CONDTIONS REPORT

This report obvious will not stand for long---and in fact has surely changed by now---but it may be relevant for counting inches towards the base.

I arrived at the parking lot around 1030am with (only) Hal's empty vehicle already there. The parking was plowed extremely nice with ample parking for about 10 cars.

I attached an 'Uphill Route' sign to a small sapling 15' up Sugar Run, visible from the first (return) intersection, to let folks know which was is up---and to discourage skinning up the 'old route' which is now strictly downhill only.

A well-used skin track was set in about 10" slighly compressed powder---of course on absolutely no base. This probably gave the minimal requirement (for me--your standards might be lower!) to ski Snow Basin thanks to our generally low cutting technique.

A boot pack trail basically paralleled the skin track, with some snowboard tracks descending most of Sugar Run from the top.

---Both skin track and bootpack were set in the middle of the trail for most of the length. Please remember that general etiquette is to set the skin track on the margin/side of the trail (so that folks don't ski it out coming down) and that when/if the conditions refreeze the track/bootpack actually becomes a hazard itself. If you are setting the first skin track, remember that you are setting it for everybody else that will follow and it may become the standard route for the season...

Two stream crossing on the climb have 2x8's spanning them. We set them there. They work, but not great, so be careful... At the top there was evidence of a fair amount of traffic from the previous two days. Tracks going down Merry, College, Liftline, Rumpus, Ruthies and back down Sugar. No tracks, however leading into Forest Slalom or newly opened West Westie (West Loop). Hal and I chose Rumpus. Some of my turns floated, others kissed the ground. The tree spacing is pretty sweet leading down toward the ruins of the old mid-mountain T-Bar---and then got tight until the Exit Traverse.

When skiing this side of the mountain, look for the pink flagging and stay on the uphill side of it pointing back towards the parking, traversing toward Liftline. Descend Liftline for 50 yards (or so), look for more pink flagging and cut into a trail through the low brush continuing towards the parking (skiers left). This should get you back home. Crossing the cement catwalk over the stream is the most precarious part of the entire operation, and I am going to work on getting some 2x8's to span this stream in the next week...

We did a few more runs with plenty of fresh tracks---

At the bottom I counted 5 vehicles in the lot with snow just starting to fall at 1pm.

Hopefully we've got enough base to carry forward---fingers crossed. Snow Basin looked like a legit backcountry zone this afternoon!