This has been a totally unbelievable weekend.  Different days of skiing
on various mountains in different conditions with different people can be
equally enjoyable for different reasons but today everything seemed to fall
together to the maximum.

    We have more season left and things could happen to update my decision
but today sure seems to have a lock on the best day running.  I arrived at
Whiteface and jumped the gondola to head up to meet the guys from
yesterday's skiing at Hickory that told me they would be there.  Since I was
way ahead of the 10AM meeting agreed upon I headed down Approach to check
out open access to the glades.  Empire was open and the access to the
Cloudsplitter Glades likewise so I wound up doing a "warmup" through the
glades carrying my pack and Camelback.  The coverage had even improved since
Friday and it was sheer ecstasy.  Everything was buried in soft packed snow,
no bare spots or stumps or roots or anything showing. I could cruise
anywhere and turn anywhere.  I continued the same route I did Friday by
cutting over to High Country Glades arriving at mid station and depositing
the pack.  Up the double I went and down Essex in the best packed "all
natural" powder and soft moguls I ever skied anywhere.  Cutting over to
Lower Cloudspin I carved up the power line on my Elan's darting in and out
of the tree line along the edge.  This unofficial run keeps getting better
and better all the time but the telephone line is sagging to about 4 ft. off
the snow in places due to the constant snow buildup.  This line is about 1
in. diameter and is lashed to 1/2 in. steel cable.  Remember to wear your
helmet and duck at the right time.  :-)

    I wait a few minutes at the base of the quad and right on time the guys
show up.  Matt Murray; aka Mattman, Bob Simoni and his nephew John have made
the trek up from the Albany area to try for the slides.  We head up the quad
and find the fog starting to set in around the summit but not too thick as
of yet.  No patrollers are hanging out at the slides entrance yet so we try
a run down Cloudspin.  Other than a wind scoured icy top few feet we find
awesome loose powder and mild moguls all the way down.  Niagara headwall is
better than I have ever seen it, even since Friday.  Perfect deep carves are
made down the steeper left side with no skid outs or scratchiness to be
found anywhere.  I introduce the guys to the powerline run which is met with
howls and screams of approval.  Bob strikes up a conversation with a
patroller who turns out to be my buddy Anthony that I hang out with in the
gym occasionally.  Bob grills him on the slides possibility and finds out
that the patrol is checking it out now and it may be a go.  On the ride up
we get a full view of them cranking out turns in the slides.  A crescendo of
encouragement starts moving up and down the lift from the chair occupants.
At the top Anthony is called upon to be the climb monitor for the entrance.
The four of us take off our skis and wait for the approval to start.  We are
instructed to climb the full rise and not use the ski patrol only entrance
to avoid postholing and chewing up their access to rescue equipment like we
did on Friday.  OOPs!   Oh well, more effort=longer vertical.  The wind is
cold and biting but I am glad I dressed light but windproof and had the
camelback.  From the high traverse we can only see about 50 ft higher due to
the lowering fog.  Above us we can hear the smacking of snowboards on the
windblown crust as we barely make out eager climbers using their boards to
"chin up"
higher to gain more traverse out into the bowl.  We let out hoots and
hollers as we drop into #1 and start cranking carves.  What a difference two
days can make.  We heard that the slides were closed yesterday due to wind
and it is really evident by the densely packed surface.  Carving on top with
Elan's or any kind of skis is pure ecstasy and rather effortless.  Today
skiing the slides will not work up any sweat compared to the climb.  All of
a
sudden the visibility factor becomes evident as we encounter the center
2/3ds of the slide exposed with ice covered rock. This had full bottomless
powder two days ago when Dick and I were there. No problem, we simply carve
short swings down the left edge  and cut over to #2 at the earliest
convenience.  The snow consistency softens a little in the narrower areas so
we try to keep to the sheltered sections.  Two runs out into one and we cut
over into 2 and 1/2 following the exact same route I did with Dick Carlson
on Friday.  The turning keeps getting better and better, the windblown has
filled in all the gaps around stumps, ledges, etc and really giving a firm
surface to hold an edge and carve.  Squeaking out through the notch at the
bottom of this area we can either head back to one below the ice fall or
left into the main drop of #3.  We go left and find  side to side full
cover in #3 and no evidence of the ledge I had to jump two Saturday's ago
the first time I was in there.  There could be some reeeeeally good spring
skiing in there if we don't get too fast a melt down or a lot of r%^n.  The
bottom bowl at the funnel is really full of snow everywhere; obviously, it
has to end up somewhere when it slides.  We slide out- slide out and stop to
catch our breath and make a plan.  We decide to run out the intense mogul
field of lower Skyward and do a non stopper down the seldom open upper
Boreen and all the way to the gondi for a run up to do the
Cloudsplitter/10th Mt. glades.  These guys are animals!  Climbing in the
gondi Mattman comments that we just did the proverbial marketing 3350 ft. of
vertical with very few stops.  My thighs confirm this.

    We rocket down approach and bomb down Empire to the glades.  Deja Vu!?!
Since the Empire entrance is lower than the Northway one we climb the
traverse to the left to get farther into less skied terrain.  About 1/2 way
in we all drop down a chute one after the other hollering and screaming.  In
true gedi fashion we shoulder brush the trees as we bomb through them.  A
concerned snowboarder ducks behind a boulder and gives us the hairy eyeball.
Watch out for the lunatics.  This snow is so good in there that frequent
snowboarder side scraping has no negative effect on exposing anything.  In
fact it tends to help cover and pack over exposed objects.  Amateur
snowboarders actually improving snow conditions?? Hmm, How ironic.

    We shoot over to the summit quad but the top half of Cloudspin and
Skyward are no longer visible.  Snow fall and wind are picking up; this does
not bode well for the slides.  Up we go to find dense fog at the summit and
a patroller holding eager would-be climbers back.  Maybe if it clears is the
rumor.
We look at our watches and it is 11:55.  We head for lunch dropping in
Skyward and finding the best carving powder I have EVER,EVER,EVER
encountered on that trail in my life.  This is just too much, it keeps
getting better and better.  We cut over and do Niagara headwall again.  It
is starting to get bumped but well spaced cruiser bumps.  It's hard to
believe that olympic racers clear this puppy in less than a second.

    At lunch the three guys pick some demo weapons for the afternoon.
Mattman picks some Bandit XXX's, Bob picks some X-scream series and John
tries the Rossi T-Power Vipers.  I won't elaborate on what they were on but
boy does this pick up the afternoon tempo. We go up the double and now
Little Whiteface is getting socked in.  It looks like one primo run in the
slides is all we are going to get. The guys understandably want to let there
new equipment run and opt for Approach to Parkway and down to the Gondi.  I
have been doing stuff like that all season but the call of the glades is too
much for me. Besides, these guys are now on souped up hot equipment and I'm
on my piddlin' Elans.  I would kill myself, or someone else, trying to keep
up. We agree to meet at the gondi, yeah right, like that is going to happen.
I do my classic combo to mid-station that I love so much.  I bomb down to
the gondi and sure enough, they are nowhere to be found.  I later find out
that Matt found a "cute little blonde snowboarder" in the singles line at
the gondola.  Like he's going to wait for me. :-)  I go up and do the top
glade combo but something is drawing me to the summit lift and I head up.
Half way up it becomes major socked in, my last hope for the slides is
dashed.  I drop into Skyward and go into cruise control carving and scoot
over upper switchback to mid cloudspin.  It's all good, just too good, I
can't find anything better anywhere.  Another carving cruise down Niagara
and I decide to do the woods cutover access to the mogul field of lower
skyward.  I run out the entire bottom never missing a beat through the
moguls.  This may be a first for me.  Stopping to catch my breath for a
minute the three musketeers come winging over to me from Victoria's with
sincere apologies for blowing me off and tales of Matt's feminine conquests,
err- encounter.  They haven't tried any glades on their new toys and it's
2:45 ish and the shop told them to be back by 3:00.  We rocket down to
mid-station, catch the double, fly down approach and find Empire closed.
This can get so frustrating.  We do upper McKenzie through fantastic rough
hewn moguls and catch the High Country Glades.  Everyone confirms, their new
stuff works great in the glades---as they wait for me at mid-station.

    So it's 3:15, they don't get in trouble returning the stuff.  What time
does the summit close they ask me.  I tell them we have 15 mins. to get up
the double and over to the quad base.  Lets do it they say.  Animals,--
these guys animals!! I figure Excelsior to lower Northway would be the
quickest and smoothest.  As we start across the top we change route and take
Essex.  Big wide cruiser moguls at the top, sharp jagged tight ones the
farther down we get. My thighs are toast.  I try La Maze breathing between
turns, anything to get my mind off the pain.  I figured I would straight run
lower Northway since it is always bowling alley smooth.  Not today, big
moguls, I don't believe it.  Pulling into the quad line the liftie is
heading for the rope and there is only one more person behind us.  It's
3:27, I haven't done a run like that since my early 20's.  We opt for a slow
carving cruiser down skyward.  The now intense snowfall and visibility have
been keeping down the traffic.  Turns are sweeter than first in the morning,
this is mind boggling, we are getting freshies on the last run.  The only
four guys on the upper mountain are screaming and hollering like we were
just starting the day out.  Another Niagara and pole line run are better
than the ones before.  At the top of Victoria's we stop in the intense
blizzard type environment to discuss future plans and say goodbyes.  They
are doing Boreen to bottom but I have to go to mid to get my pack.  I watch
them fade away into the swirling snow but I realize I am still not alone.
Over on the side of the trail is a kid about 10 to 12 yrs. old on snow
blades
sitting down.  I holler over," are you ok?  Yeah, no problem he replies, I
just don't want to leave.  I hear you kid, I hear you.       Jimski

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