3/11/09

[Schif]

So today I went up Elk to take advantage of their college discount on Wednesdays. You can get a day ticket for $15 with a college ID.

 

So I got up there around 10 am a little wary of the forecast which called for some rain before noon. I showed up to very cloudy skies and a very very heavy fog on the top of the mountain. I met up with my two cousins, one of them being PASR's very own Pyro_boarder, and hopped on the double to the top. The top of the mountain was an absolute soup, you couldn't see more than 3 chairs in front of you on the lift, and it was bad visibility wise on the trails too. On the upside, the snow was incredible. Smooth extremely carvable but not very soft or slushy, it was actually a pretty fast snow. It of course softened up during the day, but never got really bad. We spent most of the morning skiing off of the quad and had a great time. The snow was in mid winter form. Great base depth all over the mountain and edge to edge coverage, with some snow in the woods! Just a few spots where the snow had cracked and slid away on a trail or 2, but other than that it was great. Not a single spot of brown on my board at all at the end of the day.

 

There really weren't that many people there today which definitely helped the snow stay amazing. Everyone I saw today was a top notch skier or boarder so the trails only had smooth carve lines on them rather than scraped away snow.

 

I was being a 2 layer player with my underarmour and just a fleece and nothing on my head for the majority of the day. The fog lasted for quite a while but started to break after we had lunch around 1. After that the sun came out and the fog burned away nicely. I had to open up my fleece a little bit to get air in there. Snow got a little slushy towards the end of the day, but only in really high traffic areas like the tops and bottoms of lifts.

 

All in all it was an unbelievable day, and if you guys need to get out and get the feel of January in March you should hit up Elk.

[rummy]

Hey Schif-- it was fun today. Herm and I were there too. I probably saw you as there were probably only about 50 people there and we spent most of our day on the quad too. The word from some of the regulars is Elk is planning on making snow this Thurs and Fri, and closing day will be March 28th.

 

I think you'll always find a large crew of great skiers and riders at Elk. The noobs give up this time of year.

 

Unfortunately, I think today was the last day of the $15 Wild Wednesdays.

 

Come back again and introduce yourself to the Old Pharts sitting in the bar talking to the bar tender we have reserved seats....

[elkskibum]

That's great that the snow held up after all the rain and warmth they had over the weekend, the difference between friday and monday was pretty depressing, and I was starting to get a little concerned about the snow staying around. How were the bumps? They were fantastic in the soft snow but with the freeze up they might be a little "firm", haha. As far as making snow, the only thing I can see them doing is pulling out the cannons on the West Slope, just to make sure the base by the lodge and on West stays around for the slope style comp for spring carnival.

 

Also, on said spring carnival (march 21st) they are going to offer buy one pass get a second for 50 cents in celebration of 50 years, which will make the awesomeness of spring carnival even better. (as there will be more people to see me in my costume, haha.)

[rummy]

Didn't ski the bumps Wed, but the few people who were there weren't making any OMG noises. May be different now as the temps have dropped into the freezing zone again.

 

Didn't know about the $.50 tickets, that sounds sweet. I did hear they were going to have some major games and entertainment on Sat the 21st in the bar and are planning to continue the 50th anniversary celebration into next season.

[rummy]

Wow rummy..reserved seats at the bar..you must tip more than 15%

 

We tip so much we get invited to the end of year employee party as guests of the bartenders.....