With warming temperatures in the forecast today, I figured the slopes would be softening up, so it felt like a good day for some lift-served skiing. Temperatures were still well below freezing this morning though, so I was unsure how quickly surfaces would soften, and I decided to sharpen the edges on my mid-fat Telemark skis. Last time I really seemed to need edges earlier this month, I found them sorely lacking, so it felt like it was time. I can’t recall the last time I sharpened the edges of those skis, but it has to have been at least a couple of years
Out on the slopes I found an interesting mix of conditions. We’ve had some mountain temperature inversions in place recently, so I actually found some of the softest conditions up high near the summits, while groomed slopes with manmade snow were notably firmer on the lower mountain. While there was nothing that was outrageously icy, it was nice to have the extra sharpness to my edges on the manmade snow.
One exciting thing I saw in the Bolton Valley Snow Report this morning was that resort had finally opened up the Cobrass area, which included Cobrass and nearby trails like Preacher, Devil’s Playground, and Cobrass Woods. Today being my first chance to check out the conditions in that area, I headed right down Cobrass for my first run. Being up near the summit where the warmer temperatures of the inversion had been around for a bit, I found that the snow on Cobrass had already softened up nicely. The skier’s right of the steep upper section had excellent soft snow that had been built up by skier traffic. It was so good that I went right back to it on my next run. I also hit Alta Vista off the Vista Summit, and it was nice, but it didn’t offer up quite as much soft snow as Cobrass.
We’re moving out of the quiet period of weather that we’ve had over the past several days in a more active regime. The system moving into the area over the next couple of days doesn’t look like it will provide any snow, but the one behind it should give the local mountains their next shot at substantial accumulation, with the potential for upslope snow on the back side.