The snowy day
Off he went, into the deep, deep snow(Ezra Keats). The storm of the season certainly lived up to its name. We got 50cm of snow over the last 36 hours and about 80cm in the last week. That’s a lotta snow to fall in such a short time. It’s made life in the city a challenge (thank you 4-wheel drive) but for the most part things are now looking good. This snow allows us to get closer to the record of snowiest winter ever…. But there’s still a ways to go and we’re running out of days. We need 40cm more in the next 10 days. Could be a tall order but we’ll see.
I skied in the Park before, during and after the storm and for the most part, the only challenge was the actual getting
to the park. Once there the skiing was fine. Friday I dodged out of work a little early to try and get a skate ski in before the snow started to fall. I was a little late (ie it was snowing when I got there) and there was a good 5 or 6 cms down before I got back to the car but for the most part the skiing was great (on past Wednesdays great snow). The roads and parking lots were actually surprisingly empty but I guess people were hunkering down for the big storm to hit.
Saturday I got up to the Park around noon. There was a brief window in the storm Saturday morning where the snow tapered off for a spell. Many had taken the chance to drive up to get a ski in before the second wave of snow arrived. P7 was pretty much full when I arrived. That said I was a bit late getting going and the snow started to pound down on me by about 2pm. I did a tour of some great backcountry trails most of which had been broken out already. I met quite a few skiers on the trails and every one had a big smile on their face. The groomers were also rolling around on the main trails (Parkway, Ridge, Burma). They were clearly trying to get the first lot of snow packed down before the next layer came. Good on them to make the effort. As the storm picked up I ran into problems. While the skiing was fine, my glasses would either ice up or fog over. Both resulted in the same outcome - that I couldn't see where I was going so I slowly made my way back to the car. I’ll have to see if I can invest in defrosters for my glasses. When I got back to the car around 4 the lots were now all but empty – again I assume people had raced home to hunker down. The drive home was, umm... a slow crawl as the storm was really hammering down. The plows were out but it was a bit of a losing battle so I made slow progress to get home safe. Other drivers did not seem to exercise the same caution and I came across many cars in (on top of ?) snowbanks, crunched into other cars and so on… Seems common sense (slowing down in a big storm) isn't so common.
Sunday I woke up and loaded up to go for another ski. The roads were now cleared so the drive was easy. Once in the Park I found the parking lots almost empty!?! I guess people were home digging out or resting aching shoveling muscles so – for the most part - I had the trails to myself. The groomers had been around some of the main trails and were working on others. Even groomed the trails were pretty (really?) soft…. But that’s to be expected. With so much snow there’s no way to instantly lay down a solid base to groom. As a result things were a little slow. I broke out a couple of backcountry trails which was hard work (or maybe I’m just a wreck from shoveling so much snow) and skied around a few of the groomed trails. It was a beautiful day – a bit cold but the sun was starting to come out making it a nice day to be out. The depth of snow is amazing right now. Should make for some great skiing for the next little(long?) while.
Off he went, into the deep, deep snow(Ezra Keats). The storm of the season certainly lived up to its name. We got 50cm of snow over the last 36 hours and about 80cm in the last week. That’s a lotta snow to fall in such a short time. It’s made life in the city a challenge (thank you 4-wheel drive) but for the most part things are now looking good. This snow allows us to get closer to the record of snowiest winter ever…. But there’s still a ways to go and we’re running out of days. We need 40cm more in the next 10 days. Could be a tall order but we’ll see.
I skied in the Park before, during and after the storm and for the most part, the only challenge was the actual getting to the park. Once there the skiing was fine. Friday I dodged out of work a little early to try and get a skate ski in before the snow started to fall. I was a little late (ie it was snowing when I got there) and there was a good 5 or 6 cms down before I got back to the car but for the most part the skiing was great (on past Wednesdays great snow). The roads and parking lots were actually surprisingly empty but I guess people were hunkering down for the big storm to hit.
Saturday I got up to the Park around noon. There was a brief window in the storm Saturday morning where the snow tapered off for a spell. Many had taken the chance to drive up to get a ski in before the second wave of snow arrived. P7 was pretty much full when I arrived. That said I was a bit late getting going and the snow started to pound down on me by about 2pm. I did a tour of some great backcountry trails most of which had been broken out already. I met quite a few skiers on the trails and every one had a big smile on their face. The groomers were also rolling around on the main trails (Parkway, Ridge, Burma). They were clearly trying to get the first lot of snow packed down before the next layer came. Good on them to make the effort. As the storm picked up I ran into problems. While the skiing was fine, my glasses would either ice up or fog over. Both resulted in the same outcome - that I couldn't see where I was going so I slowly made my way back to the car. I’ll have to see if I can invest in defrosters for my glasses. When I got back to the car around 4 the lots were now all but empty – again I assume people had raced home to hunker down. The drive home was, umm... a slow crawl as the storm was really hammering down. The plows were out but it was a bit of a losing battle so I made slow progress to get home safe. Other drivers did not seem to exercise the same caution and I came across many cars in (on top of ?) snowbanks, crunched into other cars and so on… Seems common sense (slowing down in a big storm) isn't so common.
Sunday I woke up and loaded up to go for another ski. The roads were now cleared so the drive was easy. Once in the Park I found the parking lots almost empty!?! I guess people were home digging out or resting aching shoveling muscles so – for the most part - I had the trails to myself. The groomers had been around some of the main trails and were working on others. Even groomed the trails were pretty (really?) soft…. But that’s to be expected. With so much snow there’s no way to instantly lay down a solid base to groom. As a result things were a little slow. I broke out a couple of backcountry trails which was hard work (or maybe I’m just a wreck from shoveling so much snow) and skied around a few of the groomed trails. It was a beautiful day – a bit cold but the sun was starting to come out making it a nice day to be out. The depth of snow is amazing right now. Should make for some great skiing for the next little(long?) while.
3 comments:
By the sounds of it, you don't have a driveway to shovel??
Not normally no, but with the amount of snow, our plowing contractor did a haphazard job and then ran off to other projects so there was lots of shovelling just to make room for the car to start to move... once moving, the 4 wheel drive took me through most anything. There was also a lot of car pushing(others) once out on the streets. Today I had to shovel through the yard to unbury my basement windows. Don't want them submerged in water when the snow starts to melt.
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