Mostly Skiable - Some Areas Thin/Narrow

4

Strong west wind and poor vsiibility only 50m most of the day. Damp. Freezing level above the summits. probably about 4C at 750m. Raise is however sheltered from the west and it did not disrupt the tow or the skiing.

Still a lot of snow at Raise. The presidents run is broken half way down but Savages is still flat and the hut face is complete. Still 20 feet of snow in palces though in the last 10 days the surface has dropped 2 feet. Still had to dig out the downhill tow line to allow the hangers to track properly. Excellent skiing surface however, lovely predicatable spring snow.

About 12 people today

peter dot stockton at yorkshiredales dot org dot uk

Excellent Cover

4

light showers on the way up but then dry with sunny spells during the day. good visibility. light to moderate SW winds. FL 600m rising 800 then dropping back again.

A massive amount of snow with metres of cover right across the ski area, though no or little cover on west facing slopes opposite. A huge firm base of easily skiable snow with a sugery top layer. Very good skiing indeed and unusually for Raise very wide fast turns possible everywhere. A superb day though with 1.5hrs of digging required to get the clearance under the pylons and to provide a trench for the descending hangers. Knackered now !

about 20

peter dot stockton at yorkshiredales dot org dot uk

Excellent Cover

4

Wet. Started with heavy showers of ice pellets with clearance inbetween. After lunch it pretty well sleeted and rained all afternoon. Temp about plus 1 or 2 freezing level above 3000'. Wind fresh SW strengthening to near gale at times later on.

There is a HUGE amount of snow across all the main runs. No rocks or fences showing right from L'eau Noir to beyond the Presidents run. The whole of Savages gully is full and then some. No left to right camber, the skiing now has a perfectly even gradient. The 5m pylons had to be dug out (again)to provide headroom beneath meaning the uptrack is through a trench 1m plus deep. Remarkably P4 must also have 3.5 m of snow around it despite its exposed position. No where on the tow track has less than 1.5m of snow. It is possible that parts of Savages Gulley may exceed 15 even 20 feet of depth. More snow than 2009/10 and getting on for as much as 1990. Perhaps more near the top. All the snowcover in the Lakes is however on NE elevations. The pioneers at the LDSC certainly knew where to put the tow. 2 hours of digging and then 3 hours of excellent skiing on wet but firm snow. The difficult bit was the lift ride up into the teeth of the rain and wind through the tunnel.

about 30 skiers and riders

peter dot stockton at yorkshiredales dot org dot uk

Excellent Cover

4

Broken overcast with sunny patches, wind strong in morning but dropped by the time skiing got going.
Below freezing all day.

Full snow cover - about 5m burying the tow and the engine hut. 2 hours of sterling work by members with many shovels dug trenches for the up track and the returning hangers. Definitely earned the turns today!
Snow conditions variable - boilerplate where scoured, powder where dumped. Many people lapped Sun Down after the short walk up to Raise summit.
About 450m (1500ft) vertical available today: Raise summit down to Keppel Cove, about 5 mins from car park.

NeilH and 50+ other members

Excellent Cover

3

Overcast with a few brighter breaks. Cloud base above summits. Just above freezing.
Early cold SW wind at top of tow dropped to give more pleasant conditions, but was getting up again by going home time.
Crust was refreezing later (about 20 mm thick).

Ski anywhere, all runs possible.
Surface conditions 2 to 4. Early firm surface (OK, some boilerplate) softened with use and midday temperature to give good runs down President in the afternoon.
Elsewhere, those with good edges enjoyed it.

NeilH and 30-40 others (usual suspects and new faces)