SS Feb 1st-4th

[Kelly K]

FEB 3



Alright woke up to 2-3 inches of the light white snow but a little chilly at 7 degrees, no problem just put on an extra layer.



I was out there for rope drop and got first tracks on Gandy Dancer all the way down then took Whiffletree that was untouched as well. SWEET!!!



I thought to myself on that first run if I cut over to Ballhooter lift I could get back up quick and might catch 1 more first tracks run somewhere. So what do I see coming up? Grabhammer, and it had not been touched yet! Yep, I got first tracks on that puppy too! After that I hit the WT before it got too tracked up. Not bad over there but it was a little more hard granular than the rest of SS. This was my first time on the WT. Did Cupp first and enjoyed it. Next hit Upper Shay's and then cut back over to Cupp. Liked that a lot. Snapped a few pics too. Had blue clear skies today, you could see for miles and miles



Conditions were better today with very small crowds just like yesterday. The new snow made a big differnce and conditions were pretty good up until about 3, after that it was a bit chopped/carved up. Headed to SC for a few turns there which was still in decent shape. headed straight for the far side to do Flying Eagle. Did a few other runs and my legs were done. Overall a great day. Had a nice noontime lunch at FF grill. Hopefully my legs won't be too sore tomorrow as I plan to be back out there for rope drop. Any suggestions for a first tracks run? Keep in mind I am in HH.





Kelly

[scuba skier]

I usually hit Skip Jack first, Ballhooter, Hootenanny, Upper Flume to J Hook, Widowmaker (3 or 4 times), then back across the mountain to Powder Monkey lift and head to Western Territory.

[Murphy]

If the snow is blowing out of the northwest head straight for the trails off the Widowmaker lift. That's where all the snow will be (after it's been blown from the WT).

[Kelly K]

Feb 4th-friday



Got up again for rope drop and got first tracks all the way down. There were a few more people on the slopes and a lot of them could not ski (i should say board) at all. Still lift lines, while not a complete ski on were not bad from zero wait to ten minutes. The conditions actaully were pretty good today and held up through out the day. I skied all the way til 4:30.



Thought I could get away from the beginners so I Headed over to Wt about 10 am, after some warm up runs on WM and camp 99. WT was in good shape,not carved up all even after I took an hour lunch break to eat at the place at the bottom of WT. Got several runs on upper shay's which just may be my favorite run now at SS Having said that I think it is a bit of a strech to call Upper Shay's a black run. Did Cupp from top to bottom and enjoyed it as well.



When i made my way back accross the street some of the light crowd had thinned out a bit. This was day 3 of skiing for me and i was really starting to get in the zone and do some of my best skiing, which made leaving even worse. I think if I could get another trip a year I could really see my skiing level go up.



All in all I had another awesome time on a mid week trip to SS. Everyone was friendly and I have new respect for the SS groom team.



I did eat at JUnction as well as foxfire grill a few times. I was told at FF that the county makes them cook the burgers well done. If it were not for that the burger would have been great. I llike the Junction a little better. They have some nice happy hours specials. The wings rocked as well as the crabcake sandwhich. I hope in the next few days I can figure out how to post some of my pics.



Lastly the drive up from the south is really pretty especially from 64 on. The creek that runs along 39 is quite lovely and there were several guys fishing it on my way back.