Just got back from what had to have been the BEST RIDE of the entire season for Island Park.
Pulled into the big springs warming hut parking lot this morning.
Place was completely empty with just a trace of fresh powder on the ground.
Hopped on the main trail en route to Black Bear.
Just one notch above ICE, as the groomer hasn't run since Mid-March.
Smoked the Hyfax a couple times when we forget to stop and get some snow on them.
Below 7,000ft or so, it was Ugly.
But.
As we started up the mountain thing got better, A LOT better, then Great, then just plain AWESOME.
The higher we climbed the better, the more, the deeper the snow became.
NO ONE had been on the trail in days.
Nothing but fresh untracked powder and hundreds and hundreds of drifts to bash!
By the time we got up to the top after breaking trail for the better part of an hour, we were in 1ft of fresh powder on a "HERO" base. You couldn't get stuck on this if you tried!
The whole top of the mountain was UN-TRACKED, WIDE OPEN, Absolutely the best I have seen all season. We rode till we were afraid we were going to run out of gas!
It was snowing lightly most of the day.
By mid afternoon it was snowing HARD AND STEADY!
We saw one group of 3 sledders from Drigs on the mountain the whole day.
Most people turned around and bailed because of the drifts.
Visibility was good, but the light was EXTREMELY FLAT.
Depth Perception was a bear.
We are heading back up on Saturday!!
<table class="dataTable" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><thead><tr><td colspan="2">Updated: 2:25 PM MDT on April 1, 2010</td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr class="wHover"> <td colspan="2"> <table id="noticeForecast" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr class="vaM"> <td>
</td> <td class="full"> Active Notice: Local Storm Report (US Severe Weather)
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr class="wHover"> <td>
</td> <td class="full"> Tonight
Mostly cloudy. Scattered snow showers in the evening... then isolated snow showers after midnight. Colder. Snow accumulation around 1 inch.Lows 11 to 21.
</td> </tr> <tr class="wHover"> <td>
</td> <td class="full"> Friday
Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of snow in the morning... then a chance of snow and a slight chance of rain in the afternoon. Highs 32 to 39.
</td> </tr> <tr class="wHover"> <td>
</td> <td class="full"> Friday Night
Snow likely. Breezy. Snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches. Lows 19 to 26.
</td> </tr> <tr class="wHover"> <td>
</td> <td class="full"> Saturday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow. Highs 32 to 39.
</td> </tr> <tr class="wHover"> <td>
</td> <td class="full"> Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow showers. Lows 12 to 21. </td></tr></tbody></table>
Pulled into the big springs warming hut parking lot this morning.
Place was completely empty with just a trace of fresh powder on the ground.
Hopped on the main trail en route to Black Bear.
Just one notch above ICE, as the groomer hasn't run since Mid-March.
Smoked the Hyfax a couple times when we forget to stop and get some snow on them.
Below 7,000ft or so, it was Ugly.
But.
As we started up the mountain thing got better, A LOT better, then Great, then just plain AWESOME.
The higher we climbed the better, the more, the deeper the snow became.
NO ONE had been on the trail in days.
Nothing but fresh untracked powder and hundreds and hundreds of drifts to bash!
By the time we got up to the top after breaking trail for the better part of an hour, we were in 1ft of fresh powder on a "HERO" base. You couldn't get stuck on this if you tried!
The whole top of the mountain was UN-TRACKED, WIDE OPEN, Absolutely the best I have seen all season. We rode till we were afraid we were going to run out of gas!
It was snowing lightly most of the day.
By mid afternoon it was snowing HARD AND STEADY!
We saw one group of 3 sledders from Drigs on the mountain the whole day.
Most people turned around and bailed because of the drifts.
Visibility was good, but the light was EXTREMELY FLAT.
Depth Perception was a bear.
We are heading back up on Saturday!!
<table class="dataTable" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><thead><tr><td colspan="2">Updated: 2:25 PM MDT on April 1, 2010</td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr class="wHover"> <td colspan="2"> <table id="noticeForecast" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr class="vaM"> <td>
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr class="wHover"> <td>
Mostly cloudy. Scattered snow showers in the evening... then isolated snow showers after midnight. Colder. Snow accumulation around 1 inch.Lows 11 to 21.
</td> </tr> <tr class="wHover"> <td>
Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of snow in the morning... then a chance of snow and a slight chance of rain in the afternoon. Highs 32 to 39.
</td> </tr> <tr class="wHover"> <td>
Snow likely. Breezy. Snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches. Lows 19 to 26.
</td> </tr> <tr class="wHover"> <td>
Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow. Highs 32 to 39.
</td> </tr> <tr class="wHover"> <td>
Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow showers. Lows 12 to 21. </td></tr></tbody></table>
