Kelly’s Blog: Powder-Roy
On Saturday’s we offer AM Express, where early birds get the worm. And today they got some of the sweetest cord of the season, fresh cream under the guns and amazing views. And I got slightly frost bitten toes – that will teach me to put my feet in my boots cold. One passholder described the conditions as powder-roy – love it!!!
For AM Express we open the Bluebird Express at 7:30 am for season passholders and Grand Summit/condo owners. Those passholders can show up anytime between 7:30 to 8 am (you do not have to be there at 7:30 am!) and the Main Face of the mountain will be open for your skiing and riding pleasure. Many of the folks I rode up with talked about fast laps on trails that you have to yourself. For me it is more about the scenery. Sunrise doesn’t get any better. Before we open for these special morning outings we have lots of work to do.
We have walkways to clear.
We have to push all of the bubbles out of the storage barn and onto the line.
Our lift operators have lots of mazes to build
Today as I headed out the door, with my skis, I had to snap a shot because the snowmaking clouds were so beautiful. 
Even on this chilly morning a small group has started to form at the base of the Bluebird, anticipating First Tracks.
The view from the summit was gorgeous with snowmaking clouds from South Bowl hovering over.
Our first run was on Ridge. I skied it yesterday around 11:30 and rated it a 7.5 because the pitches were skied off a little. This morning it was a 10. Let me use my new term to describe it…POWDER-ROY! As we neared the bottom of the Sundance Triple we skied through fresh snowmaking cream, which I like to refer to as creamy & dreamy!
I am sorry to say that my phone froze up so I don’t have any more photos. Second lesson of the day – keep your electronics in a warm spot!
Cascade/Canyon was run number two and we were treated to another combo of powder-roy and creamy & dreamy.
Unfortunately, my time on skis ended and I headed inside to thaw out my frozen toes. Lessons learned – start the day with warm feet and keep my phone close to my body. New word learned is powder-roy. I love Saturdays! All this and not even 9 am. Enjoy your weekend on some excellent snow and let me know what trails you enjoyed today.
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My first run down Exibition was excellent, my second run, or should I say my second ride up allowed me the opportunity to look at my tracks on the first run for about 25 to 30 minutes while the Bluebird bubble had some, several pauses. After that my warm up, since the Bluebird was not operating, was interrupted by the fire alarm goin off in the main lodge. Beside that it was a fantastic day.
Carl thanks for finding the positive – that was a rough morning – my apologies.
Kelly, you need to get a go pro on your helmet or head so we can see videos of those beautiful mornings. I was up over MLK weekend and it was awesome, long lines but AWESOME!!!! Jonathan who was working the Blue Bird express both mornings did a fantastic job. He was getting yelled at but he rocked!!! Thank you again.
Hey T – good idea but to be honest, I can barely manage photos. Technically, I am on the novice side. Not because I do not appreciate technology but because when I am skiing, I hate fidgeting around with stuff. Luckily, our snow reporter Andy, does a great job with his MOUNT SNOW MINUTE videos. He posts one almost every day and really captures the conditions on the hill. You can find his videos on the home page.
Hi Kelly,
Whatever happened to the photographers that used to be on the mountain? I have some great family photos from them and we found a bunch of great portraits from thier website! We all thought it was great to have them around!!
With all of the i-phone/digital cameras, business decreased. I have had some photographers interested in filling that spot so maybe I will explore that this summer.
Sadly, we weren’t on the chair until 7:45 (don’t tell my 13-year old I’m changing turning the clocks back a half hour). Keith (lift ops) let me have it for being late.
The term powder-roy was genius. I bet I know who came up with that name (maybe you took the first chair with him). The boys and I did some Cascade to Rollercoaster runs. What great conditions. And despite it hovering somewhere around 0 degrees, it really wasn’t that cold.
It was cold Vince – big jacket day. And the dentist did not come up with powder-roy.