explorin'

Before the short term memory gets wiped clean......

Went to Blue Knob for some skiin' today. First time there, trying to cash in on the best available local conditions after the midweek storm. Had hoped to reach the zone that didn't get too much sleet mixed in, had hoped to not find any crust.

Got there early, only 20 or so cars parked about, got on snow 9:30ish, only spinning lift of interest was Expressway, the chair servicing the 'expert' portion of the mtn wouldn't spin 'til 10. No problem, nothing wrong with a proper warm up, and I see some blue/black labeled glades to check out. Start with some fun in Laurel Run Glades, then find what will be the best snow of the day over in the top portion of the Forever Glades, a tight driftline of super light knee deep fluff. The Rt 66 chair starts to turn, so I head out to Stembogan, and get fresh turns thru alternating pockets of shin deep pow and scraped down manmade hardpack, nabbed 2nd tracks down the Ditches Glade, which was fun for sure.

Then I ducked a rope here or there and had a blast on lower Rt 66 under the chair, getting 2nd tracks on my first lap down. Then tried to check out some other mapped glades, Mine Shaft & Boneyard. Found just enough crust to be a hassle, so I stuck to Lower Shortway and enjoyed more knee deep driftline love. Further exploration found me bushwacking out of the East Wall glades after some sweet turns off the top of the Traverse. Ran a bunch more laps of varying sequence seeking out the nooks and crannies.

Back to the car for a snack around noon and found a dead battery in the CR-Vizzle, left the lights on, oops. I'm sure somebody has cables, so I head back out after a handful of trailmix and a few swigs of Coke. Head back over to the morning stashes and find a nice line leading to the Laurel Glades. Almost hit a tree head on, literally. Scarey fucking target fixation set in, glad that I wear that helmet even though I didn't need it. Found still fresh snow in the Forever Glades again, then back out to the Rt 66 chair. More fun laps under the lift with low tele, deep drift induced faceshots, but had even more fun on Lower Shortway.....that 'closed' sign sure does help limit traffic. Steepish, carvable natural styrofoam & crud, just enough support to crank that ski around, much love found.

All in all, a pretty damn good day on the slopes. I'll definitely be back to Blue Knob, it's setup as a skier's mtn. Don't go there expecting a plush lodge & amenities, go there expecting to be able to ski your balls off and not have anyone hassle you about it, seems to be a pretty loose policy for 'off piste' routes, which is fine by me. Decent looking bar room/pub in the lodge, didn't check it out though, had to get a jump for the car. Who knows? Maybe some cougar hunting action as well........

peace out, time to clear that slate.

Crappy cell phone pics:

Laurel Glades, from the lift.

"Tracked Out"

Ditches Glade