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Arizona Snowbowl saved it's best conditions for the last weekend of the season. Despite the recent warm temperatures, some snowfall was due to sweep through the San Francisco Peaks on Friday. I had pretty much given up on the season, but decided to drive up on Friday night and take a chance on the conditions. Just past Sedona the weather turned cold and wet, by the time I made it to Flagstaff I was driving in a blizzard.
The resort reported 8-10 inches overnight. Driving up to the resort in the morning you couldn't help but feel the anticipation of a great day seeing all the fresh powder on the slopes.
But, the storm had not quite passed and the lifts were on wind hold with gusts up to 50 mph. It's not my thing, but I decided to change into my snowboard boots, put my soft bindings on my KTPs and to earn some turns.
I think I'm fairly fit and well conditioned. Until a few years ago I used to compete in martial arts, I still hit my heavy bag every week, put in miles on my treadmill and spend most of the summer on my skates. But, claiming uphill at altitude is a real chore for me. After just 100 yards I was huffing and puffing, my heart pounding in my ears, weak at the knees and dripping with sweat. I made the 400 ft of elevation chandler to the top of the Sunset lift in about an hour. It took two minutes to get down in the beautiful fresh, boot deep powder. That was my limit though. I have no idea how folks like Jack do ascents longer than that. And enjoy them. Thank goodness for lifts[emoji3]
Thankfully the lifts started turning and I could spend the rest of the day without my lungs claiming out of my chest. I spent the morning on the lower slopes enjoying the powder. The weather stayed cool and overcast, so even wig tracks it was still a delight to ski.
After lunch I cruised the trees, where it was knee deep in places, and the bumps. The best run was the black diamond from the top of the resort. They pushed to powder all to one side of the run to create huge mounds, drifts, banks and kickers of fresh snow. It was amazing skiing through all those natural features.
The best part of the whole day. The lift lines!
Although we didn't get a huge amount of snow this year, we had our longest season on record, from two weeks before Thanksgiving to two weeks after Easter. Mainly due to the superb way the resort handled the natural and man made snow. It was the perfect end to a great season. A little more El Niņo action would have been nice, but for the SouthWest, I'm not complaining.
The resort reported 8-10 inches overnight. Driving up to the resort in the morning you couldn't help but feel the anticipation of a great day seeing all the fresh powder on the slopes.
But, the storm had not quite passed and the lifts were on wind hold with gusts up to 50 mph. It's not my thing, but I decided to change into my snowboard boots, put my soft bindings on my KTPs and to earn some turns.
I think I'm fairly fit and well conditioned. Until a few years ago I used to compete in martial arts, I still hit my heavy bag every week, put in miles on my treadmill and spend most of the summer on my skates. But, claiming uphill at altitude is a real chore for me. After just 100 yards I was huffing and puffing, my heart pounding in my ears, weak at the knees and dripping with sweat. I made the 400 ft of elevation chandler to the top of the Sunset lift in about an hour. It took two minutes to get down in the beautiful fresh, boot deep powder. That was my limit though. I have no idea how folks like Jack do ascents longer than that. And enjoy them. Thank goodness for lifts[emoji3]
Thankfully the lifts started turning and I could spend the rest of the day without my lungs claiming out of my chest. I spent the morning on the lower slopes enjoying the powder. The weather stayed cool and overcast, so even wig tracks it was still a delight to ski.
After lunch I cruised the trees, where it was knee deep in places, and the bumps. The best run was the black diamond from the top of the resort. They pushed to powder all to one side of the run to create huge mounds, drifts, banks and kickers of fresh snow. It was amazing skiing through all those natural features.
The best part of the whole day. The lift lines!
Although we didn't get a huge amount of snow this year, we had our longest season on record, from two weeks before Thanksgiving to two weeks after Easter. Mainly due to the superb way the resort handled the natural and man made snow. It was the perfect end to a great season. A little more El Niņo action would have been nice, but for the SouthWest, I'm not complaining.
!
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