Five skiers participated in the announced Los Griegos trip today in the Jemez. The day began with excellent snow conditions and the group skied up to the lookout point on Upper Road (two went even further). Below upper road the conditions were good. The wind had scoured any fresh snow off of Upper Road and so that section was very hard packed. Lunch was enjoyed upon our return to Junction Meadow before skiing the rest of the way back down. By the time we got back to the highway at 1:30 most of us were experiencing substantial "sticking" issues.
The afternoon was still young and future snow always so unpredictable - so the group chose to test conditions on the East Fork area. Maxiglide was applied before crossing the highway and prevented any further sticking. We skied the full east-end of the East Fork trail - completing the loop. The snow there was still plenty deep in most areas with just a few spots that had experienced the NM sun enough to have turned icy.
Several people on snowshoes had also walked the East Fork loop ahead of us. The Los Griegos side of the road still had a good set track with no snowshoe prints.
Dave