I needed some wind and sun on my face today. I zipped over to Bolton Valley ski resort to take in some afternoon ski runs to get my fill.
I saw that Bolton had both the Wilderness chair and the Timberline chair open this week (a rare midweek treat), so that's where I concentrated my skiing. There were no lift lines so I just kept sliding up to the lift, unbuckling some boot buckles, and getting on board. This was my first time skiing off of these lifts this year.
The photo shows the sun hitting the Timberline chair and Timberline Liftline trail. I caught the last sun before the clouds moved in for some weather this week. Maybe snow in the mountains and rain down in the towns and valleys? We'll see.
The snow was machine groomed, granular snow. The kind of snow where you want freshly tuned edges so you can set them into the hard-packed snow when needed. The Bolton crew had groomed 25 trails last night, according to the snow report.
I enjoyed making large-radius, carving turns on the wider ski runs that had a good snowmaking base. I was also challenged as I made my way down natural snow trails where there were some rocks and twigs and water-bar gullies. The natural snow trails reminded me of an old man's unshaven face; twigs sprung up from the snow surface here and there like razor stubble.
I ventured into the glades just a bit to see how they were. Not too bad considering we haven't had a lot of snow. In the woods you do need to pick your way around some exposed tree trunks and rocks.
With warmer temperatures today and the early-afternoon sunshine, I felt like I was spring skiing. The only thing missing was the moguls!
