Ski Report December 15, 2014

Weekend long snow event left up to 16″ of settling new snows above 2500′ in Thompson Pass.  Skinned up on to Little Odessey today. Lots of good skiing in protected areas but encountered some 8″ soft wind slabs along the route crest where SE winds to 20mph were encountered  Nice powder shot above Harveys Ditch. While visibility was limited, I did wander up for another run and promptly triggered a large whomp on a low angle slope so that still appears to be an issue to be aware of.

Above 2500 the snowpack is building nicely and looks good in the long-term as far as one can see. Moonlight Basin still needs some snow, but looking better.  Gulley 1, 2 and Nicks Happy Valley still remain brushy on those approaches so the best skiing will be on the north aspects of the Odessey Arena and all of Sapphire Arena.   Port Valdez has just a few inches of wet, icy snow.  The Nordic trail in Mineral Creek are in poor condition and ungroomed.