The conditions today were a classic dust on crust pow day, with 2”- 4” of cold wintery new snow from last night’s storm on a fast hard surface beneath. Upper mountain’s more filled conditions delivered fun pow riding at Palisades today. From Sun Bowl and C2, to watching a Chimney session, it was a ripping morning!
This blog was written by Ryan Williams
KT22
This morning’s session started on KT22. Arriving at the lift at 8:59am, the line was chill and we rolled right on. The temps were really cold on the lift up, especially as the storm’s clouds still hung on the east, holding back the sun. Once we got to the top, the clouds began to part and the sun revealed the fun pow conditions all around KT22.
At the top, we jammed out to East Face to enjoy the more wind-filled zone from the storm. The bowl was caked with a nice layer of fresh, however, the tops of the moguls were still peaking in spots at the top. As we navigated through the top pow stash ribbons, the middle section was much more smooth and we were able to open up with big pow turns. And with the sunlight, the cold blower 4″ of pow was glistening with each turn. Looking around, it was just us and one other person in the bowl. Top to bottom the turns were pretty fun in the low tide pow conditions.
On our next lap, at the top the clouds cleared on Headwall, the conditions were looking awesome – much more caked on the upper mountain, and the lift had just opened. It was time to venture to Headwall. From the top of KT, we took a lap down through the Saddle’s awesome rolling terrain. The conditions between the Saddle and Enchanted had much better snow than Olympic Lady’s East Face. The pow was deeper and much more consistently filled in all throughout. We had a blast ripping a few steep lines, mini drops, and pow slashes.
Headwall
Arriving at the bottom, we rolled right on with no lines. It was a treat to have a quiet pow day and the sun coming out, with upper mountain’s terrain opening. We had our eyes on Sun Bowl and C2 zones. Heading up the lift it was awesome to watch the first laps of people rip the slot, the bowl, and Hogsback. The snow was looking awesome and more filled in than KT. People were stoking all around.
At the top, it was incredible to see that the Palisades had just opened. The session was on and people were getting after it. The wind was howling, the snow was looking awesome and the blue skies were out. It was cool watching our friends and crew kick off an incredible Chimney session, stomping the classic lines and drops.
Dropping into Sun Bowl, we found some amazing untracked zones with ripping pow turns and the sun shining on the lake. With each cold blower turn, it was wild to think that it is springtime and not winter. And that is just how the day felt, a full-on mid-winter dust on crust pow day. Like it was January.
The pow turns in Sun Bowl were awesome. As we ventured out on the traverse into C2, the snow got even better. At the top of our drop-in, we paused to enjoy the glistening snow below, filled in so well and ready to rip. The conditions were awesome, you could open up much more, ripping big pow turns in the morning light down the steeps into the meadow below.
The snow was so good in this zone that we continued ripping lap after lap. From C2 and Horse Trails, down to The Moons and more. The new snow in this zone was a total score – some of the deepest and most consistent pow of the day. As the morning rolled on, the sun came out more, mixed with the occasional flurries, making for a fun spring-winter day. And even with just a few inches of new snow, the dust on crust refresh pow was an awesome morning session, all around the mountain.
