The mountain was fantastic today, with the cold night temperatures preserving the new snow, making for excellent conditions.
This report was written by Ryan Williams.
From the glades of Enchanted Forest and Sibo to the steeps of Rock Garden and Headwall, there is still untracked powder to find, while the tracked-out areas are still soft and ripping.
We woke up to 11-degree temps this morning and decided to make it an afternoon on the mountain, arriving at 12pm. We headed straight to KT to get the beta on the conditions. This lift is incredible for getting quick vertical and scoping out all the aspects of sun, snow, and wind while getting views of other zones.
This was a treat for all the terrain around KT. It was great to see that the tracked-out areas that looked like bumps were super soft and rippable cold snow. And fitting for today’s special day, riding to honor the great late Craig Kelly (who passed 20 years ago today). We planned to hit classic zones around Palisades, where he had captured many images, inspiring many of us.
We took the road out to the Saddle from the top to Enchanted Forest. The snow on the cat track was soft, fast, and velvety. It was nice to get some carves in as we ventured out to hunt for powder. The side hits on the cat track were awesome. Stoked to hit this spot today – a classic.
Enchanted Forest
We headed out to this magical zone on the mountain from the Saddle cat track. It sits between KT and Headwall and holds some great snow, even a few days after a storm. Its north-facing slope preserves new snow longer, not getting baked by the sun.
We were fortunate to find a sweet spot that provided a few untracked turns through the glades and trees. The snow was incredible, still cold powder but slightly wind affected. The pow turns were awesome. The cliffs in the middle of the zone still had some great landings, while the rollers had a few pow stashes to slash. We got a few laps over here, then headed to Rock Garden.
Rock Garden
When we got into Rock Garden, the afternoon sun had wrapped around and filled the chutes with great lighting. The snow was still soft and cold, with a few pockets of pow on the sides and in spots you hunted out. Top to bottom, this run was remarkable today. It was a total surprise; we could’ve lapped it all afternoon. This zone is a classic and is filling in amazingly this year.
Headwall
On the lift up, we noticed that, like KT, there was still a bunch of great fresh pow to hunt out, and the tracked-out spots were riding soft and fast. At the top, we check out The Palisades, as they were open today. The snow looked incredible; however, the wind over the ridge was howling.
We opted for the quick fix and went into the Garbage Chutes. This zone had great snow today and one of our favorite waves on the mountain to slash. Top to bottom, the chutes ripped today.
Making our way under the Siberia lift, the snow was fun and fast. A few bumps, but rippable. We ventured into the trees and around the way to find some awesome pow with wild wind ridges. It was so great to find pow stashes around this zone today.
Tower 16 + Sunnyside
It was great to see the cold snow holding well on the south-facing slopes of Tower 16. The snow was amazing, a bit tracked out, but still riding awesome, and pow stashes to be had. Sunnyside is always a fun way to finish the day, and today the side hits were on point for blasting methods and getting after it. As we made it down to the mountain run, we found some great pow stashes – a terrific way to wrap up this special day for CK and kick off the weekend.
