We returned to Sugarbush for the canned food drive, and I could
already see a difference in coverage from just the day before.  The Gate
House lift wasn't turning, and the low elevations were getting more
brown than white.  We started off early, and conditions were firm!
These were certainly the firmest conditions I'd experienced so far this
season.  They had not groomed Downspout, so it was a snap shot frozen in
time with yesterday's bumps and ruts all there.  The temperature at the
summit was around upper 30s, but only locations with direct sun softened
up immediately.  When we got to the top of Heaven's Gate, we found that
the first  southward facing slope of Jester had beautiful soft snow, and
E said that she'd be happy to hike and ski that one section all day if
it meant we could avoid the rest of the frozen disaster.  However, we
knew that things would get better with each run, so we went for another
lap.  By about the third run, things were getting much better.  The
sunny spots were still the best, but the warmth and traffic softened the
snow nicely.  Downspout does a great job of holding onto its snow, and
that's because it is heavily shaded and faces north(ish) in many
sections.  This of course means that it doesn't soften up very well, or
for very long.  Even as we approached noon, and the low sun was starting
to hide behind Lincoln Peak, it was starting to get a bit firm again.
Things remained top to bottom all day, but the mid mountain natural snow
trails became roped off (coverage getting thin) as the day progressed.
By the time we left (around noontime) only the upper elevation natural
trails like Ripcord and Spillsville were left open.  These had adequate
coverage.  The snowmaking trails like Jester / Downspout / Organgrinder
were doing fine.  The runout from Heaven's Gate to the base was getting
thin in spots, but hopefully then can push it around to keep things
top-to-bottom.  They may have to resort to downloading again though
before they can blow enough snow - looks like Wednesday will be the
first chance.  Crowds were much less than Saturday, and no lift lines
developed despite the canned food drive.

J.Spin

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