Snow is snow, right? And all snow is good. But there is such a thing as good snow, better snow and best snow.
Any snow is good snow . unless it shows up in the off season and thwarts an early morning tee time. But during the winter season, we take what we can get and just hope that every little bit stacks up in the mountains.
Early season, any snow that separates the track and skis from the dirt and rocks is good snow. This allows you to "wander" about the back country, but falls short of allowing you to perform any aggressive moves. You are basically driving a snowmobile . much like you would drive an ATV.
Better snow gives you enough separation from Mother Earth to allow you to grab a fist full of throttle and lay your sled out on its side to make an aggressive turn. Although you still have to be somewhat suspicious of unusual mounds in the snow, for the most part you feel confident that your track isn't going to come in contact with any hard objects that are determined not to be moved.
Best snow is when you don't even concern yourself with what could be laying in wait under the snow. In fact, your greatest concern is the amount of snow coming over your hood and into your face. It's these days we dream about . when there's almost too much snow.
So far this winter there has been "good snow;" the kind that if you get too ambitious you may be spending some shop time replacing front end parts. We're still waiting for one more good storm to move us into the "better snow" category where one can leave the trails in search of greater adventures. Hopefully that will show up before Christmas. Usually we don't see the best snow until January-after Mother Nature has had a chance to coat its landscape with multiple layers of better snow.
Now I don't want to sound pushy, but I sure hope Mother Nature does something quickly. Some of us don't have the patience to wait through all the snow cycles. And I certainly don't want to be asking Santa to bring me a new front end for Christmas.
-SJ