Tales from the Hinterland: 2012/13 edition

So now that we are back to the snow levels of Nov. 28,


(pic taken 1/2/13. Compare to 11/28/12 at the top of page one)

I squeezed out a few hours at Hidden Bump.

Despite the holiday timing, the cold weather kept most folks at home.



The ski school classes were small and the lift lines non-existent.



Kudos to the hill operations people for their snowmaking prowess. Conditions were pretty good, all things considered. After about 27 runs, I left at noon, just as the crowds were starting to gather. It was a good morning of clearing out the cobwebs. I am lucky to live 10 minutes from this place.



Significantly more snow has fallen in the meantime and tomorrow, TD and I will inspect the local BC. Should be good!

The snow is just fluffier in the Hinterlands isn't it?

Looking forward to tomorrow's report!

So there was a thaw, then it snowed and got really cold. Sound familiar? Since today was Chore Day at SBRHQ, going to a ski hill was not in the cards. Just as well, since it was cold, blustery, snowy and, well, perfect conditions really. Anyways.

Chore day is not really so bad. It generally involves sleeping in, a leisurely breakfast with Blue Toes, walking the dog and a lot of vacuuming. Today some additional snow clearing was required as well. The six inches or so of fresh wet snow had consolidated after the temperature dropped about 20 degrees, so needed some attention. With all this done, it was time to go snowshoeing.

The woodies and dog are ready to go. Note the freshly scoured driveway.


Utah the wonder dog enjoyed the firm snow conditions.


We checked out Secret Hill. This new snow will be an excellent base. It needs another 6 to 8 inches of fresh for primo conditions.


It is pretty nice to have this for a back yard.


Frost on frost. I tend to go low-tech when slow-shoeing.

WOW!

Those are some kinda' slowshoes!!!  Tip rocker to the max, and nice flat pintails!
Even looks like they have tech binders on them. Ultralight leather thongs or similar!


..... Sorry, couldn't help myself.  

TD

What wax comes after Polar? That's -20 F for you southerners. Local radio claims -37 (-35 F).


School busses are cancelled due to the cold.

Hard Wax?  I bet even klister is hard at those temps.

Some hills remain secret even after being exposed on the interwebz.

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Quoted for truth.

The deep freeze seemed to be coming to an end so I headed to Hidden Bump yesterday for a little tele-fun. The primary purpose of this experiment was to see how my knee dealt with hardpack tele turns. Verdict? Knee is good, hamstring still needs some work.


It was a Friday afternoon, so the hill was pretty quiet.


I skied until the street lights came on.


Today, there was sleeping in, back bacon and later on, a little snowshoeing with Blue Toes and Utah:


Our woods are still in full "winter wonderland" mode, so I, as trailbreaker, got a little snow-covered.

Gotta love our Canadian friends. That is a classic  shot of the Trailbreaker. I love the views from Hidden Bump.

Given the weather forecast and my brief freakout over in the weather thread, I slapped myself upside the head and went out into the new snow tonight. I had considered skiing but given the late hour and two glasses of wine, snowshoeing seemed like a safer alternative.

Remember this picture from this morning, it's "before the melt." And you can mentally add the four or five extra inches that came down afterwards.


So out into the freshly cleaned driveway we went.


The dog was keen at first. After a few sniffs of the night air, he decided to wimp out and I let him back in the house.


The clouds were breaking and the moon was bright enough for navigation. The snow was beautiful, consolidated and really should have been skied.


Whatever the next two days brings, I can remember this:

With snow squalls in the forecast, I planned to hit the local slopes this morning. It is always a bit of a crapshoot, as sometimes the over-zealous groomers will have flattened everything out. Not today. Four to six inches of dense, fine grained snow covered the MGG and I managed to get first tracks on my first three runs.

I got the green light to a powder morning.


They diligently clear the railing every morning, so this is a true measure of new snowfall.


I got first chair, ahead of the patrollers and behind only the liftie destined for the summit shack. You can sort of make out my tracks on the Flying Dutchman as I head up for run #2 on Wildcat.


The race coaches blow my mind. "Hey, kids, ignore all those people hooting, hollering and having a great time in the fresh snow, we are going to set up some gates!"


After skiing every run at the place, including Dipsy Doodle, I headed home at noon, stopping in town for lunch and to do a few errands. By that time the Saturday crowds had arrived and things were pretty tracked out. Like Harv says, skiing like a local.

Paying the price now, though. I did feel a little under the weather this morning but brushed it off in the powder frenzy. Posting from bed, sick as a dog.