Another Perfect Day In The Northeast Kingdom

It was early this morning when I heard the distant sound base drive of the South Ridge Quad start turning. Expecting some solid cloud cover and perhaps some NCP, (Non-crystallizing precipitation, we don’t use the word r**n in the skiing world. It’s taboo) I saw the bright rays of the early morning sun peeking through the shades. Curious whether my eyes were deceiving me, I went out to porch to find bluebird skies and warming temperatures. It was day 80 of the 2007/2008 version of the search and having heard the grooming machines all over the mountain last night, I knew that the mountain would be ready. Stepping out of the condo and onto the super-soft April snow, I looked around to the visible peaks to see if any new bare spots were creeping up, it is April 10th after all, and yet the brown blemishes were few and far between. This would be another epic day on snow.