A MOODY SKI DAY AT WHITEFACE
Today was a moody afternoon on the mountain. Visibility was terrible everywhere, except the very bottom. The fog was so dense at times that it felt like I was in a Silent Hill game. There was rain in the air, which left me soaked, and to top it all off, the mountain was empty and it was very quiet. If you stopped on a run you’d hear silence, and maybe some birds rustling in the trees going about their life.
Fox.
Mid-mountain.
Upper Mackenzie.
The temperature was above freezing across the mountain, and it was pretty comfortable. I didn’t need a face mask or glove liners, and I was also only wearing shorts under my ski pants. Normally, I have on some form of base layer. The only time I started to feel cold was when it started raining a little harder while I was skiing down from the summit. On that run, my face got pretty cold, but it warmed back up after I hopped on the gondola.
Soaking wet at the summit.
The Follies.
Lower Skyward seen from the Summit Quad.
Mountain Run.
With it being a rainy day late in the season, there were some lifts closed today, and I can’t blame them. There was no one there. They were spinning the gondola, Face Lift, Summit Quad, Falcon Flyer and the Coyote Carpet. It’s worth mentioning that Lookout Mountain is closed until Friday. Weather permitting, it’s expected to be open this weekend.
Upper Thruway.
Draper’s Drop.
Conditions were fine. The top layer of snow was a little soft, and the secondary layer was a little firmer. It was that way pretty much everywhere, except some of the runs down low. On a lot of the upper mountain terrain I could feel groomer tracks as I turned. It was like skiing over rumble strips on a highway.
Lower Mackenzie.
Paron’s Run rock garden.
You’ve probably noticed in my pictures that there are thin spots starting to appear on trails around the mountain. Tomorrow is April, so it’s not really surprising, but it’s a sign that spring is starting to win the battle. It is what it is. Some of these thin spots will disappear after a groom, while others may be here for good, such as the Paron’s Run rock garden, which has grown substantially since last Friday.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln