Today will definitely go down as one of the great days of the season. Mt. Rose received about 20 inches of snow last night and today which layered perfectly onto the firm base we already had.
We were skiing knee deep powder along the boundary line of South Rim and through the woods along Lower Lake View. The exposed earth in the Chutes is covered but I'm still not sure they are ready yet. Other than that the rest of the mountain is in great shape. No lift lines. No wind. It was a cold, dry, perfect day for skiing.
It should be cold all week so this weekend should be great!
Saturday was another warm, clear day, perfect for snow snow shoeing. Ken Phelps and Tom Wiles skied at Northstar and said they had a great day of warm, smooth runs.
On Sunday Ken, Tom and I hit Mt. Rose. The temperatures dropped on Saturday night and froze most of the mountain. It was like skiing in Vermont. We were kept to the groomed runs. Anything else was a chunky, frozen mess.
Video: Captain Ken Phelps tearing it up at Mt. Rose on Saturday
On Sunday night it started snowing again. When we went to bed a few inches had accumulated. On Monday morning it was still snowing on and off. The car thermostat said it was 13 degrees on the summit of Mt. Rose highway.
When we got to the mountain we were pleasantly surprised to see they had received 6-8 inches of new snow. We made some amazing runs down fresh untracked power on the side trails and easy tracked power down the center. Some patches still have rocks or ice hiding underneath them, but overall it was our best conditions of the season.
The Mt. Rose web site says that they have received 8-10 inches in the last 12 hours and 16-20 inches from this storm.
I hear the drive back down 80 was a bit of a mess last night so prepare for some 7+ hour drives either way.
