The storm turned to snow mid-day, delivering a fun pow day on the top of KT. From waking up to rain at the base at 8am and waiting to arriving at KT’s opening at 11am and ripping pow all afternoon till closing. Today’s conditions were variable and wild, from mashy smooth pow to windpack pow awesomeness. It was a great storm day riding.
This report was written by Ryan Williams.
KT22
This morning’s rain prevented us from heading to the mountain until 11am. We noticed the rain had hammed the snow down low on the lift-up, making it slow. When we walked over, it was great timing with KT22 just opening and with a minimal line – just a few people. Looking up to the top, it looked much colder, with the new snow on the trees and promising a fun pow day.
At the top, the wind and snow were howling. Noticing the direction of the wind and the snow getting carried, we opted for the loaded zones of Olympic Lady below the ridge and lift. The traverse out today had some wild wind ridges all along the cat track across the top. The wind was kicking and creating some crazy features. Making it to the top of Olympic Lady, the sun popped for a movement showing the excellent conditions of 8”-10” fresh pow, top to bottom. The sun popping also showed how deep the lift was buried at the top. This season has been fantastic, with non-stop pow days and the Oly Lift shows.
We dropped in fall line right under the lift, above diagonal chute, ripping incredible pow. The snow was excellent, top to bottom in this zone. Flowing through the open glades, with the sun popping and the snow ripping, smooth pow, just a bit slow with all the moisture in it. The new snow was awesome all the way down through Waterfall Gully and the Shark Fin Spine. Love this zone. And today, it was a blast. However, once we got to the cat track, the snow was much slower, filled with rain. The upper section of KT was so much fun we jammed back for multiple laps.
Rock Garden
With the wind blasting, we were hesitant to hit this zone immediately. We headed to one of our favorite drop-ins and pockets that gets a nice wind fill on days like today. And today, it was ripping with great cold snow for the section. Once we got into the open areas, the wind had hammered, creating patches of pow and ice. Navigating the pockets was key, and once past the midsection, it was awesome pow – a bit colder than on Olympic Lady but not as deep.
The colder pow was faster in this zone, providing some fun bigger open turns, and with the visibility getting better. The snow down to just above Head Wall was super fun. The snow seemed to get more rain affected as we approached the mountain run. And it sure was. The mountain run from Headwall lift to KT22 was wet and rainy. The snow on KT was well worth it – cold and snowy. We lapped KT for many more.
Arnies + Strawberry Fields
We noticed how sweet Arnie’s looked and the cliff drop in when heading up the lift. At the top, we jammed right over to this zone to find untracked goodness. Hitting the cliff into the chute in this zone was a blast today. Riding down to the cliff zone below, just above Strawberry Fields, the snow began to change significantly, getting heavier from the rain. The steep chutes and drops were still a blast in this zone.
Alternates
Following the wind and the pockets of good pow, we ventured out to The Nose and The Alternates. And to our surprise, the winds made these zones awesome today. We ripped down into one of our favorite zones on the alternates to find untracked goodness at 1:30pm. This zone was riding so well today, filled with great snow. We lapped over and over.
Pow Til Closing
At around 2pm, the storm turned to all snow, from top to base. Seeing the wind fill some of our favorite zones, we returned for the closing bell run at 4pm. We scored a top-to-bottom pow run when heading to The Rock Garden. Such an awesome way to wrap up the day of variable pow riding! Tomorrow is looking to be another fantastic pow day. Shred on.
