Impromptu Eve

Working days this week with the Frosty 6 Hour Ultra looming on Saturday.  Good week to rest up or so I thought.   Noah called me at work at 3:40pm " Ron can we go to Blue tonight"...how could I sat no.   Ran a couple of errands on the way home.   Made dinner for the Boys,  took care of the Dog'd ,  Fire,   post dinner clean up then off to Blue arriving at 6:30 pm.    After the "January Thaw" I expected Ice and wasn't dissapointed.... it sport of sucked.   Headed from the Orchard to Happy Valley in search of the "Corduroy Trail" but came up blank heading back to the Orchard.    Of all the areas I found the Orchard to have the best conditions.     Found my grove one Butternut.   The trail is pretty flat for the first 1/2K but the "machine groomed granular made for some good speed.   Just where Butternut deviates from the Chair there is a sudden steep drop.   Hitting this would be easy to get air but I managed to keep it on the ground enjoying a brief moment of weightlessness every time I dropped in.   The remainder to the drop was fast fast fast ,  hard but not too ice.  I enjoyed carving hard pilling a G or 2 on the way back to the lift.    I was so dialed in I pushed back my departure time from the planned 08:30 pm until 09:30 .... could have gone longer but I need some sleep too!

Repeat but warmer

Hit the slopes again with Noah and Blake again.  Temps near freezing or a little above made for a great night.  First time in a long time that I wasnt the least bit cold!   Shut down the Southern Comfort Chair skiing "Cruiser" for the last hour of the night.  Yup it was that good!  

Did a little video Patrick invites one and all to Blue ...

Fun Night

Temps moderated a bit ,  now around -13C.   Hit the hill with Blake and Noah and met up with Lisa and Patrick.    Boys had a blast in the Orchard ...trails ,  trails and more trails.    Shut it down near closing!   Returning again this eve with Blake and Noah!

Cold Night

Headed to Blue again last night.  -17C made for a rather chilly eve however the conditions more then made up for the bitter cold.  I had Noah and his friend Blake with me.    Intended on starting at 4:30 but we didn't arrive until 5:00 pm.      Parked at the top of Southern Comfort and headed directly to the Orchard.  With  the exception of heading to the South Lodge for dinner the boys spent all there time exploring the Orchard terrain.   The cold must have scared everyone off because there were no line ups and at times we were the only ones on the Hill.  I grabbed the Car around 9pm and headed down top the parking lot at the Orchard lift and waited for the boys to close down the Hill.   The finished up at 9:45 pm spending more then 4 hours boarding ...they weren't the least bit cold ....I was!  

New Years Day 2014

Headed to Blue with Mason and his Girlfriend Nicole yesterday.   We arrived at 4:15 just enough

time to make the first run at the start of night Skiing ... 4:30 pm.   Nicole has only boarded once before so we suited her up with Noahs old gear and got her a "beginner" lift ticket.    She and Mason tuck to the Carpet by South Lodge then hit Big Baby.  The story of the night was by far the cold.  It was -17C with ice fog when we arrived.   I was pretty comfortable but the feet were a bit cold after 90 minutes on the Hill.   Took  break for dinner and met Robin in the South Lodge.     I pretty much spent the entire night at the Orchard.  It was completely open for night Skiing so I explored.   The frigid weather must have kept the crowds away because it was another night of Up/Down repeat repeat repeat ...sweet!

First crack at the Orchard

The Orchard was awesome.  Hit Blue tonight expecting long waits in the lift lines but was pleasantly surprised to be riding solo most of the night.  Headed over after dinner ready for a cold night at -13c. Mason was along for the ride for his second trip to the hill this year.    Conditions were great....machine groomed powder that was pretty consistent.

Quest For Powder