Today I got out for some afternoon turns with my friend Chris.
He picked up his Sugarcard, which brought the ticket price down from
$25 + tax, to $21 + tax, he was glad to see it was working (you never know
early season).  We arrived at the top of the Super Bravo at around 1:00,
and headed down to Heaven's gate via Downspout.  They must have groomed
overnight because conditions on downspout were much flatter than
yesterday, and I also think the snow was softer (probably due to more
blowing or real good grinding by the cats).  After my experience yesterday
with my good old dull skis, I decided to bring my shapes with a nice sharp
edge to counteract any stiff spots.  I was pleasantly surprised to find
that I hardly needed them.  There was a bit of ice near the lower section
of Downspout, but that was the only big section I noticed.  There were
about twice as many cars in the parking lot as yesterday (maybe 80-100
today?), but the crowd wasn't really a problem on the trail.  We did
encounter a few minute line at the bottom of Heaven's Gate for our first
run.
        From the top of Heaven's gate we headed down Jester.  The snow was
nice in general, and that strange patch of ice near the bottom (with the
caution sign) had disappeared :)  In addition to the Jester/Downspout
route, Organgrinder had also opened up.  The guns were going on
Organgrinder, but once again it was the towers just spraying out a fine
mist which wasn't bothersome; just a bit of noise.  Our first run down
Organgrinder was an awesome treat.  The snow was soft manmade with the 6
to 8 inches of natural, no ice, and we had the trail to ourselves.  Lots
of contour, and a few bump lines were forming.  It was just all around
awesome terrain and snow that left us gasping at the bottom and wanting
more.  We knew where the rest of our day would be ;)
        In what appears to be becoming an early season tradition, people
were poaching the hell out of Spillsville and Lower Ripcord.  I was happy
to see people enjoying the nice pow, actually deep enough so that the
boarders I saw weren't even hitting ground (and man did it look sweet).
Of course, the patrol was out busting people (which they obviously should
if the trail isn't open).  Some snowboarders even started building a jump
on Ripcord, piling up the snow and everything, and seemed annoyed when
they had to stop because a patroller on the lift told them to.  I mean
come on, jumps are great and all (and that powdery landing looked like a
fun one) but don't build one on a closed trail under a running lift!?!?
There were even tracks coming out from Lower Paradise, hehe, the lure of
pow.
        A mysterious cloud had been building to the west, making us wonder
if we would get a touch of snow.  Supposedly, Heaven's gate was closing at
2:50 P.M., so to close off our day, we hiked above Heaven's gate to the
Lincoln Peak observation deck.  Of course we had great views of the 'daks,
and watched the clouds moving around (no snow that we could see)  We could
also see the white spine of the green mountains all the way to Camel's
Hump in the North (Mansfield was cloudy), and what looked like Killington
and snow covered trails to the south.  I even caught a few turns in the
remaining pow on the way down the access road from the summit.  (Which
has already been chewed up quite well.)  On the way home, we stopped in to
the ski swap in Waitsfield, where we heard that the Heaven's Gate lift had
been shut down for quite a while around lunchtime (mechanical problems)
That may have been what caused the line at the bottom to back up.
Temperatures were nice with minimal wind. Tomorrow looks like another good
day, maybe I'll see some SKIVTers out there (hit Organgringder if you want
a bit of nice steep snow).  There were a couple of rocks poking through in
the very worn spots, but coverage was again excellent.

J.Spin