Today’s sunshine and minimal wind made for a fantastic day touring and spot-checking the upper mountain zones. From Siberia and Granite Chief to Broken Arrow, the conditions provided it all – fast groomers and chalky cold steeps to slushy corn off-piste and beyond filled-in terrain.
This report was written by Ryan Williams.
Mid-Day Session
Today’s session was a mid-day spot check, scoping out the upper mountain and the newly opened terrain of Siberia, Granite Chief, and Broken Arrow. We hoped the afternoon sunshine would deliver some fun conditions, softening the rain-affected snow. However, we were curious how the higher elevation terrain took the storm. With Granite Chief opening mid-day, it was go time. The sun was the game today, and Broken Arrow opening might just be the score on the way out on our tour, with corn snow on the incredible terrain.
Siberia
It was awesome taking this lift up today to glimpse how filled in the upper mountain has become with the 13 feet of snow we’ve received in March. The Palisades zone has gotten absolutely hammered. So cool to see how the lines have filled in. The cornice on The Chimney is amazing. Checking out Mainline Pocket was also a treat. It’s looking almost like 2006 – completely filled in.
We headed straight to this zone. At the top of the lift, we noticed how nice the main groomer was riding – smooth, in the sun, and soft, while the terrain below rider’s right – hero cliff and the ridge, was completely filled in. The terrain below the ridge looked promising, with chalky wintery snow. The drop-in was super icy, and once we got into our second turn, the snow was riding fun – wintery, 2” of windbuff style snow that ripped all the way down to the flats, just above the gully. Looking back up, the turns were quite fun, considering it had just rained on this terrain over the past few days. It was awesome watching everyone ripping turns in the sun.
Shirley
After a few laps on Siberia, we jammed over to Granite Chief. On the way, we hit a lap down Shirley, enjoying the fun, fast groomer, and side little windpack stashes. Overall the groomers were smooth, fun, and edgeable great snow – so long you watched for the few icy patches. Halfway down, we commented that the groomers on the sift sunny south-facing slopes back on Siberia and Mountain Run were riding so much better than Shirley’s wintery groomers with icy patches. We had a blast hitting the trees, with side hits throughout Shirley today.
Granite Chief
Heading up the lift, it was awesome to see how filled in the terrain has become with the massive amount of snow we’ve received. Granite Chief Peak is looking fabulous. The hike to the peak wasn’t open today; however, most of the terrain from the chair was open.
Dropping in at the top, the snow was great in the sun/south facing, and in the shade/north facing, it was icy and hard with spots of chalkiness windpack. Feeling the snow out, we headed out to one of our favorite zones that’s south facing, traversing across below the peak. Approaching our drop-in, the snow looked awesome – spring-like corn and ripping. The turns were terrific. Too funny to have been riding this zone just a few days ago in deep winter pow, to now chasing sun and corn. Always fun. Love our CA shredding.
Broken Arrow
After the spot check in Granite, we felt the south-facing slopes of the newly opened terrain of Broken Arrow could be a total score for the day’s conditions. The hike up to the drop-in was so lovely in the sun today. At the top, seeing only a few tracks in the excellent corn snow below the transverse out was fantastic. We were stoked to score this zone with timing today. The sun had just baked the south-facing slopes, and the snow was still riding fast. And with a few chutes and zones still untracked, it was game on.
The turns and drops in this zone were by far the best today. Fast, smooth, and deep turns in the fantastic sunshine corn snow. We will be heading back to this spot tomorrow, at the same time, to score more fun slushy corn turns. The mountain is riding so amazing, with all the filled-in terrain – it’s a gigantic playground with so many new features. The next few days with the sun are going to be awesome.
