Ice, chalk, corn, slush—Palisades had all types of conditions on an absolutely beautiful spring day with nice temperatures and plenty of sunshine.
This blog was written by James Yim.
After being closed yesterday due to a nasty wet storm, I was uncertain how the skiing would be today at Palisades. I purposely moved slowly this morning as I knew the storm was wet and the temperature was freezing last night. My friend who made it out first thing mentioned that I might want to bring my ice skates with me.
I arrived after noon to a sunny mountain and spring-like conditions. The lower mountain had a mix of firm ice and slushy snow. Resort Chair is a great place to start on a sunny day as the groomer from the top of the chair gets the morning sun. That was a fun springy run all the way down to the chair. Dog Leg is quite a different aspect and had a mix of ice and slush.
Then came the good stuff. Just before 1 pm, they were able to get Big Blue, Gold Coast, and Shirley Lake open. On the Funitel ride up to the upper mountain, we saw some nice-looking turns coming down Tower 16. We headed straight there and found some soft, almost corny turns all the way down to the groomer.
We also saw some nice-looking turns from skiers skiing down the West Face and tried that next. This was not the same experience. We had a mix of ice, chalk, and slush, but hey, at least it was smooth. The bottom was getting soft and springy but there were plenty of firm spots up high.
The best runs of the day were definitely on Rock Garden from 3-4pm. I have never seen it so filled and so smooth. Awesome corn turns all the way down to Mountain Run. Once we skied it, we just kept skiing it on repeat until KT closed. Rock Garden is one of my favorite afternoon runs at Palisades, especially on sunny days, as it just gets amazing afternoon sunlight.
I’m excited to get more of the same tomorrow before the next storm rolls in Friday!
Tower 16
