Date: 02/17/97
Days: 1
Resort: Snow Summit
Hours: Day
Equipment: Alpine
Rating: 8
Primary-Surface: Granular
Secondary-Surfaces: Icy, Hardpack, Packed powder, Powder, Slush
Gender: Male
Age: 44
Ability: Expert
Loved: New snow surface after 2:30PM
Hated: The 1hr accident delay driving home on 38
Closed: No off-trail skiing now: lots of old tracks from January
Liftline-Waits: 5-10 min on Ch. 2, less elsewhere
Moguls: Few, almost all groomed (icy bumps on Dicky's)

Arrived 8AM for what appeared to be a spring day. Almost everything was groomed to improve what otherwise would have been tricky conditions. My 12 year old on his 2nd day snowboarding had a lot of trouble with the hardpack subsurface in the morning. By 10AM the surface had softened enough for good cruising. At noon the weather clouded over and by 2PM it was snowing pellets (about the consistency of styrofoam), accompanied by thunder and lightning. By 3PM the new snow had resurfaced the upper half of the mountain, creating a smooth forgiving surface. That last hour was great: the whole east side of the area (ch 5,6,7&10) was empty, with more fresh snow on each run, albeit with marginal visibility. My 12 year old snowboarder was especially appreciative of the improved surface. Tomorrow should be quite good, although the storm did not last long enough to restore coverage to natural snow dependent areas.