What a difference a day makes...

OK.  Life makes a bit more sense today.

The mountain received 5 inches of nice, soft snow, at least according to the a.m. report.  I was hopeful that this would be enough to improve the slopes.  I was blown away by the transformation.  Our first run was off Swifty and I was immediately surprised by the coverage. There was still some scratchy stuff underneath here and there but it was so completely different than the day before.

Next, we decided to check out Elk Park Ridge and were stunned to find easily 6 to 8 inches of wonderful snow.  Where the surface had been relatively smooth the day before, the new snow was phenomenal.  Where there were moguls, it was still ugly beneath.  We all did a few runs together there and then Colin and I did 6 or 7 more in the wide open bowls of Elk Park Meadows, slopes that I had often dreamed of skiing with a foot of fresh. 

Well, this was close and these wide open slopes, despite the southern exposure, were well covered now with great powder.  Here's some proof:

Colin in Elk Park Meadows

After a much-needed lunch, we decided to try the run from the top of Swiftcurrent toward the Challenger Lift.  We usually take a nice run to the Challenger lift and for some reason it usually has great snow and few people ski there. (Jim - you know the run!)  Today it did not disappoint! It had 10-12 inches of perfect powder, and run after run it was just like the last.  

It was very windy today and that made it quite cold, refreshed some slopes wonderfully and obliterated others (north-facing).  The Challenger Lift did not run all day due to the winds and the Lone Peak Triple was on wind hold for a good part of the day.  Visibility was nil in the bowl and the winds were gusting 20-30mph in some places.  The other odd thing is, whereas Elk Park and Thunderwolf runs were GREAT, the gladed runs on Andesite weren't spared from the strong winds.  Ambush Glades were pretty good (great in parts) but variable.  Congo was really tough with harsh, rock-hard moguls exposed by the winds and deep pockets of powder 18" deep in parts, making it really tricky.

Powder on the run to Challenger Lift

Another photo from Elk Park Meadows:

It snowed all day long but probably only accumulated another 2 to 3 inches.  With another storm like this one, Big Sky will be back to being EPIC.  Hopefully, there is another front moving through on Wednesday.  We'll see.