We’re off to one of the worst/driest winters that I can remember so I’m not going to pull any punches the terrain was extremely limited and although we really wanted to see a few more trails opened for Sunday morning, with the still-mild temperatures and the impending holiday week, I totally understand the decision to keep those trails closed for snowmaking & grooming.
Fortunately, Mother Nature is only like 50% of a vacation’s success. Although terrain was limited, the conditions were very good. Much props to Crystal’s snowmaking crew and their groomers for keeping the slopes in excellent shape.
We hooked up with Marhar Snowboards to do some demos and hook them up with some feedback on their 2013 line and that was really cool, not just for Leo & I but for everyone else to meet them face to face & get to ride some of their boards.
Mild temps and low winds made for almost spring riding conditions that firmed up after the sun went behind the clouds. The bluebird skies gave way to a few hours of snowfall on Saturday afternoon-evening. There was a lot of gaper dodging but overall the crowds were not too bad and there was not much of a lineup for the chairlifts.
One highlight was the guys at A. Papano’s Pizza (the best gas station pizza ever) who let us make mixies in their dining room, and even hooked us up with a free pie on our way back to the cabin. Other highlights included Sam’s first ever black diamond run, and A-train’s savage encounter with a snow fence as 5 ski patrollers watched him run in to it.
Add in some good beer, some shufflepuck, and a whole lot of horrible karaoke (video of which is being saved for ransom purposes later…), and well even though everyone would’ve preferred better (more) snow, I think it was a success and hopefully we can do it again when there’s more snow on the ground.
