Vail
Saturday 16 November 1996

Weather

Heavily overcast.Snowing lightly in the morning, more heavily by lunchtime.

Conditions

Fresh powder everwhere, albeit a little on the wet and heavy side. 6-9" of snow overnight left powder on all the ungroomed slopes. Continuing snow meant that the grooming machines fought a losing battle. If you were looking for groomed runs, today was not the day.

Overall

The calendar said November 16th, the snow conditions suggested January.

Once again, there was enough terrain for all abilities (except perhaps for absolute beginners).

I started from Lionshead base, using Volkl shaped skis which were excellent for the powder, and spent the first hour skiing from the Avanti chair. The first run was through almost untracked powder (maybe a foot deep on a firm base). The second run was through powder more than two feet deep). Gradually, the snow got cut up, but it was generally very soft and easy to ski. The only fall came on the groomed area right next to the lift!

As crowds built up, I moved over to Game Creek Bowl and a variety of different runs. On Wildcard, black ungroomed, cut up powder, I began to appreciate the value of the shaped skis. I was able to ignore the snow and concentrate on carving turns. The skis just seemed to float on the snow.

Lost Boy was an interesting run. Graded green, it started easy enough with a groomed section with a little loose powder on top. Suddenly, the run turned right and there was a foot high wall of snow, and plenty of people stopped trying to work out what to do next.

A combination of tired legs and increasing snow meant an early finish at lunch time.

Vertical (feet)

14331

Runs

Lift	Vertical	Easy Runs	Intermediate Runs	Advanced Runs
Born Free	1550	Cub's Way
Avanti	1100		Avanti	Avanti
Avanti	1100		Pickeroon	Pickeroon
Avanti	1100		Berries	Berries
Avanti	1100		Lodgepole
Avanti	1100		Mid Vail Express
Wildwood	831		Showboat	Wild Card
Game Creek	950	Lost Boy
Game Creek	950	Lost Boy	Dealer's Choice, Baccarat
Game Creek	950	Lost Boy
Game Creek	950	Eagle's Nest Ridge	Avanti	Avanti
Avanti	1100	Practice Parkway	Lodegpole
Born Free	1550
Total vertical	14331