Post Thaw Report - So far "dust on crust"

Yesterday, Thursday 2/17, we experienced several periods of heavy rain totaling about an inch. Additionally, temperatures climbed past the 40-degree mark with a few 50s reported. Not surprisingly, this pattern reduced the overall snow pack, but there is still a good base left. As the storm moved on, a few areas picked up as much as two inches of new snow, but we didn't benefit from the greater amounts that fell to the north and west.

Mount Van Hoevenberg reports that the competition trails have been groomed, but for the other trails the groomers will, in their words, "regroup for an effort on the other trails tomorrow. Thus we'll wait to provide a more detailed report for that area.  Cascade X-C indicates that they are grooming, and that area's terrain is much gentler than the Van Hoevenberg competition trails. Paul Smith's VIC so far reports that the trails are "in rough shape" but will try grooming today.  We'll see what they will list as open tomorrow.

Cold today and tomorrow, but warming to above freezing Sunday through Wednesday with alternating rain or snow, but nothing major in either category.  Stay tuned....

As of Friday afternoon, we can report 2-3" of new snow on the refrozen base. This will make the flattest terrain at least skiable, but our best guess is that any steeper terrain will not be easy to descend because of the frozen-in trench and the frozen chunks outside of that trench. Areas that were never skied, might be skiable on top of the crust, but that crust is still somewhat breakable, making for nearly impossible skiing conditions. 

It might just be a weekend to put on microspikes and take a hike, although there could be another 1-2" of new snow in some snow showers tomorrow.

The pattern for next week is not that good as well with warm temperatures Monday through Wednesday, and more rain on Tuesday without much, if any, new snow before it cools down to a high only near 20 on Thursday.

We'll just have to hope for one of our March "recoveries" to give us some more good backcountry skiing. In the meantime, we'll monitor what the groomed centers are able to offer.