December 9 We received a little new snow today. 3 inches. We were hoping for more but we will take it. The new snow softened things up quite a bit. I went up again with Tom from maintenance and met up with our friends Weber (31 year local) and Todd from Conifer CO. We enjoyed the sun shine but it was a bit cold outside. We saw them running the Tea Cup lift and China Bowl lift. They aren’t open yet, but they must be preparing for this weekend. More snow predicted at the end of the week! Chris R.
picture from Dec 9th
December 8 Yesterday was a wonderful Spring type of ski day with sun and warm temperatures. This means that the snow was soft and everything was “right” in the world. It also means that when I and Aaron (Antlers maintenance) went up at 9am this morning, we encountered hard and crusty snow. We stuck to the groomers and made it all the way to Northwoods. You had to stay on the groomed stuff for decent skiing. Unfortunately, the groomers took a little too much liberty with their blades on a couple of runs and pulled up some rocks. Yikes! We saw a couple of guys heading to Chair 5 in Vail’s Back Bowls, but I think they were headed for trouble until it softens up back there. The good news is that snow is coming this afternoon and they are calling for 4-8 more inches through Tuesday. We hope to have some powder pictures for you in the coming days. Vail has the most terrain open in the state of Colorado. Chris R.December 5 They opened Game Creek bowl today, but I skipped it. No one was in North woods. The 6 inches of snow we received the day before is filling in all the holes. Good cruising everywhere but a little cold on the face. They are calling for sunshine and warmer weather the next two days. It should be crazy tomorrow with the opening of Chair 10 on the front and Chair 5 for the Back Bowls. They have blown enough snow to start making the half pipe on Bwana, so hopefully they open that for the boarders in the coming week. Chris R.
December 4 Still snowing outside. They reported 4 inches of new but it was snowing hard most of the day. I had 90 minutes to take some ski runs about 2:30pm. It was pretty quiet up on the mountain and a bit cloudy at the top with the snow coming down. Wide open cruising up in Northwoods although it was a bit bumped up due to the powder. Rumors say Game Creek opens tomorrow. You have to wonder if they are thinking of open up the back bowls, but they probably want the snow to settle first. Chris R.
December 3 See Matt’s post below on the “No Friends on powder days” for a Dec. 3rd update
December 2 Finally some sunshine today. We had a good group go up mid-day and conditions felt like February or March. Everyone was skiing well. Lots of smiles. Soft snow and warmer. We did laps on Mountain Top Express, Wildwood Express and Avanti Express. Most of the front is open but still no Northwoods or Game Creek. There is enough snow, so we don’t know what they are waiting for. Chris R.
Tom(from Antlers Engineering)Kris (from Wisconsin)Glen (from Wisconsin)Sarah (Italy, Chris’s boss)Simone (Head Chef at Campo De Fiori)
December 1 It is a another powder day. Vail ski conditions are great with 4 more inches today. This makes 22 inches in the last three days. We have wonderful skiing and there is hardly anyone on Vail mountain. Everyone left after the Thanksgiving holiday so it was pretty quiet on the mountain. This is pretty typical in early December, lighty dry snow and a whole ski run to yourself. No pictures today (sorry). I did a bunch of runs off of Chairs 3 and 4. There are even some small bumps forming here and there. We hope they open Northwoods and Game Creek bowls in the coming week. There is certainly plenty of snow. Chris R.
Coming down to Lionshead
