While we were sleeping our mountain operations crew was hard at work. Our snowmakers have been taking full advantage of the cooler temperatures and are building up the base at Highlands. They are currently focusing their efforts on Log Jam, Hibernator, and the base area of Highlands. The Morse Highlands Lift is presently closed due to these snowmaking operations. We have a day crew and night crew for snowmakers so that we can keep the guns running around the clock. We also have 2 crews for grooming. The first crew heads out onto the slopes once the lifts have stopped and everyone is off the mountain. The first crew usually starts on the upper mountains. The second crew of groomers starts after midnight. They finish the grooming on the upper mountains if need be and then head for Morse Mountain. When we get new snow overnight this allows the groomers to mix in the new snow with the existing snow. The second crew of groomers will finish buffing up the Morse trails right before the lifts start to spin. This gives the beginners a nice smooth surface to ski and ride because they get the freshest groomed terrain. Today we plan to have top-to-bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including Madonna 1. We have 64 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 27 trails have been groomed for today, including Drifter, Upper FIS, Snake Bite, Birch Run, Howie’s Wanderer, and Garden Path for a total of 156 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 12 to 42 inches. Currently, it is -5 at the summit of Sterling with clear skies and winds of 5 to 10 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies early increasing clouds, slight chance of a snow shower after 1 pm with a high of 8 degrees at the base and 1 degree at the higher elevations. Bundle up, cover up, and enjoy the fantastic conditions.
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