Killed It

You know it's going to be a good ski day when you level a Coyote on your drive up the hill. Apparently Blizzak snow tires provide equal traction on snow as well as medium sized mammals. In fact the ample siping traps small hairs for later species identification. After weeks of frustration and cursing the weather, the skiing was finally good. A group of us decided to burn a coveted Vail day, and we were not disappointed. Our first run did nothing to heighten our spirits, typical lame cruiser. However, a brief discussion with ski patrol, and white-out conditions provided us what we were looking for. Prima traditionally a bump run was seeing no skis, but tons of windblown powder. It became a race to see who could make the fewest turns down the thing. From the lift we then spied the North Rim. This guy has a mandatory air entry, made much more mandatory by early season snow pack. It was technically closed, but ski patrol only has so much rope. We always sent Manny down first. He had the greatest surface area to probe for rocks. He never found any, good thing he landed head first most of the time. The landings were a surprising thigh deep depth. We then blatantly skied through an obvious closure area and proceeded to devastate the Prima Cornice run. Sick, Sick, Sick. We were in knee deep, but the early snow pack accentuated the terrain making ample air opportunities. In the end 16 runs, 22,000 vertical, some 10 footers, not bad for a day you thought was going to suck.