Today was another chance to take advantage of the new snow from Winter Storm Ronnie, and I had time in the morning to head up to the mountain for some turns. Based on the incredible numbers of visitors yesterday, I figured that untracked lines would be few and far between on the lift served terrain, so I decided to hit the Bolton Valley Nordic & Backcountry Network for a ski tour and get some exercise.
The morning weather was very similar to what we’d been gifted yesterday – sunny, with little wind and temperatures a bit below freezing. I didn’t have time to head all the way up to Bryant Cabin, but I was able to go for a nice loop up the Bryant Trail, onto Coyote, and then up to Gotham City on my tour. With the number of visitors yesterday, I thought that even the backcountry terrain might be heavily tracked up, but that wasn’t the case – there had been a moderate amount of activity, and plenty of untracked lines remained.
There was excellent powder to be found, and I’d say it was just as good as yesterday – if it was protected from the sun. Even with temperatures generally below freezing yesterday, the clear and sunny skies with that late March sun angle were too much for the snow. I suspect the situation was somewhat better if you went high enough in elevation, but least in the 2,000’ to 2,500’ elevation band where I was skiing, areas that had seen direct sun had a substantial sun crust. The effect of the sun was potent enough that it absolutely wrecked the powder skiing in those exposed areas, and it was such a thick and semi-breakable crust in places that the skiing was extremely challenging there. Thankfully, if you skied shaded snow, the powder was in beautiful shape, so I certainly stuck to those lines as much as possible. We’ll likely be warming up at all elevations this week with some spring-like weather, but we may have another substantial storm cycle coming in next week to bring back more spring powder skiing.
