The legendary alpacas of Rt 28! I must say those animals are rather ugly. There are also very curious, the whole pack of them slowly filed out of their barn and wandered over toward me...
Met Chris in the parking lot in the 'locals' section at the very far end. It was already a nice temp out and it looked like it might clear up later. Got on the gondi around 10. Pretty sparse crowd for that time, large bare patches on the last pitch of each trail and Walt's bump run was set up with one kicker at the bottom. Turns out mostly little kids did the course and it was single file, kinda liked it better than serious adults. Plus the run was not steep at all and the moguls were small.
Warmed up down Sunway to Quicksilver. Snow already nice and loose. Legs were definitely feeling it after one run. Rode up the gondi again and took Pine Knot to summit chair.
Up top we cycled Upper Steilhang and Cloud to Dell and Headwaters, then moved over to Open Pit a few times, Chatiemac twice, then Open Pit again. Stayed away from Lies and Rumor cause we weren't feelin bumps at all. What we did do was nice and soft and fast. Really was pretty good, it was warm and there was still lots of snow, no bad bare spots.
Took Wild Air to bottom for a break. Turns out Chris walked to the bottom from just under the gondola on Foxlair cause his board broke and was unrideable. A seam in the base ripped up. So we ended up gettin him a free rental for the rest of the day!
After lunch went and did Topridge then Cave glades. Topridge was really nice but the glades were tough on boards, snow was a bit firmer in the trees. Just so much better with POW. Chris said the rental board was the most unresponsive board he ever rode lol, a 160 burton cruzer.
Rain had stayed away and the sun was actually out now! I was only wearing a light windbreaker and sunglasses. I think we did Open Pit and Chatiemac a few more times and possibly an Upper Steilhang run too. Snow was getting heavy and slow. Then over Topridge Triple to Fairview which we absolutely bombed and still didnt make it over the hump at the end. Saddle was closed so we took Sleighride for our last run. Had to be careful dodging the bare spots towards the end.
Turned out to be a beautiful day so we had some beers on the deck. Nice crowd for the bump contest prize ceremony as well. Stopped and took some pics of the North River from Golf Course Rd in Warrensburg...
