[NMCCSC] Sandia conditions

[Amy Mathis]

Greetings all,
Today I decided to drive up and park at the downhill area, skin up and ski down.  The road was not plowed but my Subaru handled it okay.  I'm glad I did not go up any farther.  It was a GORGEOUS day on the mountain.  There were about 30 other cars already parked along the road but yet I felt like I had the mountain to myself.  It was mostly cloudy, breezy, with flurries.  There were several snow cats with groomers laying out nice corduroy on the slopes.  I'm hoping they will be able to open and their decision for the season is tomorrow.  They may deem it too late in the season to give it a go, but they are in the process of grooming everything up there so I hope they can open.  I found other ski skin tracks and followed those up Exhibition.  About halfway up I leaned over to pull up my climbing wires and my water bottle fell out of my outer mesh pocket of my ski pack.  The bottle quickly found the groomer and went flying downhill down to the bottom and sailed out of sight.  I had to be content to stuff my face with fists full of snow to keep hydrated.  I stopped at the top for lunch and then got to enjoy the descent.  I'd say there is a foot of fresh powder up there.  I don't really have fatty-daddy powder skis, so I mostly stuck to the groomers, but did give the powder a try.  I've never had the experience to ski in powder like that before so had no idea what to do let alone how to do tele turns in powder, BUT...I'm learning!  I watched one beautiful tele skier cruise through the stuff effortlessly.  I feel so blessed to have this in my "backyard".  You may travel east, you may travel west, but sometimes home is best!  Sorry no pictures.  I left my phone home.
-Amy
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