Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 7:56 pm
Headed out bright and early. Got there at 8 and got rockstar parking. Got a half day ticket which was still expensive but I figured it was going to be jam packed as the day wore on, and I was right.
FYI Cat is not currently doing the one and done thing, so if you are heading up banking on that or bringing someone who may be, this is your warning.
The snow was being aggressively blown. Not open to the top as of today but I imagine that'll change for tomorrow. Weather was great. In the morning when it was freshly groomed, light levels were low and you were in the middle of a man made blizzard; it could lead to some interesting things. There were multiple occurrences fast groomed snow going into 3 and 4 inch deep pockets of man made powder which made it seem like I was randomly putting on the brakes early in the day because I couldn't get a good visual read on the snow. I'm pretty sure I was the first person up the Quad tho.
Visibility increased, and so did the crowds. I left at around 1.
Pics
Snow making paying dividends
Early in the morning, a little before rope drop
Clouds in the valley
Rock Island looking good
Alley Cat markedly improved....
More valley clouds
Looking down Rock Island
The thousand nations of the Cataloochee empire shall descend upon you, their snow-making will blot out the sun!
More of the sun being blotted out
Looking down snowbird, snow making was so heavy that this was the one semi-usable photo/video clip I got from my only trek down it.
This huge ticket line formed around 10
[IMG]http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-
ash3/548179_10152380005970315_374413030_n.jpg[/IMG]
Looking down Alley cat first thing in the morning. I lapped it all day aside from singular runs down Rock Island run and Lower Snowbird
Clouds rolled in, making it look like a chair lift ride into heaven
Go to the light!
On to the vid, mostly alley cat laps. Tune is Higher on the Mountain by Bandole
FYI Cat is not currently doing the one and done thing, so if you are heading up banking on that or bringing someone who may be, this is your warning.
The snow was being aggressively blown. Not open to the top as of today but I imagine that'll change for tomorrow. Weather was great. In the morning when it was freshly groomed, light levels were low and you were in the middle of a man made blizzard; it could lead to some interesting things. There were multiple occurrences fast groomed snow going into 3 and 4 inch deep pockets of man made powder which made it seem like I was randomly putting on the brakes early in the day because I couldn't get a good visual read on the snow. I'm pretty sure I was the first person up the Quad tho.
Visibility increased, and so did the crowds. I left at around 1.
Pics
Snow making paying dividends
Early in the morning, a little before rope drop
Clouds in the valley
Rock Island looking good
Alley Cat markedly improved....
More valley clouds
Looking down Rock Island
The thousand nations of the Cataloochee empire shall descend upon you, their snow-making will blot out the sun!
More of the sun being blotted out
Looking down snowbird, snow making was so heavy that this was the one semi-usable photo/video clip I got from my only trek down it.
This huge ticket line formed around 10
[IMG]http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-
ash3/548179_10152380005970315_374413030_n.jpg[/IMG]
Looking down Alley cat first thing in the morning. I lapped it all day aside from singular runs down Rock Island run and Lower Snowbird
Clouds rolled in, making it look like a chair lift ride into heaven
Go to the light!
On to the vid, mostly alley cat laps. Tune is Higher on the Mountain by Bandole
