Thursday - odd forecast, bluebird day!

The forecast for today kept changing all the past week. Sunny. Then snowy. Then snowy/r'y. Then mixed. We didn't know what to expect, but this morning, they predicted 45 and fair, so I donned less clothing - took the liner out of my coat, donned my new Summit Series ski pants (30% off courtesy of Gallatin Alpine Sports), and we all headed to the mountain at a reasonable hour. The mountain indeed looked brilliant as we headed up. Tip for the wise - they sell tickets inside the ticket building sometimes anyway - this morning it saved me 10 minutes - go to guest services! Being spring break week, it was busy outside, but I was out in moments, and on swifty heading toward the tram. I was determined to make it a tram day if the weather was good. Skiing so much this week, I didn't mind waiting in line. My first trip, though, I only waited 3 trams and was whooshed up the mountain. I skied Lenin, and it was nice, so after a few fine turns on windpacked powder, I curved right into one of the dictator chutes. I had never done this before, but it was great - nice and steep. Came to the bottom of that to face another choice - curve back to Lenin or head over a precipice and past a caution sign with promising looking powder field below. I swallowed deep (because I was skiing by myself) and went over the precipice. It was very steep, but the snow was good and I saw only one or 2 rocks. The powder field below was a little 'set up', but quite skiable as there were few tracks. I was grinning ear to ear.

After a few more morning runs, I met the crew for lunch and recruited Wesley for a tram ride..which turned into 3, when he enjoyed the first one so much, despite the 30 minute wait. A rapid descent of Marx soon gave me to know that he was ready for the big boy stuff. And he was game, so we waited in line again (shorter this time), and did Lenin, which was in great shape - even smoother than Marx, and steeper of course. I pulled out my iphone clinometer to discover that it was 41 degrees about half way down - well past the steepest part! We were psyched to do another tram run - the line this time was 30 minutes again, but it was worth it. I had been watching people ski the 1st gully all day, and decided it would be memorable for Wesley, so that was our next triumph. We skied between the two large rock outcrops at the top (2nd gully?) then slipped over to first below, going all the way into the bowl. I traversed over to steeps I had done before on the far left side, and snagged some more good turns there, but the turkey traverse was a bit rough this time. Tired out by now, it was time for some fast groomers to end a memorable 4-tram day. Mr. K nonstop, 2 Elk Park Ridges nonstop, and Silver Knife ended my day on a high note - all the groomers are in great shape now, thanks to the snow on Tuesday.

It's been a fine week of skiing so far. Bambu Bar and Grill for apres ski was nice (tho no music til Saturday), and Jim's Burritos for dinner tonight. I'll add pics in a bit.