This is from the first day out, if I’m not mistaken – there had been obvious snowmelt revealing the vast amount of igneous rock just beneath the surface. The snow was surprisingly fast for springtime, in the morning – although by the afternoon it was nearly unrideable. The bartender referred to such conditions as having the “consistency of mashed potatoes,” which is the best analogy I’ve heard yet. It was in the 50s, and I would’ve been fine in short-sleeves.
On Sunday, the wind was what I would call “gale-force.” It was like no wind I’ve ever previously experienced – it wasn’t gusts of wind, just a constant, overwhelming force of nature. Its effects were felt most on the chairlifts, and the Easterly portion of the mountain, above 7,000 feet. Some pictures are available at my Flickr account.
On Monday, the weather was much nicer – not as warm as Friday had been, but the sun was out, the clouds were a few thousand feet below us, and we had great visibility from the summit area, which gave us some good shots where the clouds literally blanketed the valley below. I also made this virtual snowboarding video for you – although unfortunately the batteries in my camera bonked at the 29-second mark. I had fresh batteries, but they were in the car, over a mile (and 1,500 or so vertical feet) away.
