As it appears I'll be sitting out most of this season with a knee injury and I enjoy spring summer skiing I'm pondering the question. Seems like most of the slide potential for early am skiing is resolved by later May most years. Of course soft/wet slides later in the day will occur but not counting that will the usual spring transformation be much affected?
I'd say with a much thinner pack, full isothermal conditions will occur much earlier. Temperature dependent of course, and then we have to see what the wind and dust do, but if it keeps up the way its going, I'm not looking forward to a very long corn season.
In 2004 I was involved in a big slide with a burial and injuries in the very end of April. Usually we are skinning up crust and skiing corn that time of the year, but it snowed a foot and that stressed the snowpack. A massive slab six feet deep slid all the way to the ground, and the season was nothing like we are having this year. I will be leery this spring
I have historically avoided BC in that time period and stuck to the resorts not usu venturing out til 3rd week of may. Pretty much an early bird to avoid wet releases. Plus is there anything better than skiing in the am, boating in the afternoon and finishing off with a sunset mtnbike ride?
Much to my surprize my cartilage tear healed nicely and I resumed skiing pretty much feeling full speed in the last two weeks. Been eyeing some classic lines in my new neighborhood and wondering about stability again. Can't seem to get my head around when and if the base layer is going to stabilize.
stop worrying about the base layer and worry about the mid-pack layer. that's skiing in colorado for ya'
Thats not what I was getting from the pits I dug this season