This was one of Baldy's better opening days from a management standpoint. Tickets opened before 8AM, Chair 1 by 8:15AM, and Thunder was ready to go when we got to the Notch at 8:30AM. Just as Thunder got busy at 10AM, Chair 4 opened to spread people around. It's still Baldy, so if you don't get there very early it can take over an hour to get through tickets and Chair 1 in the morning. However, that beats the hell out of today's report from Mt. High.

Conditions were quite similar to last year's opening powder day Feb. 24. Powder was fairly heavy despite the low snow levels, though a little better than last year. Snow was lighter and less windpacked on west vs. north exposures, not the normal pattern. Coverage was a little worse than last year as there was zero base under this week's 3-4 foot dump. This was particularly noticeable in Emile's, where a large cluster of brush was still poking through about 2/3 of the way down.

At 10AM both Chair 4 and South Bowl opened. I chose to stick with the latter due to better snow quality. We took about 3 runs down chair 1, but not until after 1PM and it was getting thick down there. Although it was not that warm, there was no wind and it was sunny until about 3PM, so the powder is pretty much gone now. Packed and mogul skiing on Thunder will be good for quite a while.

The fiasco at the end of the day is a mystery. The road was plowed well this morning and it had to be very warm down there until at least 2PM. A cloud came in but it did not snow. Yet enough people down in the snow play area had car accidents to block the road just below the parking lot until past 6PM.