Today’s conditions surprised, despite the rain-snow mix, providing a milky pow day on the lower mountain with 6”-8” new snow. From the woods and gullies of Red Dod and Far East to the awesomeness at higher elevations on KT22. Even though the weather was soggy and wet, the riding was fun and ripping. A great day to celebrate the legacy of Jake Burton. Ride on, Jake.
This report was written by Ryan Williams.
Lower Mountain
The day’s conditions started with snow falling as we walked over to the lifts around 8:30. The parking lot was quiet, as were the lifts. It looked like the lower mountain lifts would pop soon, so we headed over to KT22 and got second in line. As the clouds cleared, the snow looked awesome to the top. The mountain ops and patrol were crushing it – thank you, getting ready to open. It sounded like it would be a bit, so we headed over to Red Dog to get some laps and beta on the conditions.
Red Dog
We were stoked to roll up to Red Dog shortly after 9am and hop on. The conditions were wet on the chair, with a mix of rain and snow at the bottom, then all snow at the top. It was a rare storm pow day on a weekend to have so few people out riding – such a treat. Heading up the lift, we noticed so many untracked runs and zones. The new snow looked to be ripping, almost a foot deep, just slow and sluggish. At the top, we opted for one of our favorite zones off Red Dog, straight down. From the top, the snow was super soft and wet, about 8” deep, however super icy underneath from the rain we had all day long on Friday up to the top of KT.
Heading through the trees to a chute zone, the new snow was riding well and cruisy, super fun hitting all the features. The new snow was great, just in the chutes where the wind and rain had hammered, it was easy to kick off.
From the top zone, we then ripped down to the gullies and trees all along Poulsen’s Gully. The snow was amazing, holding much better than in the wind-affected chutes up top. We lapped this zone all morning, scoring untracked pow, run after run.
After a few laps between Red Dog and Far East, we saw that KT22 had opened. It was go time.
KT22
Rolling up on this lift on a Saturday pow day was so rare and awesome. They opened around 11am. As we rode up the lift, the visibility improved, and the snow looked awesome. All the zones looked terrific. The storm delivered more snow to KT than Red Dog, especially above the Fingers. The lift ride was wet, turning to all snow and wintery at the top.
At the top, the wind and storm were howling. We zipped to Olympic Lady to some of our favorite storm day zones. And did we score. We hit untracked snow top to bottom, from diagonal chute down to the waterfall cliffs. It was amazing and magical. It was just us. Felt like a heliboarding run. We chilled halfway to soak it all in. The conditions were fantastic, especially considering that it was pouring rain at the bottom yesterday all day. We ripped almost a foot of fresh untracked top to bottom. The snow was a bit slow, but the new snow ripped, smooth, velvety, and fun. Staying on your feet was key today. So many untracked lines, chutes, and drops we got on KT. It was a fantastic time.
Grateful for mountain ops and patrol managing the snow safety for us all to enjoy the mountain.
Today was a special day, filled with awesome pow in the woods and all around KT. Such a great way to rip around the mountain celebrating Jake Burton. Tonight’s storm is going to bring another fantastic pow day for tomorrow. Shred on.
