of anything I have done this year.  An extra bonus is that I
still have plenty of energy to go for the slides again tomorrow.  Four of
the list lurkers I spoke to today said they would definitely meet me there
at the base of the summit quad at 10:00AM.  Anybody else???  This could
literally be the last chance. (for this season at least)  You are only young
once.  Go for it. :-)    Jimski

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