After nearly three weeks of cold temps and beautiful skiing (see above and this video)- especially in the more open, higher elevation backcountry zones – a perfectly seasonal January Thaw has taken its toll. While the Thaw has left us with an especially thin snowpack down low (if you’ve got any snow at all) across the northeast, we still have plenty of base to work with up high. After enjoying some beautiful spring conditions at ski areas over the past weekend, morning groomers and some adventurous crust cruising and pasture skiing have been the main items on the menu for the last couple of days. Now, as I write this, fresh snow is steadily accumulating again, which should make for some fine fluff-on-crust skiing conditions Weds/Thurs at higher elevations where there is some good base…and dust-on-dirt/grass/sticks conditions down low. If it keeps snowing, however, we should be back to good ol’ powder skiing on lower/mid angle pitches at higher elevations later in the week…with fluff-on-crust conditions prevailing in the steeps, where you’ll be more apt to feel the crusty base beneath…
In general, the skiing in the backcountry is about as challenging as it gets right now, so please stick to lines you know intimately, and be extra super duper careful! Beware of sharp sticks at eye level, exposed rocks, soil, open water, downed branches, barbed wire, old sap buckets, stumps, stone walls, tall grass, thorny blackberry stalks, ruts in the terrain, hard ice and more… Let’s hope it keeps snowing!
-Brian
