First of all, thanks for everyone's concern for me when the news about the avalanche was posted on the board. As MtnMan let you all know, I was fine. That day was an awesome first ski day over there, and I felt SO bad when I heard about the guy who died. He was a 50-something man from Boulder, CO. The news made the front page of the Summit Daily News the next day.
I had an amazing trip. Took lots of pics, too, which I will post soon. I had internet problems at home last night, and only got things sorted out this a.m. It was 2 days of bliss, skiing in the bright, hot (as in 70 and 80-degree-hot) sunshine. There was SO MUCH SNOW at A-Basin. On Friday, ALL the lifts were running, except for the Norway double. And the Pallavincini Lift WAS running in the early a.m. I opted to start my day out on the East (?) side of the mountain, warming up on the groomers off of Exhibition Lift, and then quickly moving to the summit via the Lenawee Lift. I managed to pair up with a skier from Maryland who took me out to the East Wall area. We traversed in and did a bit of the Lower East Wall. (This area was closed the next day, after the slide on the Palli side, they did not want to take any chances. They set of charges and you could see new slides on the face.)
I had hoped to ski over on the Palli Lift side, Friday late morning, when my legs were warmed up and my courage had built up. But it was not to be. I got to the base, saw the helicopter and the ambulance, did not know what was going on, really. I went on towards the lift, but turned back when some other guys said it was closed. Walking back towards Exhibition Lift, I heard people talking about the slide, got on the chair and heard some more details from the guys I rode up with. Shocking. The slide happened at 10:30...I was going over there at 11:45 or so. I must have just missed the activity.
The next day, it was weird because it was business as usual, and great skiing was to be had. Though the buzz was still there about the tragedy the day before. And they were continuing clean-up operations on the Palli side. Thank goodness no one else was reported hurt or missing.
I spent most of my second day there skiing the different blues and what blacks I could get to...but it was all good. Snow was firm in the a.m., but that did not faze me since I am an East Coast skier...ice? Hah! Everything got good and soft at around 10:00 or so, and by 2:00 pretty heavy, like thick ice cream. I tried to get the nerve up to try King Cornice...but I guess that will have to wait for next time...since I didn't have any back-up if I did it wrong and got hurt! I know, I know...no guts, no...whatever! Still skied from 9:00-2:00 past every day. The best time of the day...and just about as much as my legs would bear.
Pics will tell the story of how much snow they still have. Will get to it tonight when I get home. I think they said 47-inch (or is it 57-inch) base. I hardly saw any bare spots, though they said last weekend was even better. Sigh. What a place to live and ski. I LOVED it.
ABasin reminds me a bit of Alta, it feels old school and welcoming. Highly recommend it for late season skiing. Stayed at a B&B in Silverthorne, which is 15 miles from ABasin. Lodging was $45 a night (I had the place to myself!) and lift tix were $36. Such a deal! There's SNOW in them thar' hills!!!
